Fisher paw feet question

[SouljaofGod]

Hi everybody, I recently purchased a fisher grandma bear and it came with the paw feet. I looked online and see that some of them say fisher stoves on them and some don't. Mine do not and are like the ones in the link below. ( which the seller implies are original fishers). Are they? Were there knockoffs made? Is there any way to tell if they are fisher or not ?

Thanks

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[coaly]

The feet pictured in the link are cast iron. The original finish was Black Oxide, similar to gun bluing to color metal.
The first cast iron forward facing feet were cast iron, chrome plated, smooth without hair detail. Some had Fisher Stoves across the front. Some had a hole in the bottom at center, others didn’t. Just depends on the mould used.

Later the cast iron feet were available with brass plate or the black oxide finish with hair detail cast in.
There were some knock off replicas that were poorly done, looking nothing like an original as shown in your link.
Pictures of your actual feet would help. Wipe them with lacquer thinner to see if they were painted. The original Oxide finish will not come off with thinner. Many times the brass plate is worn or corroded, and instead of replating, a seller will simply paint them black. They may or may not know they were originally available in black as well.

Using the search feature at top of page ( the magnifying glass) you can search threads with good pics I’ve posted with all the optional feet listed. I’ll see if I can find the post easily and give you the link.

 

[coaly]

This is the thread that has pictures with descriptions of the different styles of feet.

4 Heavy Fisher Bear Feet

I have 4 Fisher Bear Feet. Rather heavy for their size. 1.5” square hole feet facing straight forward and a magnet clings to them. What are they worth? Frank

www.hearth.com

 

[SouljaofGod]

Thanks for all the info Coaly! Here are the feet in question

 

[coaly]

Yes, congrats, they are the Black Oxide finish. I would only clean rust gently with green scotch brite pad with WD-40 on it. Then coat with WD which leaves a protective coating. You can look up the recipe for black oxide coating to dip your own if it needs to be redone. Think of it as a type of controlled corrosion like acid dipping which prevents air and water vapor from getting to the clean iron under the coating.