Baby Bear pics

[Clint Boyer]

Here are a few pics of the stove I just acquired.

My friend said he got it 10 yrs ago from a friend that had it in a cabin near Cresent lake Or. I couldn't find anything on the bottom of the stove or anywhere else.

 

[coaly]

Nice, it hasn't been burned hard at all. You will be amazed how easy it cleans up. I'd buff with a wire wheel, the large cup brush type, and paint. Keep the threads on the draft cap greased along with the hinge pins. That's the only parts that will wear. A gloved hand on the handle works until you find a knob. Matter of fact a gloved hand is needed even after you find a knob. That's a shame it's gone.
There have been so many programs, rebates and incentives to get the stove dealers to scrap the older stoves there that these are becoming quite scarce.
The first stoves were brush painted originally, but I've grown to like to stove black the cast door (door only !)since the polished stove black allows the cast iron texture to show through instead of filling the roughness with paint. It gives it just a shade different black than the stove to set it off too. More like a graphite sparkle.
Maybe I just like the idea of polishing the door from time to time. When you paint it, it stays that way and you don't get to fuss with it. It's more like a pet. Man, I need to go polish my Springfield door.

 

[Clint Boyer]

Thanks for the input Coaly!

Can you tell by the pics what year this one was made?

 

[coaly]

1974. I think before '75 the trees were added to the door. (A few cracked between the double draft caps on Mama and Papa doors and the trees were added for thickness) If there are any markings on the bottom, I can give you a lot more info on it.

 

[Clint Boyer]

I'll get the side grinder with the wire wheel out tomorrow and go over the bottom, I'll look for markings then. I think this will be an enjoyable summer project!

 

[webbie]

Nice find!

That's an oldie - before the real boom hit!

 

[Clint Boyer]

I found absolutely nothing but smooth metal on the bottom.

 

[WeldrDave]

Very Nice find Clint.... I'm jealous........

 

[Clint Boyer]

More pics added of the clean-up.

 

[Clint Boyer]

A couple more.

 

[WeldrDave]

Again Clint, very nice, and nice job! You'll enjoy that beer more when she is cooking away on some cold night keeping you warm. I personally like the other blue label "lite" beer, but thats a good choice as well.

I know it won't be "original" but for temporary you could use a spring handle on her till you find the correct one.
I'm sure sooner or later, one will turn up, I'll keep my eyes peeled for one for you.

 

[Clint Boyer]

Hey, Thanks! I appreciate that.

I wasn't going to hurry through the cleanup but every little spot of rust just kept egging me on.

Next will come paint, I've got so many other spring projects going that it might be awhile.

 

[Todd67]

Very nice pics of the stove, and great job with the clean-up! All my Baby Bear needs is the new paint and the new firebricks installed. We left PB Blaster on it all winter in the garage because we ran out of time while tending to other projects, so we will finish it this summer. Great find and congrats on claiming a nice piece of Fisher Stove history.

 

[Saj8986]

just picked up a baby bear. looks like we have one thing in common besides re-storing old wood stoves. This will be my second restoration in the past few months...first one was a Dovre. I'm guessing the baby's birth date is somewhere late 70s early 80s. no markings anywhere except on the door. Inside has a baby insignia and outside says pat. no D237788 I believe but the 88 could be 98 or S8.

 

[WeldrDave]

ust picked up a baby bear. looks like we have one thing in common besides re-storing old wood stoves. This will be my second restoration in the past few months...first one was a Dovre. I'm guessing the baby's birth date is somewhere late 70s early 80s. no markings anywhere except on the door. Inside has a baby insignia and outside says pat. no D237788 I believe but the 88 could be 98 or S8.

Saj, Welcome! If you dig through the site, Coaly has some "GREAT" stuff on fishers. I have a few on my baby bear as well and some on my mama bear. I don't think she is a 80's model with a square door but only Coaly can answer that! It's a very nice find! Good luck with it, hope you have fun in the restro, I love the style legs on her, I don't think there was too many of them.

 

[coaly]

At the end of the transition from the I and II with welded corners to the one piece box construction for 1980 was the Model III. They were available either with the old style welded corners or one piece bent corners. This was the first year the arched top Cathedral door was offered as an option as well. You have a '79 Model III with the original style flat top door. The "Fireplace" legs on yours were the ones used with the bent corners as shown on the stove in front on the Fireplace Series owners manual here;

You have the front pictured new style box with the old style door.

The following year, the flat top door was dropped and the stove line became the VI as shown below in this brochure;

 

[coaly]

Patent Number 237,798

 

[Saj8986]

Thank you Mr. Coaly for the background on this stove. I'm going to take my time on this and do it right. I will have questions concerning the stove pipe and damper setup and what type of paint to use on the magnificent fir trees but that will be down the road.

Sad story on how I got this....originally went to pick up 2 free 280 gallon water storage containers a friend had told me about...when i got there the guy giving the containers away asked if I wanted "an old stove" for free as well. I said he could've put these items on craigslist and made some money. He said his wife had asked him to out a few months back and moved her boyfriend in with his 2 young sons. She then didn't pay the rent and moved out of state dropping the boys off with him. He had 2 days to move all his/hers stuff..... His boys looked like decent kids and he works at a gas station pumping gas and as a mechanic. Felt bad for him after all was loaded up in my pickup so I pulled out my wallet and gave him what I had....$100. Sad but true story.

 

[WeldrDave]

Sad but true story.

Dam! Very admirable on your part. You'll love that little stove!

 

[coaly]

Thanks for sharing that story. Most everyone has a story about getting their stove, especially back in the day when they bought them directly from the Fisher Showrooms.

I needed a Papa Bear to trade for a Coal Bear, and found one for $200 about an hour away in New York state. Turned out the daughter that I was in contact with on Craigslist was selling it for her mother who had lost her husband years ago and had fond memories of getting it and boiling maple syrup for years on it. While there, she gave me everything she had to go with the stove. Pipe, tools, and a purple ECO Fan. (the non-electric stove top expensive fans) Like most sellers that expect to need 4 big guys to haul it out, she watched in disbelief as my wife and I jacked and wheeled it out, then laid it on it's side and "walked" it up a makeshift ramp into the truck. In the course of the conversation, she told us she had to go for an MRI for something serious soon, so I got her phone number to check up on her later. Sure enough it was cancerous and she remembers me everytime I call. She doesn't have many callers, so I keep in touch.

The last Papa I picked up was for a friend and neighbor. Another Craigslist stove, this one in a home being bulldozed soon. We went to pick it up after dark last March, and quickly learned the power had already been turned off in the building. I pay cash as soon as I look them over and am happy with it to close the deal. I was happy to find another Papa for $200 in any condition. I rebrick, repaint and get another $100 for my time and material, so I always have a waiting list for stoves. I only had one poorly charged flashlight to disconnect, jack and get it on a dolly to roll out. I knew I could load with the dome light in the truck. On the way out, a soft spot in the floor became a pot hole trying to get the dolly out of with the stove pressing it through the floor....... in the dark. Removed a few studs from a wall for pry sticks, to get it up and get something substantial across the floor joists under it. It took so long to get it out, the guy selling it is now standing on the porch, since it was even darker in the house with my flashlight down to about 1 candlepower....... and says " I hope the owner doesn't find us here taking so long"........... at this point I figured there was no use in asking for my money back, and telling the guy I wanted no part of stolen property. Besides, what about my dolly stuck in the floor, and now a destroyed wall left behind? That Papa came out of there in a hurry, end over end. Not a broken brick ! He later, laughing told me he was a cop, and was selling the stove for a relative razing the house. He wanted to see what I would do.

 

[Saj8986]

Thanks for sharing that story. Most everyone has a story about getting their stove, especially back in the day when they bought them directly from the Fisher Showrooms.

I needed a Papa Bear to trade for a Coal Bear, and found one for $200 about an hour away in New York state. Turned out the daughter that I was in contact with on Craigslist was selling it for her mother who had lost her husband years ago and had fond memories of getting it and boiling maple syrup for years on it. While there, she gave me everything she had to go with the stove. Pipe, tools, and a purple ECO Fan. (the non-electric stove top expensive fans) Like most sellers that expect to need 4 big guys to haul it out, she watched in disbelief as my wife and I jacked and wheeled it out, then laid it on it's side and "walked" it up a makeshift ramp into the truck. In the course of the conversation, she told us she had to go for an MRI for something serious soon, so I got her phone number to check up on her later. Sure enough it was cancerous and she remembers me everytime I call. She doesn't have many callers, so I keep in touch.

The last Papa I picked up was for a friend and neighbor. Another Craigslist stove, this one in a home being bulldozed soon. We went to pick it up after dark last March, and quickly learned the power had already been turned off in the building. I pay cash as soon as I look them over and am happy with it to close the deal. I was happy to find another Papa for $200 in any condition. I rebrick, repaint and get another $100 for my time and material, so I always have a waiting list for stoves. I only had one poorly charged flashlight to disconnect, jack and get it on a dolly to roll out. I knew I could load with the dome light in the truck. On the way out, a soft spot in the floor became a pot hole trying to get the dolly out of with the stove pressing it through the floor....... in the dark. Removed a few studs from a wall for pry sticks, to get it up and get something substantial across the floor joists under it. It took so long to get it out, the guy selling it is now standing on the porch, since it was even darker in the house with my flashlight down to about 1 candlepower....... and says " I hope the owner doesn't find us here taking so long"........... at this point I figured there was no use in asking for my money back, and telling the guy I wanted no part of stolen property. Besides, what about my dolly stuck in the floor, and now a destroyed wall left behind? That Papa came out of there in a hurry, end over end. Not a broken brick ! He later, laughing told me he was a cop, and was selling the stove for a relative razing the house. He wanted to see what I would do.

Great stories Coaly.....I'm sure you have plenty more and as you said earlier.....most everyone has a story to tell about a stove or two.