should i have to cut bricks for proper fit or should there be open areas? im new to the site as well as wood stoves (trying to get this one going for my first time). i believe i have a grandpa, i have six on the back that are extremely tight, and four on the side with room for 1/3 of a brick next to it. the bottom was laid out with 5 1/3 bricks in two rows and the front by the door had 3 1/3 bricks laying sideways. i just assumed fisher would make a stove that full bricks lay in with no need to cut them. not ot mention the only reason im going through this is because two back bricks were cracked and i had to remove ALL the bricks to replace the back center two! i have been looking through this forum extensively and im learning fisher made tons of variations of same model- would be nice to have an id tag or model # stamped somewhere, so much for good ideas!
brick placement
- Thread starter newtostoves
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
- Status
Welcome to the Forum; No open areas. One is cut at the front and one in each bottom row.
If you need to cut bricks to replace any of the partial ones there are two Grandpa brick configurations. Older pre 1980 before tags and later UL listed with tag on rear shield. Which model do you have? Brick placement is shown in the later model manuals. I can give you the cut sizes, but if the cut bricks are in good shape, you don't need to make any.
The older style side and rear sit on top of the bottoms. You don't have to remove ALL the bricks to replace the broken two in the rear. Remove ash from bottom and pry one bottom brick from the back row up and out. This allows the broken brick to be removed. If you can't get a bottom one loose, the small piece in the back row removes the easiest. Once one is out, you can get under them with a putty knife, scraper or screwdriver to pry them up. Once you loosen one, the rest come out easier. (Only the back row that are in the way to remove broken bricks) To install, slip brick up under retainer and replace bottom brick. It has to be absolutely clean to reinstall them, since ash or brick fragments make them too tight. A damp rag allows ash to stick to the rag to get it clean enough to get them back in.
Be VERY glad it's not a Papa that most arms don't reach to the back!
The newer style rear bricks are on top of the bottom and can be removed by removing the one bottom brick under the broken one and allow to drop and remove.
Bricks have to be cut for most all stoves. Many have special size and shape that can only be purchased through the dealers. Some stove manufactures poured their own bricks (they went into the stove business because they had good clay making soil available and were in the brick business !) Some stoves today have a "special price" for $100 when buying the stove you can get a second set of the special size for when you need them. Fisher made it simple and used regular sized brick. They cut very easy, score and snap. If they made the firebox to fit full bricks, the stove would be not be deep enough or too deep and stick out into the room too far. The depth of the stove with ash fender is designed to fit through doorways. Sometimes the size has to be what it has to be and cutting bricks is the simplest way to make a stove the desired size for square inch heating surface purposes as well.
The only double door stoves with no tags are the first stoves built from '76 to '80. In your double door style, they would be a Grandma or Grandpa. Most doors are marked inside. Tags didn't exist on any stoves until testing began. What would the purpose of an ID or model number do? EVERY Fisher model used the same parts ! Replaceable parts are ONLY hinge pins, draft caps, and door handle knobs.
When a Fisher customer walked through the door for a part it didn't matter if he had a Baby Bear or a Grandpa. Even one manual covered all the stoves. It doesn't get any easier than that. Most fabricators across the US numbered their stoves on the bottom with weld just for warranty purposes of their own and some had welders initial their stoves.
What you're noticing in variations is as the years go by they became fancier to compete with other manufacturers. Those models had roman numerals behind the model name and are stamped into the tags.
Think of what it was like when the Model T was the only mass produced car on the road. The car wasn't marked with a T anywhere. When the Model A came out, they weren't marked with an A. You just had to know the models by looking at them. Model T Fords weren't numbered either. I have a 1921 that uses the engine block serial number for title and tags. They all used the same parts back then. No body serial number.
If you need to cut bricks to replace any of the partial ones there are two Grandpa brick configurations. Older pre 1980 before tags and later UL listed with tag on rear shield. Which model do you have? Brick placement is shown in the later model manuals. I can give you the cut sizes, but if the cut bricks are in good shape, you don't need to make any.
The older style side and rear sit on top of the bottoms. You don't have to remove ALL the bricks to replace the broken two in the rear. Remove ash from bottom and pry one bottom brick from the back row up and out. This allows the broken brick to be removed. If you can't get a bottom one loose, the small piece in the back row removes the easiest. Once one is out, you can get under them with a putty knife, scraper or screwdriver to pry them up. Once you loosen one, the rest come out easier. (Only the back row that are in the way to remove broken bricks) To install, slip brick up under retainer and replace bottom brick. It has to be absolutely clean to reinstall them, since ash or brick fragments make them too tight. A damp rag allows ash to stick to the rag to get it clean enough to get them back in.
Be VERY glad it's not a Papa that most arms don't reach to the back!
The newer style rear bricks are on top of the bottom and can be removed by removing the one bottom brick under the broken one and allow to drop and remove.
Bricks have to be cut for most all stoves. Many have special size and shape that can only be purchased through the dealers. Some stove manufactures poured their own bricks (they went into the stove business because they had good clay making soil available and were in the brick business !) Some stoves today have a "special price" for $100 when buying the stove you can get a second set of the special size for when you need them. Fisher made it simple and used regular sized brick. They cut very easy, score and snap. If they made the firebox to fit full bricks, the stove would be not be deep enough or too deep and stick out into the room too far. The depth of the stove with ash fender is designed to fit through doorways. Sometimes the size has to be what it has to be and cutting bricks is the simplest way to make a stove the desired size for square inch heating surface purposes as well.
The only double door stoves with no tags are the first stoves built from '76 to '80. In your double door style, they would be a Grandma or Grandpa. Most doors are marked inside. Tags didn't exist on any stoves until testing began. What would the purpose of an ID or model number do? EVERY Fisher model used the same parts ! Replaceable parts are ONLY hinge pins, draft caps, and door handle knobs.
When a Fisher customer walked through the door for a part it didn't matter if he had a Baby Bear or a Grandpa. Even one manual covered all the stoves. It doesn't get any easier than that. Most fabricators across the US numbered their stoves on the bottom with weld just for warranty purposes of their own and some had welders initial their stoves.
What you're noticing in variations is as the years go by they became fancier to compete with other manufacturers. Those models had roman numerals behind the model name and are stamped into the tags.
Think of what it was like when the Model T was the only mass produced car on the road. The car wasn't marked with a T anywhere. When the Model A came out, they weren't marked with an A. You just had to know the models by looking at them. Model T Fords weren't numbered either. I have a 1921 that uses the engine block serial number for title and tags. They all used the same parts back then. No body serial number.
thanks coaly, i appreciate the response. that was another thing that was throwing me off was in the manuals i saw, the bottom bricks were underneath the side ones. in my case, the side ones go down first followed by the bottom ones. so i guess i will try to wipe out the stove and cut the bricks. again, thanks for your knowledge and help! thanks again coaly!
That means you have an older stove with angle iron corners and no UL tag. The bottom bricks hold the bottom of sides out tight. The manual for your stove is the first one that contains the 3 single door stoves as well as the 2 double door stoves. There was no brick layout in the manual for your stove. The brick layout I've posted on the forum is from the original drawing. It is a picture taken of that page of the prints. Each part has it's own page and part number. Far too big for a scanner or copier.
You are looking at the manual page for the newer stoves after 1980 (with Roman Numeral III) that don't have welded corners. They are one piece body with bent corners and a slightly different firebox size. They didn't require cutting, but the bottom goes in first. You can tell right away by the height of the clips when the sides set on top of the bottoms.
You are looking at the manual page for the newer stoves after 1980 (with Roman Numeral III) that don't have welded corners. They are one piece body with bent corners and a slightly different firebox size. They didn't require cutting, but the bottom goes in first. You can tell right away by the height of the clips when the sides set on top of the bottoms.
I've posted the Papa, Mama and Baby layouts and titled the thread so people find them, I'll do the same with Grandpa next. You're the first to need it.
Pre 1980 (old style box with angle iron corners) Grandpa firebrick layout;
A = 1 1/4 X 4 1/2 X 9 (27) required (6 used as upper course when present)
N = 1 1/4 X 2 9/16 X 9 (4) required
O = 1 1/4 X 4 1/2 X 9 (4) required
P = 1 1/4 X 2 9/16 X 6 5/16 (1) required
Q = 1 1/4 X 4 5/16 X 9 (1) required
Install Rear, starting at Left (5) Full bricks and (1) Q brick.
Sides; Starting at rear (4) Full bricks and (1) N at front.
Bottom; ALL face lengthwise left to right; Starting at back A A O each row.
After 3 rows of A A O, the FRONT row should be N N P.
I'll get a picture of the drawing, it is 2 X 3 feet, but it glares off the white paper and the ink like in technical drawings isn't dark. I'll play with lighting and post below.
![[Hearth.com] brick placement](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/146/146447-5f755be056b926a8c56e2988ebf7d05b.jpg?hash=omeSizTRzL "[Hearth.com] brick placement")
Shows bottom and sides on left and right. Not all have the upper course on sides.
![[Hearth.com] brick placement](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/146/146448-9f94d4cbdbb4c1ec0fba39ea8af26b27.jpg?hash=KVyksATTdn "[Hearth.com] brick placement")
Rear shown at top A A A A A Q
Pre 1980 (old style box with angle iron corners) Grandpa firebrick layout;
A = 1 1/4 X 4 1/2 X 9 (27) required (6 used as upper course when present)
N = 1 1/4 X 2 9/16 X 9 (4) required
O = 1 1/4 X 4 1/2 X 9 (4) required
P = 1 1/4 X 2 9/16 X 6 5/16 (1) required
Q = 1 1/4 X 4 5/16 X 9 (1) required
Install Rear, starting at Left (5) Full bricks and (1) Q brick.
Sides; Starting at rear (4) Full bricks and (1) N at front.
Bottom; ALL face lengthwise left to right; Starting at back A A O each row.
After 3 rows of A A O, the FRONT row should be N N P.
I'll get a picture of the drawing, it is 2 X 3 feet, but it glares off the white paper and the ink like in technical drawings isn't dark. I'll play with lighting and post below.
Shows bottom and sides on left and right. Not all have the upper course on sides. Rear shown at top A A A A A Q- Status
Similar threads
