Restoring a Cook Stove

[Jbels]

Hello,
I have attempted to do "due diligence" in searching the forum but have been unsuccessful in finding answers to my questions. My wife and I have purchased a wood burning cook stove which is in need of some TLC. There is a moderate amount of rust on the outside and inside of the stove and some rust/pitting on the cook surface. The stove itself appears to be very salvageable and I hope to do that and use it in the near future. I would appreciate some help in knowing what to do. I would plan on wire brushing the exterior of the stove and then painting it with a high temp paint. For the cook surface I was thinking of sanding the surface rust and some of the pitting with 220 then progressively higher grit paper to bring that surface back, however I really don't know what I'm supposed to do to treat that surface once I'm done. I am new to this and would appreciate any suggestions and or more likely corrections! Thank you

 

[bholler]

Hello,
I have attempted to do "due diligence" in searching the forum but have been unsuccessful in finding answers to my questions. My wife and I have purchased a wood burning cook stove which is in need of some TLC. There is a moderate amount of rust on the outside and inside of the stove and some rust/pitting on the cook surface. The stove itself appears to be very salvageable and I hope to do that and use it in the near future. I would appreciate some help in knowing what to do. I would plan on wire brushing the exterior of the stove and then painting it with a high temp paint. For the cook surface I was thinking of sanding the surface rust and some of the pitting with 220 then progressively higher grit paper to bring that surface back, however I really don't know what I'm supposed to do to treat that surface once I'm done. I am new to this and would appreciate any suggestions and or more likely corrections! Thank you

Pictures would help

 

[Jbels]

Pictures would help

These are the only ones I have.

 

[begreen]

It looks pretty nice. The cook surface does not get painted or stove polished. Use a cooking oil to wipe down. Here are some tips for keeping the stove tip top.

13 Tips to Keep a Wood Cook Stove Functioning at Peak Efficiency

A wood cook stove is a beautiful, well crafted appliance that will add charm, warmth, and efficiency to your homestead kitchen. But, unlike electrical appliances, a wood cook stoves requires regular maintenance to work at peak efficacy.

joybileefarm.com

 

[Jbels]

That's great, thank you. Does the wire brushing and paint for the exterior sounds good? Also is there anything else as far as maintenance that I should look into doing before firing it up for the first time?

 

[begreen]

Yes, wirebrush it down, followed by steel wool if necessary. Then do a very thorough cleaning of all dust on it. I use a few tack rags. Then wipe down with alcohol. Then paint with a good high temp paint like Stove Brite satin black. Test paint a less visible area and let it dry completely to be sure there is no odd reaction. If ok, then proceed.

Mostly you want to be sure that the seams are tight and that there are no air leaks in the smoke path. Make sure that the oven divertor and other dampers work smoothly. A bit of graphite powder on the pivot point can help. . @coaly has worked with some old stoves and should have some good tips.

 

[Jbels]

Yes, wirebrush it down, followed by steel wool if necessary. Then do a very thorough cleaning of all dust on it. I use a few tack rags. Then wipe down with alcohol. Then paint with a good high temp paint like Stove Brite satin black. Test paint a less visible area and let it dry completely to be sure there is no odd reaction. If ok, then proceed.

Mostly you want to be sure that the seams are tight and that there are no air leaks in the smoke path. Make sure that the oven divertor and other dampers work smoothly. A bit of graphite powder on the pivot point can help. . @coaly has worked with some old stoves and should have some good tips.

If there are leaks in the smoke path, what do you do about that?
Josh

 

[Qvist]

I'm trying to seal one up now. The seams between castings can be sealed with furnace cement if the gaps are small. 1/8 inch or so. Big gaps like cracked castings can be trouble. Hopefully you don't have any. If you do you might need to bolt on/ fabricate steel patches or something like it. Probably have to seal patches with refractory/furnace cement too if so. Warped parts are also hard to find/fix like a warped cook top or shaker grates if stove has them again hopefully yours are good. Cooktop looks ok from here. Foundry might need to cast new parts etc. If not. Make sure the firebox liner isnt broken and in there if stove has one. Look for missing pieces etc.
Do you have more pictures of it like in the firebox, the back, underneath the cooktop etc. Would be helpful to determine the shape it's in.

 

[Jbels]

I'm trying to seal one up now. The seams between castings can be sealed with furnace cement if the gaps are small. 1/8 inch or so. Big gaps like cracked castings can be trouble. Hopefully you don't have any. If you do you might need to bolt on/ fabricate steel patches or something like it. Probably have to seal patches with refractory/furnace cement too if so. Warped parts are also hard to find/fix like a warped cook top or shaker grates if stove has them again hopefully yours are good. Cooktop looks ok from here. Foundry might need to cast new parts etc. If not. Make sure the firebox liner isnt broken and in there if stove has one. Look for missing pieces etc.
Do you have more pictures of it like in the firebox, the back, underneath the cooktop etc. Would be helpful to determine the shape it's in.

Here are some more pictures. I purchased the stove from an elderly couple who said the wife has used it regularly up until about four years ago when it became too much for them.

Right side:

Back

Left side

Firebox, with and without grate

Under the burners

Reservoir

Thank you for your help!

 

[Qvist]

Stove looks like it is in fairly good shape from here. The water tank is in good shape (They most often freeze with water in them and are ruined) The plate you put in the firebox is your wood/summer grate. It's for when you burn wood, as it has finer ash and will fall through shakers quickly. The firebox liners looks good, and so does the back where the flu attaches with the exception of a gap in between the stove body and flu casting that you can seal with furnace cement after cleaning. Those gaps are what you are looking for. I put two drawings showing the likely smoke path through the stove 1. Damper open 2. Damper closed for oven. Look in that smoke path/s for leaks in the oven, stove sides, and back. A flashlight from behind the seam helps. They will most likely be at seams. Stove will never be airtight but no gaps. Look in the clean out under the oven too. Third picture is of the gap in back. Be careful removing/replacing bolts/castings they may be stuck/weak and break from excessive force and castings are very difficult to find.

 

[coaly]

I prefer Rutland Stove and Gasket Cement which has gotten hard to find lately. Imperial makes the same type product in a tub. Rutland is in a tube which applies easy. Furnace cement is good for cementing pipe to masonry chimney or fabricating the firebox liner where used on some cookstoves.

Different oils can be used on top and lids. Lots of technical info online, basically you need an oil that won’t go rancid sitting until you fire it up. Boiled linseed works good for that since it dries to a hard coating. Cooking oil or Crisco can be used when it won’t sit for weeks until final cure with heat. Years ago lard was used, and is the best. Today pigs are grain fed and the lard is not the same. (It was higher Omega Fatty acids, so you would render the lard from tissues of your pigs) Chemically, the oil polymerizes with heat. It becomes a different substance. The smoke point is much higher and it won’t burn off like the original oil. Molecules cross link at the proper temperature, forming a bond like seasoning cast iron pans. An example is the temperature or chemical needed to clean an oven. Grease and oils spatter on the oven sides and with heat cross link to become a coating with a higher ignition point than the original oils. You then need a hotter self cleaning temp or lye to remove it.

Welcome to an interesting hobby, and be prepared to learn a lot as you go, and congrats on the Zoo find!

 

[coaly]

I’ve also learned when wire wheeling to keep it wet with keep or pb blaster. I would rather clean off wet spatter than have all the dust airborne. A wire brush in a drill works ok, larger areas are quicker with a polisher type tool. A knotted brush is more aggressive for heavy rust. Yours is fine for a light duty wheel. Those in a hurry will take it for sand blasting and pick up the next day. It makes a better job, but takes the fun out of it for me. Rare collectibles are better walnut shell blasted. I did so many doors and small pieces I bought my own blasting cabinet. You’ll be surprised how quickly it goes and want to do another by the time your done.

 

[Jbels]

This is great. I will be sure to post updates! Are these meant for coal as well? It looks like the front panel on the fire box should be able to be removed so I can use the front door, but I can't seem to get it out without taking the stove apart.

 

[Qvist]

Coaly may know more, but to my knowledge some cook stoves were specifcally designed to burn coal, some specifcally for wood and some were advertised to burn wood and coal but it depended on the type of firebox liner and shaker grates that you selected when you ordered it from the factory. Also like today some were "advertised" to burn coal but didn't handle it very well and some might have only been for bituminous coal and not anthracite. I think yours is one you would have to order with refractory Iiners and coal grates based on the advertisment (it lists different firebox lengths for wood and coal) I believe you would need a refractory (brick) liner to burn coal safely in the stove rather than just the cast iron liner you have. Also, even if you had the brick liners, the stove might not last as long using coal. It might warp the shaker grates etc. The stove I am trying to seal is very similar to yours with the exception of using duplex/combi grates. It has iron liners and anthracite coal was burnt in it. The coal burnt out the liners, melted the shaker grates, warped the cooktop, and cracked the flu casting. I wouldn't do it. But this is where my knowledge runs out. I have limited knowledge of coal burning. Coaly may be of better help than I.

 

[SpaceBus]

The shaker grates and chute pretty much guarantee it is a coal stove. Usually appliances that are intended to burn wood primarily won't have grates that move. My cooker is modern and says it can burn coal, but I probably won't ever and wood is the primary fuel.

 

[Qvist]

Some Kalamazoos apparently came with extra heavy cast iron firebox liners for coal, but they were an expendable eventually. As SpaceBus says you probably have anthracite grates. (In add p 28 heavy firebox) https://archive.org/details/AKalamazooDirectToYou/page/n27/mode/1up

 

[coaly]

Shaker grates are for Chestnut coal. The flat plate is wood if it sets down on the grates. This is primarily a coal stove. You "can" burn wood in any coal stove. Just not efficiently. It will get far too much air and not have a bed of coals in the morning since it falls through the grates.

Don't expect an overnight fire with wood. If you fire it all day to get the mass hot, fire out in the morning will still have a warm stove to start over. Fireboxes are very small on older cookstoves built for coal. Wood has to be cut small and is not as efficient. Coal will burn all night with correct draft. They burn too fast and hot so will burn out many times by morning. If you find the proper flue pipe damper, it will have a regulated center hole to idle it down when closed fully. They still sometimes burn too hard overnight and need to be slowed down even more. This is done by tilting a lid over firebox to slow draft enough to prolong the fire to morning. These were built for larger masonry chimneys that did not draft as easily as newer insulated liner chimneys. Coal exhaust is only 100 to 150*f compared to wood at 400 and up.

It was common practice to let them go out after Sunday breakfast to oil the top and stove black the stove when cool. Sundays were stove day, Monday wash day. That's why you want paint. The stove polish is not impermeable to water vapor or water and will rust under the coating needing frequent re-coating. Higher dollar stoves were enamel coated with baked on finish, later high temp paints were formulated.

 

[Jbels]

Shaker grates are for Chestnut coal. The flat plate is wood if it sets down on the grates. This is primarily a coal stove. You "can" burn wood in any coal stove. Just not efficiently. It will get far too much air and not have a bed of coals in the morning since it falls through the grates.

Don't expect an overnight fire with wood. If you fire it all day to get the mass hot, fire out in the morning will still have a warm stove to start over. Fireboxes are very small on older cookstoves built for coal. Wood has to be cut small and is not as efficient. Coal will burn all night with correct draft. They burn too fast and hot so will burn out many times by morning. If you find the proper flue pipe damper, it will have a regulated center hole to idle it down when closed fully. They still sometimes burn too hard overnight and need to be slowed down even more. This is done by tilting a lid over firebox to slow draft enough to prolong the fire to morning. These were built for larger masonry chimneys that did not draft as easily as newer insulated liner chimneys. Coal exhaust is only 100 to 150*f compared to wood at 400 and up.

It was common practice to let them go out after Sunday breakfast to oil the top and stove black the stove when cool. Sundays were stove day, Monday wash day. That's why you want paint. The stove polish is not impermeable to water vapor or water and will rust under the coating needing frequent re-coating. Higher dollar stoves were enamel coated with baked on finish, later high temp paints were formulated.

So it's this... https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/premium-nut-coal
what I should be burning on this stove? I was hoping that I could use wood as I have 75 face cord stacked right now. Could I use wood during the day and then use coal for the over night burn?

Here are a few better pics of the fire box.

 

[SpaceBus]

You could probably get away with wood cooking fires during the day and switch to coal at night if you wanted to. The coal will burn in a much more controlled and slow manner than the wood. You actually have to use wood to get the coal fire going.

 

[SpaceBus]

Also, from your pictures the previous user exclusively burned coal.

 

[coaly]

The side pieces are a hopper to direct coal to the grate. Coal only burns with air coming up through it. So there can’t be a shelf around the edges for it to sit on. It’s like funneled to the grates. Primary air comes from the bottom through coal bed. The air intake above coal bed is only cracked open slightly for secondary air to ignite coal gas. It will glow as a steady hot mass with blue flames on top. The more bottom air, the hotter the mass and the more blue flames. Overnight you only want blue flame flicks, not a big steady flame.

Wood is burned on the wood grate, the flat plate. The holes in it are so it gets some air from below, and prevent so much air going through the fire.

Coal takes more than overnight to establish a good clean fire. When you start with wood, you add coal right away. You don’t wait for wood to burn down into coals and try to ignite coal. Open air and flue damper fully so yellow wood flames are roaring up through coal. It will slowly start to glow, adding more coal slowly until fire is totally covered. You will only see glow from the bottom with dirty yellow flicks from the wood. As the coal bed establishes, it can take 24 hours to get rid of the wood, until you have an even coal fire. This takes practice, but is easy once you master it. Never poke a coal fire from the top. You will kill it.

the next morning you rock the grated to dump a little ash. Not much, just enough to make holes through ash for air to kick up fire. Open bottom primary and pipe damper to kick up fire. When stack is hot abd drafting, that is the only time to shake grates to clean fire. Otherwise fly ash will leak into building. You want a draft to take it up chimney. Then pour coal on top until full. This is called stoking.

There should always be a light spot (thin spot on pile) to keep a blue pilot flame burning to ignite coal gas.Until you learn how to keep a low spot flaming, it will create coal gas up the chimney smelling like sulfur outside. Try not to do that. It also wastes fuel by not burning the gas in the firebox.

Putting wood on top of a coal fire that has been established wrecks the fire. It would go back to yellow flames, the stack gets hot and the stove cools down! Either install a barometric damper and use coal grate or use a manual damper and wood grate. You can’t burn wood with a barometric damper for coal anyway. It’s a fire hazard. It is a convertible stove, not both at the same time. Wood on the coal grate burns right up putting most of the heat up the chimney. Like 500 or 600 stack temp compared to 150 with coal. Measuring the surface temperature compared to stack temp will give you the efficiency. Huge difference.

A home in the North East up to about 1900 square feet can be heated with 2 tons of coal all winter. That is $450 to 500 for the entire heating season buying in bulk, or delivered, not expensive bags. I have never used more than 2 tons with no splitting, stacking, hauling wood in, loading a few times a day. Simply shake 2 to 3 times daily and fill with 1 coal hod. Extreme temps below zero can use 2 a day. It burns with steady heat output until left to go out in spring. Oven will be 300 before pulling the circulate lever to actually turn it on. Open bottom air and watch it climb. You will learn the temp continues to climb like coasting up, until you learn how to control it. Cold food in drops temp, don’t touch it, it will recover. Easier than you think, really. Cook on top with eye removed for direct contact with flame on pan or kettle bottom. Without removing lid is like medium to simmer heat. You move pans around for desired heat unlike a range where you control heat output of burners. Wood gives you lots of hot and cool heat cycles that need to be coordinated to cook or use the oven with.

 

[Jbels]

A couple of updated pictures.

 

[Qvist]

It's looking good. The stove is in really nice shape. I wish I had a use for one. How did you seal the gap in the rear casting?

 

[Jbels]

It's looking good. The stove is in really nice shape. I wish I had a use for one. How did you seal the gap in the rear casting?

I Used the Rutland stove and gasket seal.

 

[begreen]

That's beautiful!! It is shaping up nicely.
What is that fancy left front burner cover about? Does it have a built-in damper for direct flame contact?