Wood stove hearth plate from stainless steel

The house we moved into had a large area of bricks in the floor for the wood stove. But this was a tripping hazard and also much larger than needed. so we got rid of most of this before I refinished the floor.

With winter coming, we needed something to replace that with.

I bought a piece of stainless steel, about 2 mm thick, from the metal supermarket to make a new base.

I wanted to round the corners of it, so I rigged up this temporary jig with an angle grinder to cut a circular curve (and bevelled too). This worked surprisingly well.

The edges ended up razor sharp, so I cleaned up the edges with a flap disk.

Then drilling holes to screw the plate down on the floor. This stuff is very hard to drill. I had to sharpen the drill several times before I finished the 16 holes. I used a larger drill bit to add a countersink to all the holes.

The wood stove is very heavy. I used two dollies and some 2x4s to lever the stove up from the remaining bricks that it was still on, then rolled it out of the way on the dollies.

Getting rid of the last bit of remaining hearth base - the part that was directly under the stove, which I just left in place earlier. I didn't refinish that part of the floor because it would be hidden under the new hearth plate.

The bricks were only mortared onto the wood floor. Not the best way to do it, but I was glad it was done that way because the bricks were easy to remove and the mortar came off the varnished floor easily.

Stainless steel laid in place, now pulling off the protective covering. The brushed finish is still pristine!

Then screwing it down with #4 wood screws, one screw every 20 cm. This makes sure the base stays flat on the floor so the edge doesn't become a hazard and dirt doesn't get under it.

I'm happy with how it turned out, and it wasn't that much work. But the metal was expensive - I paid about $160 for this piece, which, per square foot, cost about as much as installed hardwood flooring!

See also:

Wood stove toddler fence

Angle grinder flat
cut-off jig

Movable firewood shed

Electric log splitter stand

Making firewood with a bandsaw (video only)

Burning sawdust in a
wood stove (video only)

To my Woodworking website.