I spent lots of time poking and prodding the new Progress during the pig Roast open house. Not only did I enjoy the food, beer and people, but I made a nuisance of myself asking lots and lots of questions.The Woodstock team was unfazed and happily educated me (especially Lewis, he was unbelievably knowledgeable and friendly).
Here are some of my findings – some objective others not so objective:
1. Firebox size
I brought 16†splits of cottonwood (nice and light) to see how much more wood the new stove can fit relative to my FV. The milk crate full of wood in the picture is exactly what fit in a Fireview, right up to the top. The rest of the wood is the difference you can fit into the Progress. It was a little tricky, since the progress technically takes up to 22†splits. The new stove could actually fit a couple of 16†splits vertically (that’s right, standing up in the firebox!) The tallest point was 16.5†in the front and sloped lower towards the rear. The E/W direction was 23†max just above the bottom of the door. The N/S direction was 15†max. I was told you can stack right up to (but not touching) the stainless steel baffle plate. You just need for the holes to be able to “breath†for the secondaries to work.
I was a little surprised the firebox did not fit even more, but I suspect using full 22†splits would have better utilized the extra space.
2. Construction
What can I say. Very typical Woodstock-like. Lift the cat lid and you are facing ENORMOUSLY THICK cast iron parts. I did not bring my calipers, but the steel castings and brackets were ½†thick in places – no signs of skimping.
What I really loved is there is VIRTUALLY NO FURNACE CEMENT in the entire stove! The only place it’s used is to hold in a small soapstone brick just below the door. The stove is a “sandwich†construction of exterior Soapstone panels, a welded steel firebox, and soapstone bricks lining the firebox. All of the soapstone bricks in the firebox (except for the one below the door) can be removed and replaced simply by tilting them into the firebox at the bottom of each brick, They are held in by a thick cast iron ridge at the top of the bricks.
The outer soapstone panels are a thing of simplistic beauty. You only have to remove some tiny screws that hold cast iron trim into the steel box, and each soapstone panel can be easily removed. They demonstrated it in front of my eyes. You could probably gut each and every piece of soapstone from this entire stove in less than 15 minutes with nothing but a small screwdriver. This will make repair very easy, unlike the FV which requires major deconstruction to replace soapstone panels.
The other advantage to this construction is that the stove can be brought up to a high temperature MUCH FASTER than with the cemented FV. The Soapstone panels have lots of room to expand, they are not “locked†in place so stresses are greatly relieved.
Hey Woodstock, how about disassembling the stove for us weaklings that can't easily move 700 pounds and shipping the soapstone panels in separate boxes with good installation instructions?
The thermal shock of starting up a fire in a cold stove is first absorbed by those relatively small and numerous soapstone bricks, and then transferred to the welded steel firebox.
The gigantic stainless steel baffle plate acts like a parabolic dish of sorts and directs/reflects heat very quickly after startup thru the glass – I was told it actually starts to throw useable heat faster through this huge window than does the Fireview from a cold start.
Air Contol:
There is a “butterfly†valve in the rear of the stove that simultaneously regulates primary and secondary air. It’s a horizontal shaft stretching across most of the rear of the stove, and has three blades or “vanes†(Outer primary, Inner Primary, center secondary). The primary vanes can be snuffed completely closed for long burns, but the secondary vane has a built in slot so that the secondaries always get some air. There is also a primary entry point somewhere in the front of the stove to always provide a small air supply, intended to reduce/eliminate backpuffing, especially whent the stove switches from catalytic to non/catalytic burn modes. The knob that controls the butterfly valve rotates a total of 90 degrees from fully snuffed to full on. It was not labeled with numbers on the stove I saw, but final production stoves will be.
I will probably think of some more stuff to post , but I already got kind of long winded. Bottom line, I placed a deposit on the stove and now I am in wait mode.
Here are some of my findings – some objective others not so objective:
1. Firebox size
I brought 16†splits of cottonwood (nice and light) to see how much more wood the new stove can fit relative to my FV. The milk crate full of wood in the picture is exactly what fit in a Fireview, right up to the top. The rest of the wood is the difference you can fit into the Progress. It was a little tricky, since the progress technically takes up to 22†splits. The new stove could actually fit a couple of 16†splits vertically (that’s right, standing up in the firebox!) The tallest point was 16.5†in the front and sloped lower towards the rear. The E/W direction was 23†max just above the bottom of the door. The N/S direction was 15†max. I was told you can stack right up to (but not touching) the stainless steel baffle plate. You just need for the holes to be able to “breath†for the secondaries to work.
I was a little surprised the firebox did not fit even more, but I suspect using full 22†splits would have better utilized the extra space.
2. Construction
What can I say. Very typical Woodstock-like. Lift the cat lid and you are facing ENORMOUSLY THICK cast iron parts. I did not bring my calipers, but the steel castings and brackets were ½†thick in places – no signs of skimping.
What I really loved is there is VIRTUALLY NO FURNACE CEMENT in the entire stove! The only place it’s used is to hold in a small soapstone brick just below the door. The stove is a “sandwich†construction of exterior Soapstone panels, a welded steel firebox, and soapstone bricks lining the firebox. All of the soapstone bricks in the firebox (except for the one below the door) can be removed and replaced simply by tilting them into the firebox at the bottom of each brick, They are held in by a thick cast iron ridge at the top of the bricks.
The outer soapstone panels are a thing of simplistic beauty. You only have to remove some tiny screws that hold cast iron trim into the steel box, and each soapstone panel can be easily removed. They demonstrated it in front of my eyes. You could probably gut each and every piece of soapstone from this entire stove in less than 15 minutes with nothing but a small screwdriver. This will make repair very easy, unlike the FV which requires major deconstruction to replace soapstone panels.
The other advantage to this construction is that the stove can be brought up to a high temperature MUCH FASTER than with the cemented FV. The Soapstone panels have lots of room to expand, they are not “locked†in place so stresses are greatly relieved.
Hey Woodstock, how about disassembling the stove for us weaklings that can't easily move 700 pounds and shipping the soapstone panels in separate boxes with good installation instructions?
The thermal shock of starting up a fire in a cold stove is first absorbed by those relatively small and numerous soapstone bricks, and then transferred to the welded steel firebox.
The gigantic stainless steel baffle plate acts like a parabolic dish of sorts and directs/reflects heat very quickly after startup thru the glass – I was told it actually starts to throw useable heat faster through this huge window than does the Fireview from a cold start.
Air Contol:
There is a “butterfly†valve in the rear of the stove that simultaneously regulates primary and secondary air. It’s a horizontal shaft stretching across most of the rear of the stove, and has three blades or “vanes†(Outer primary, Inner Primary, center secondary). The primary vanes can be snuffed completely closed for long burns, but the secondary vane has a built in slot so that the secondaries always get some air. There is also a primary entry point somewhere in the front of the stove to always provide a small air supply, intended to reduce/eliminate backpuffing, especially whent the stove switches from catalytic to non/catalytic burn modes. The knob that controls the butterfly valve rotates a total of 90 degrees from fully snuffed to full on. It was not labeled with numbers on the stove I saw, but final production stoves will be.
I will probably think of some more stuff to post , but I already got kind of long winded. Bottom line, I placed a deposit on the stove and now I am in wait mode.
