Steve, Don87 has got the right idea. The barrel kits are inexpensive and are really good heaters. They have the "trash burner" effect, thin sides, and most of your heat gets out into your shop, not up the chimney. If building a heater, having the door and flange ready made takes away most of the work. I built one several years ago and couldn't find a kit, had to build it all from scratch. It works well but was a lot more work to build. With the kit, the door and draft control is ready made.
I have a really nice factory made wood heater in my shop. It is lined with fire bricks. It would work great in a house or cabin, a structure well insulated. But in a shop, it really doesn't put out enough heat. I'm thinking about building the double barrel stove and taking my 800.00 heater out. It was free to me but the barrel kit would work so much better for a shop.
If your garage is insulated, an old timey "boxwood stove" (google it) would work well and be reasonably priced. There are other more expensive ways to heat with wood but that would be my two choices.
When I put a barrel stove in my poker shed I didn't know anything about insulating my outside pipe. It wouldn't "draw" and was putting smoke back into the room. An old timer told me how to solve my problem.
What kind of heater pipe/chimney do you plan to use?
