radiant[allusions]: Anatomy of a Project (Vol. 5.4)

9.24.2012

The next important part of the stove (and the second stage of the construction process) is the mesa or the table. The table, much like the stovetops, must be ready to go before the construction of the stove itself. The table’s function is simply to provide a flat, elevated surface upon which to build the stove.

The mesa we are providing as part of the seventy economical stoves project is made out of piedras canteras (see volume 5.2 Materials and Design Elements) and concrete. The height of the table should be between forty and fifty centimeters and is mostly determined by the height of the piedras canteras and the thickness of the concrete used to keep them in place.

A basic table has the shape of a rectangle with the long sides made up of two piedras canteras and the short sides made up of one. The piedras are set up on their edges so that when they’re pasted together with concrete, they effectively wall in a rectangular space that’s hollow in the middle. Then, that hollow empty space is filled with dirt and stones and trash and whatever unwanted non-organic material might be lying around. This leaves a nice, flat, elevated surface to later build the stove on.

This is a completed table waiting for its stove to be built. You can see how the middle space is filled in with dirt

When deciding where to build the table in someone’s kitchen there are a few important factors to consider. The first is to think about the natural flow of air. Where is there a door or a window that allows air to flow through the kitchen from outside? If at all possible, you should try to position the table (and ultimately the stove itself) such that the natural flow of air will aid the path of the smoke towards the chimney and not blow it back into the room.

This table was built freestanding next to a wall of sticks

Another important factor to consider in table construction is whether or not it can be built in a corner, thereby taking advantage of two existing sturdy walls and cutting down on the number of piedras canteras necessary. If the kitchen walls are made of sticks or wooden planks instead of bricks or stone or concrete, however, it will be necessary to build the table with four complete freestanding walls.

This family already had their table and it worked with the specifications of the project

If a family happens to have a table from a previous cooking area made from different materials but that provides a flat surface elevated to between forty and fifty centimeters off the ground, then it is not necessary to build another table! There were a few beneficiaries in this project that already had acceptable tables and did not have to have a new one built.

This table was built against a low stone wall on the far side and has been covered with an additional layer of concrete. All stoves and tables in the project will eventually be finished in concrete

Since for two weeks each community could only make seven or eight stovetops a day, the construction teams would build mesas while waiting for the concrete planchetas to dry. That way we were able to avoid the problem of not having enough tables ready to go when we began to build the stoves themselves.