New Project: Derco Grizzly

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Heavy Metal

Member
Dec 12, 2009
47
Hoosierland
I wanted to share my new project. I finally got that old Grizzly stove from a neighbors grandmother. It's in pretty rough shape rust wise. But it's such a neat, cool old stove, I just can't help myself.

So I'm wire brushing the the entire thing with an attachment I bought for my cordless drill. When I finish knocking the surface rust down, I will coat it with Naval Jelly to kill the rust and then paint with high-temp flat black. Every square inch of the exterior is pitted, nothing I can do about that, and I'm not going to grind it down smooth for various reasons. But I think I'll be happy with it once I'm done...for what it is.

There is precious little information on the web about these old stoves. The few that are out there are at this forum, and a couple other small posts here and there. So I thought I would post a thread here about it and track my progress and include some pictures from time to time. Maybe it will help somebody else someday.

This stoves manufactured date is 9/79
It's the "Blazer" model Grizzly

Pretty rough, lots of rust. Been sitting in a basement for probably 20 some years.
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The inside of the doors have little brackets, like for holding glass. And then on the outside there is a fine, wire mesh....I guess for looks. But somebody removed the glass and put in these really thin, handcut pieces of tin/sheet metal...like really thin. Some edges of the tin have a fold on it. I almost wonder if they didn't cut the metal from an old appliance or something. A friend of mine works at a steel mill and I'm going to ask him to get me a couple pieces of good, thick steel that will fit. Maybe eventually, I'll get glass.
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Appreciate any advice. But you can keep the "you're wasting your time/don't bother/smoke dragon" comments to yourself, thank you. I've read enough around here to know what I'm getting myself into. ;)
 
Go over it with an orbital sander first with about 80 grit to get the rough stuff off then maybe a 220 grit for smoothness then hit it with the wire wheel in the drill will clean all the pits up nicely. A powered drill with a varible speed control works good in hard to get areas plus different sizes and styles of wire wheels will help also. Don't forget the safety glasses and a mask for your protection. I would recommend Stove Brite paint also, makes a huge difference in appearence too. I got alot of ideas from Coalys threads too. Good Luck
 
Go over it with an orbital sander first with about 80 grit to get the rough stuff off then maybe a 220 grit for smoothness then hit it with the wire wheel in the drill will clean all the pits up nicely. A powered drill with a varible speed control works good in hard to get areas plus different sizes and styles of wire wheels will help also. Don't forget the safety glasses and a mask for your protection. I would recommend Stove Brite paint also, makes a huge difference in appearence too. I got alot of ideas from Coalys threads too. Good Luck
Thank you. I will get some sand paper and hit it with the two grits you list. I've already just about brushed the entire thing and it didn't quite knock it down like I'd like. So I think you're right. Stove Bright....GOT IT!

Thanks bro!
 
This outfit has everything you could ever imagine for cleaning up metal. I've done business with them many times, and never been disappointed. Good luck with it...I'm a big believer in bringing old things back to life. Rick

http://www.eastwood.com/
 
Nice stove!
If you paint it, high temp or whatever, try to heat it up outside for a while or the house will stink as the paint burns/cures. I restored our old Garrison last fall and made the mistake of painting outside with high temp and not starting it until late September when the weather cooled. Well the house hazed up and stunk as the paint burned. After a week of burning it cleared up and was great. Heated the house for the winter with it. No oil!
Good luck.
 
Stove Bright is an acetone based paint. Do any painting either in a well ventilated garage/shed with an exhaust fan running and preferably with a good organic mask. That stuff WILL cause brain damage. And the advice to do the burn in outside is good as well.
 
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Stove Bright is an acetone based paint. Do any painting either in a well ventilated garage/shed with an exhaust fan running and preferably with a good organic mask. That stuff WILL cause brain damage. And the advice to do the burn in outside is good as well.
Hey thanks. I will be careful. Didn't know that!
 
You might want to compare price for putting in the glass. You can get neoceram or pyroceram from here. Send them a paper tracing of the thin metal for a good fit.

www.onedayglass.com
 
Very cool. They have some cool stuff as well. So, am I losing anything/efficiency going with glass as opposed to steel in the doors? What are the pros/cons of both?

With the glass you can see what the fire is doing, plus enjoy the veiw. I would skip the steel and go right to the glass
Fire is facinating, steel boxes not so much.
 
I would also make a baffle if there isn't one with the stove already.
 
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Not sure how high without seeing the upper insides of the firebox, but maybe a few inches above the firebrick? Take a look in the Fisher threads for some examples.
 
Stove Bright is an acetone based paint. Do any painting either in a well ventilated garage/shed with an exhaust fan running and preferably with a good organic mask. That stuff WILL cause brain damage. And the advice to do the burn in outside is good as well.
Lot's of great advice here but BB's might be too late for some of us.
 
Lot's of great advice here but BB's might be too late for some of us.
LOL, I was thinking the same thing....NOW HE TELLS US!?? Oh well.

Didn't work on the stove this weekend, but I did get another 1/2 cord split and stacked. So far I have over a 1 1/2 cords of black walnut (little bit of that is maple) split and stacked. And I have three more walnut trees in the back yard coming down by the end of May. Can't sell the logs as they all have metal all over them. I've already cut 6 large ones down in the last two years!

Oh, I did measure the fire box on the Grizzly with brick in it. it's 20" deep X 22" wide! I'm really excited about that. Bigger than I had been anticipating while cutting wood. I took a sharpie to the side of my saw (I have 16" Husky 345e) and marked off 18" and 20" on the bar cover. I suck at making consistent cuts! So this will help me cut better.
 
You would be horrified like I have been every time I cut into one of these "yard" trees. I have cut 3 of these that were close or right at 30" logs. Nails, screws and pieces of wire, deep inside the middle of the trees. And many times at almost ground level. No clue how in the world or why, some idiot would plant walnuts, and then somebody drive metal into them...fencing or whatever the case may be. I did get $70 out of a top log of one of the bigger ones. I sent the bottom log (the biggest) one with it to the Amish logger, he wouldn't touch it. I knew it had metal in it, but thought they might overlook it. They run metal detectors up and down the logs before processing. They pay very fair. In fact higher than if I pay a small time logger to come in and get them.

Never fear, Once I get these problematic walnuts down, I have 10 acres of solid hardwoods. There's some nice ones that are accessible that I plan on selling this summer to pay for the stove installation.
 
You would be horrified like I have been every time I cut into one of these "yard" trees. I have cut 3 of these that were close or right at 30" logs. Nails, screws and pieces of wire, deep inside the middle of the trees. And many times at almost ground level. No clue how in the world or why, some idiot would plant walnuts, and then somebody drive metal into them...fencing or whatever the case may be. I did get $70 out of a top log of one of the bigger ones. I sent the bottom log (the biggest) one with it to the Amish logger, he wouldn't touch it. I knew it had metal in it, but thought they might overlook it. They run metal detectors up and down the logs before processing. They pay very fair. In fact higher than if I pay a small time logger to come in and get them.

Never fear, Once I get these problematic walnuts down, I have 10 acres of solid hardwoods. There's some nice ones that are accessible that I plan on selling this summer to pay for the stove installation.

Old time farmer retirement planning. Plant black walnut along the fence line. 40 years later, retire.
 
Most glass shops carry hi temp glass, but they all have their own prices too. When I was looking for a piece of glass, I goggled glass shops close to my area and called all of them and most where close to $100 for a 10"x14"piece and found one that sold it for less than half of that. Also read somewhere in the forum that they had gone to the scrap yard and took the glass off a stove top and had it cut to fit too.Worked for him and his wallet.
 
Most glass shops carry hi temp glass, but they all have their own prices too. When I was looking for a piece of glass, I goggled glass shops close to my area and called all of them and most where close to $100 for a 10"x14"piece and found one that sold it for less than half of that. Also read somewhere in the forum that they had gone to the scrap yard and took the glass off a stove top and had it cut to fit too.Worked for him and his wallet.
Now you guys have talked me out of going with steel plates! Gotta get to those "money" trees so I can get some glass. Thank you sir.
 
Just to get a rough idea of cost I priced out 1/8" pyroceram cut to 10" x 12" with 1" radiused corners. That came to $51 each at www.onedayglass.com
 
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