Can this door be saved?

[Portage Fishers]

I took a 9 hour road trip yesterday to pick up a 3 piece top grandpa. The right door is warped at the bottom opposite the hinge side by almost 1 inch .The round channel rod and door groove mate nicely across the top and down the hinge side but flare out to this gap in the center . Can a cast door be flattened back to true?

 

[bholler]

Not in a way that it will not just go right back when it is heated. To me that stove would be scrap.

 

[rwhite]

I would guess it depends on what is bent. If the door warped I'd probably just get another one. If the hinge is warped it could be fixed. Looks like it is the door in the pic so that may be the route to go.

 

[Don H]

3 piece top, 4 fin draft knobs, old style door handles, I'd try to save it.

In the mean time burn it in fireplace mode.

If you decide to scrap the stove I'd remove and try to sell the handles and draft knobs

 

[royrizzle]

If the door warped I'd probably just get another one

Easier said than done .
Keep it & makes for a collectors piece , but don't fire it.

 

[coaly]

Since you're not going to find one of these doors without buying another stove, I would take the door to a foundry for advice. The raw material is the same as the iron in sheet steel, but cools differently when poured in a pattern mold. It needs to be red, straightened and stress relieved to stay straight. Cast iron melts at 2100 to 2190 f*. Cooling slowly in a kiln or controlled forge should stress relieve it to prevent warping. It probably was cooled originally at different rates and the internal stress caused the warping during use. Worst case scenario, you "can" find a '76 Grandpa with those doors (that probably won't be a 3 piece top) as a donor for the doors. Since there were a couple patterns, the doors may not be an exact fit for the hinge plate positioning on your stove. This is normal with any Fisher stove. Remove hinge plates from angle iron (or stove face in the case of different fabricators welding to stove front) Then lay stove on its back and lay doors in position when welding hinge plates in the correct position for the new doors.
A foundry may also advise to heat evenly and fill the back side with weld or brazing rod until flat. Of course it would still stick out in the front, but be usable. Is it more than 1/4 inch measured on a flat surface?

 

[Don H]

(broken link removed to http://denver.craigslist.org/for/5912349131.html)

Although none of these will work for you it shows that doors can be found.

 

[bushman]

I saw somewhere just recently someone selling new old stock Fisher doors on the internet. Try the for sale sections of the popular wood stove hearth Forums or just search the term, you might get lucky.

 

[coaly]

(broken link removed to http://denver.craigslist.org/for/5912349131.html)

Although none of these will work for you it shows that doors can be found.

Those pictures are quite a few years old. (and can be found on this Forum in a few threads) They are under tarp at 10,000 feet and not able to get to most of the year. I doubt they are still in that condition which was poor back then. They are the left overs from the auction at Woodland Park CO when they closed. I bought all the easily shipped items and passed on these doors that need replating. The tops and side sheets are in a shed and better protected. There are Grandma III and Grandpa III as well as a right Goldilocks. (with handle) The other doors from the scrap yard are flat top, but no '76 or '77 with stars only. The one Portage Fishers needs is the first style with round door seal that do not use flat channel iron door seal.
If you find someone across the US selling a '76 Grandpa for a hundred or two, I'd send them the money for the stove, plus shipping for the doors to send you and let them scrap the stove. That's how I get rare doors I need.

 

[coaly]

I saw somewhere just recently someone selling new old stock Fisher doors on the internet. Try the for sale sections of the popular wood stove hearth Forums or just search the term, you might get lucky.

That would be Todd here;
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/fisher-doors-for-sale.159761/

Pictures of as found condition here;
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/found-some-doors.122109/