glass door loading ?

[thenamesbond]

Hi, new user to forum but long time burner. I just purchased a new Soap Stone stove with glass door and would like to ask the users how they load their stoves? Do you allow the wood to rest against the glass? I have burned steel stoves for quite a long time, and this is my first glass door stove. I have noticed that at times the wood will fall down against the glass when burning, and I have used the side door to "adjust" it away so I can open the front door. The old steel stoves, we would fill the box with wood just so you could close the doors, then damp it down and it would burn the night.

I have a Mansfield soap stone and love the way it heats our 100 year old farm house. Stove is located in first floor between kitchen and living room, outside brick chimney.

 

[BrotherBart]

1. No you don't want the wood against the glass.

2. Where did you get a Mansfield with a side loading door?

 

[thenamesbond]

Thanks, Sorry it's the Heritage! Wanted to get the mansfield but liked this one better. Damn old age sucks. Common sense told me this too, but I wanted to see what you guys thought. Finding it hard when loaded up not to find some of the wood against the glass once it burns down.

 

[logger]

Cant help but have a log hit the glass sometimes, but I just throw the glove on and adjust from side door (I only use the side to load).

 

[gpcollen1]

In splitting my own wood, I think I do a good job in splitting pieces in various shapes in order to facilitate this not being an issue. I can always fit enough wood in the Olympic without issues, but filling the F400 is quite the trick sometimes. I split plenty of slab-like pieces that help fill the firebox or top it off and help stabilize the entire load. Sometimes it is a pain, finding just the right pieces to fill the firebox without issues.

The main thing I do is resist the urge to split wood in wedge shaped pieces. They really do not do anything special for my fire burning prowess. With those gone. most stuff is rectangular or slab and burns great without falling anywhere...

 

[cycloxer]

As a fellow Castine burner, I have been perfecting the art of packing the firebox tight and stable like a puzzle. The key is to have multiple shapes and size of wood so that you have options. You don't want the wood to rest up against the glass and you don't want it to roll into the glass. Most likely nothing will happen, but it is hot glass, so you know what can happen...

If your stove has a larger firebox and/or the glass is protected by andirons you don't need to be as particular about your loading.

 

[mellow]

With only having a 1.8 cf firebox I have to pack my stove tight, and most of the time this means I have a piece of wood that is touching the glass on reload, I have not observed any ill effects from this. I do understand if a piece rolls and smacks the glass, but resting against the glass I do not see an issue with. I have observed the glass airwash will simply go around that piece and still feed air to the bottom of the fire.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not a soapstone user, but I do have a stove with the "glass" front.

In general I try to load the stove so that the wood will not rest against the glass or roll into the glass. This glass is tough stuff and I suspect it would take a pretty hard smack to actually break the glass, but I figure better safe than sorry . . . however the main reason I try to not place the wood right up against the glass is due to the sooting that inevitably happens.

That said, occasionally a piece will roll up against the glass while the stove is burning . . . and occasionally due to the wood I may have a split or round touching the glass . . . and in these cases I don't worry too much about it . . . usually the next burn will burn off any black on the glass.