Fixing The Smoke Chamber

When we first moved in to our house, the chimney didn't have a cap or a working damper, so the rain got in and rusted the smokebox. The damper was replaced and Stephen installed a cap, but the smokebox was still broken. This afternoon, Stephen started work on the smoke box.

First, he made a cardboard model of the piece he needed and stuck it up to see if it would fit. Then he traced the pattern on a sheet of galvanized steel (the pattern, steel, and tinsnips are shown below).
He then cut out the steel with the tinsnips and bent it in the appropriate places with angle iron in a vice, and a hammer. After he completed that piece, he took it inside and stuck it up the 5" by 16" hole into the smoke box and into the appropriate place. Once it's finished, we can look forward to cozy fires this winter.