Fisher Baby Bear with two air intakes?

[Jeff68739]

I just come across this Fisher Baby Bear forsale and was wandering if anyone had any information on it.
Must be one of the later models.

 

[Todd67]

It's not a baby bear. It might be a Mama bear, but not sure with those cathedral door models. A baby bear only has one draft cap on the door. It's a newer model.

 

[Jeff68739]

Your right, it's a mama! Seller listed wrong. I have never seen those smaller air intakes before.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Good looking stove! I’ve always liked the Mama Bears

 

[Jeff68739]

He was asking $300 and now wants $400!

 

[Todd67]

Ask him why he raised his price. I don't like the idea of paying over $300 for a Fisher stove, but maybe times are changing. It does appear to be in good shape.

Did he refinish or paint the stove? Is it a rear vent, or top vent? I prefer the rear vented stoves.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Around here those routinely go for more than that

 

[Jeff68739]

The seller didn't know much about it, he bought it without talking to his insurance and now wants to make a profit from my homework. It was repainted with a rear vent. Stoves move fast here in the midwest.

 

[coaly]

I just come across this Fisher Baby Bear forsale and was wandering if anyone had any information on it.View attachment 248019View attachment 248019
Must be one of the later models.

It's a Mama Bear VI.

It is a UL Listed Model that his insurance company should have no problem as long as the UL Listing tag is intact on the rear shield.

It has much older draft caps, they should be the newer 5 fin. The 4 fins were long gone before that model was designed in 1980.

That door is used on both Mama and Papa Bear. Since Papa is wider, you will notice more of the front sheet showing at the sides of the door on a Papa Bear as seen below.


If there is no tag, offer less. (or scrap price)

It also looks like the top was rusty, so the black on the top that you can see the wipe marks is Stove Black for cast iron. Blacking was used before high temp paint was invented and is only for rough cast iron. It makes a mess when applied to steel plate since it's extremely difficult to remove. It also allows water and water vapor through the baked on coating, so it is not impervious to moisture. It will rust right through the blacking. Cast iron stoves were constantly re-blacked, and stove tops (cook surface) were oiled (like a seasoned fry pan) since they were machined smooth cast iron. Paint is far superior.

The optional plating on the doors was available in silver (nickel) or brass. They should draw a premium over the standard black painted doors. It doesn't look right at all. It was probably hit with a sander or Scotch Bright which is a big no-no. It's destroyed unless it has never been cleaned or polished properly, but it doesn't look just dull. You can see the rust between the letters. Also rust color on the handle end inside spring all indicates it was probably stored outside a while, making sense that the top was rusty.
ONLY polish for precious metals such as gold, silver, bronze and brass should be used on plated doors. It should look like a mirror.

The single door stoves had no baffle like the later double door stoves, so this one would benefit greatly by adding one.
Notice the upper hinge is missing a hinge pin, or the head was broken off trying to remove it.

** I would ask the seller what stove is on the left of the pictured Mama. That is either an optional Fireplace Leg from another Fisher OR and XL without the ball foot. If they didn't know what this was, you may be looking at an XL that they don't know what it is either!! **

 

[Todd67]

Around here those routinely go for more than that

You have a seller in NH that is ridiculously price gouging people on Fisher and similar stoves in his Craigslist ads. It's sellers like him that make people think their rusty Fisher stove is worth over $1,000.

 

[Jeff68739]

Good eye coaly! The seller had a grandma bear forsale aswell, I will pass on the mama, thanks!

 

[BIGChrisNH]

You have a seller in NH that is ridiculously price gouging people on Fisher and similar stoves in his Craigslist ads. It's sellers like him that make people think their rusty Fisher stove is worth over $1,000.

Agreed. I see them for more like 500-600 too. That’s more what I was talking about.