Thanks Dennis and everyone else who chimed in! Here is the summary of today's road trip:
I was so excited last night that I couldn't sleep and I woke up an hour early at 5am. I was on the road by 6:30am to be at Woodstock Stove Co (WSC) by the time they opened. The reason I decided to go up there this weekend instead of next weekend is that I really like to "kick the tires" and tend to hem and haw and spend a lot of time making decisions. So, going this weekend allowed me to compare stoves in relative calm. Next weekend's festivities will keep all the staff very busy.
I am pretty particular about the stone I want. I want a Fireview (FV) with stone that has some character, marbling, and a slight, not loud greenish tint to it. Oh, and in the matte black cast iron frame. So, the plan was for me to go up there and if a stove matched those specs I would take it home today. If I couldn't find a stove with those specs, then I was going to look through the stack of unfinished stones and "build my own" which WSC would fabricate next week and I would pick up the following weekend (which would give me an excuse to come back for the mortgage-burning party!)
So, I got to WSC shortly after 9am and met with Ron. I'll verify the truth of all the stories you've read on hearth.com about how helpful WSC staff are. Really, unbelievably helpful. Ron first took me to the shipping area and showed me a couple of black FVs. Neither of them "spoke to me" so Ron took me back to the manufacturing floor and uncovered about ten more black FVs. All of them were pretty, and unique in their own ways, but again, no single one leapt out at me. But Ron didn't mind. He kept uncovering more FVs while I basically did laps around the floor touching and eyeballing all the stoves. I probably was there comparing stoves for a good hour. Ron kept uncovering more and more stoves until finally about 25 black FVs were uncovered and within that group were a number of definite contenders. The trick then became to narrow down the universe to a few I liked the most.
Of course I was hemming and hawing, as is my nature, and I called my wife to describe a couple of the stoves to her. Ron suggested that we send her some digital pictures. I narrowed down the field to three stoves. Ron pulled them out so I could see all sides of them. He took pictures of those three and emailed them to my wife.
Then I called my wife on the phone and she eliminated one of the contenders. Then I picked the final winner from the remaining two. Pictures are attached of the stove I picked out. She's purty huh?
Now, I had planned to have WSC load the stove right into my pickup. But when I was actually there in person, and saw the stove, and I thought about what could go wrong, I got nervous about my ability to wrestle the thing off my truck alone. I am a cautious guy. I got nervous that hurricane Earl might rain on it, or I might accidentally dump the stove off my tailgate, or the ramps would break or something like that. So, I opted to just have WSC ship the stove to my installer. I would have liked to save the $100 shipping (heck, I was already there with my truck!) but I am just going to call that $100 in shipping a form of insurance. I'd hate to save $100 at the showroom and then destroy the $2200 stove in my driveway. Some things I'll leave to professionals and this, I decided, was one of them. So, after driving all that way, I actually left stoveless! But I did put a deposit on the stove in the pictures.
While I was there Ron gave me a factory tour. He showed me the stone fab area, the casting machining area, the paint booth, and the R&D area. I will not be a spoiler and give away anything about the new stove before the mortgage burning party. I'll just say that I am sure the hearth.com regulars will have plenty to report on. Ron called the prototype, which is pretty rough to look at, the "Frankenstove" which I found amusing. There are lots of probes and wires sticking out of it. Ron also said that WSC's blog's description of the design as "more contemporary" is somewhat off. He said it would be less ornate and Victorian than the FV. More clean lines and less filigree-type detail. Not "contemporary" as in Ikea-like.
Dennis, it would have been great to meet you in person at the party. I had secretly hoped that I wouldn't find a stove that told me, "take me home!" In that case I would have picked out the raw stones and come back the following for the party and to to pick up the finished stove and meet all the good hearth.com folks.
I really appreciate all the good advice that you and all my new hearth.com friends have offered me as I get deeper into this woodburning addiction!
Rick
