Lakewood Wood Stove

[TylerJames84]

Hello,
I live in central Minnesota and I just recently bought a wood stove off of Craigslist. I knew nothing nor have I heard of the manufacturer which is Lakewood wood stoves. I see they make a Unicorn model which is similiar to mine the only difference is that I have 2 stags on the doors. In all the research I've done I seem to notice the unicorn model seem to be more popular. Does that make mine more rare? What year were they made in? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[sen166]

I'll take a shot in the dark, but, I'm fairly certain it is a steel stove and what is commonly referred to as a "Fisher Clone" around here (referring to Fisher wood stoves made in the 1970's and early 1980's). It should be a decent wood stove for you assuming there are no cracks in the steel or anything. I would recommend gloves when adjusting the air controls and grasping the door handles; I'm sure they can get quite toasty.

Coaly will most likely be along soon to advise you much, much more in reference to the stove you have.

 

[Squisher]

I'm in BC Canada. And I have the exact same stove that I turfed out of my house last year. I burned it for about four years and found it to be very hungry. I still have it sitting outside of my shop. I don't know much about them but mine is the exact same, with the stags. It came with my place, and I have no idea how old it is. I'd be curious to know if it has any value, I've been contemplating moving it to the end of the drive with a 'free' sign just to be rid of it.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

Welcome TJ84 to a wealth of info here, some of which can save a life or a home.

What's your setup indoors or the planned setup? If this is your first stove, it REALLY helps to just
start reading up on the many facets never thought of beforehand.

Nice looking stove, btw. You are going to be very warm. It's bigger than mine and we have the windows
cracked open when running at full heat. (we don't care much about efficiency or drafts.) Toss on a log, and
bust open another window. lol

Learn, share, teach, apply burn gel, explain suturing to clumsy splitters, etc. wherever ya fit in,
CheapMark

 

[Lake Girl]

If you do a search top right you will find a bit of info. Apparently made in Ontario and passed the early Washington guidelines because of it's catalytic. Is there a tag on back still?

 

[TylerJames84]

Welcome TJ84 to a wealth of info here, some of which can save a life or a home.

What's your setup indoors or the planned setup? If this is your first stove, it REALLY helps to just
start reading up on the many facets never thought of beforehand.

Nice looking stove, btw. You are going to be very warm. It's bigger than mine and we have the windows
cracked open when running at full heat. (we don't care much about efficiency or drafts.) Toss on a log, and
bust open another window. lol

Learn, share, teach, apply burn gel, explain suturing to clumsy splitters, etc. wherever ya fit in,
CheapMark

For now the stove is in the unfisheded basement. I plan on using it as much as I can for my main heat source. I burn seasoned red oak. I had a smaller stove in the basement for the last two winters. I just needed a bigger wood stove down there to get the job done.
So far it seems to be working and heating the house very well.

 

[Squisher]

I will say, mine heated my house, but was hungry. Reliable overnight burns were hard to attain. I had to really work at it. That's why I switched it out. I burn mainly Douglas fir.

Mine was very inefficient, with a basic sort of welded steel plate for a baffle covering the flue exit.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

Coolz
I was wondering mainly if you were an experienced stover, and of course,
the more pics the better.
.
I'm still riding the learning curve pretty hard.

Mama's parents do a gas stove in the lower of a trilevel and it cooks the whole house pretty well
with the open center for circulation. They actually found it cheaper to run it 4x daily rather than
the central unit, about 45 min each cycle. Their indoor temps go from 80 down to the low 60's but
that's their thing I'm supposing.

 

[JDFrost]

Hello,
I got a LakeWood Unicorn W/Air off my uncle, was wondering if anyone could point me to a manual for it. Can not seem to find anything! Have no idea if i can get parts for it or not . Thanks

 

[begreen]

Parts may be hard to come by. This place lists the combustor:
https://www.cjshearthandhome.com/combustor-list-for-stoves-and-fireplaces

 

[Squisher]

Here's a couple pics of my 'stag' Lakewood. I tried to get a decent shot of the inside. If it ever had anything more then that bit of steel warped 'baffle' then it wasn't apparent on my stove. Mine has no certification labelling whatsoever and it was a smoke producing wood eating machine. But it is a big firebox and presumably heated my home for a long time, only made it four years with me though.

 

[Squisher]

I may be having to throw mine into my shop now as the wood circulator I've got in there is burned right out. So this one may burn again. Unless I can find something nearby for cheap that's more efficient.

 

[Lake Girl]

Guess you better go check out the site begreen linked above so you can get the catalytic that should be in that stove!

 

[Squisher]

If you're referring to me, I don't believe my stove or the OP's are catalytic stoves. It's the later unicorn stove poster that came as a catalytic that begreen was responding to I think.

If anyone has further info on these units please share. I'd love to make mine more efficient somehow, I did just put it into the shop today. Now I'm going to need some new brick and some piping.

I'm curious what some might think about whether I should be bothered trying to straighten that 'baffle' at all?

 

[Lake Girl]

The site lists the unicorn stove as a different catalytic size.

 

[Squisher]

I see the unicorn and one other cat listed under Lakewood stoves. It's my understanding the stove I have and the original poster have are older non-cat stoves.

If that's not the case I'd love to hear otherwise. Maybe the OP could post a pic of the inside of his too?

 

[Lake Girl]

It makes it difficult not being able to find a manual. The Hearth wiki on the stove also mentions they were catalytic but doesn't mention if it was all models or only certain ones...

 

[Squisher]

I agree. There is limited info out there on the. I think the cat stoves were later models and the handles and vents were different and they had some type of certification on them too?

I've been wrong many times in my life but I don't see how a cat could possibly be installed in my stove. There's certainly no mechanical for any sort of a bypass. It would have to sit on top of that twisted 'baffle' board in my interior pic and would have no means of being secured, sealed, or protected?

That being said. Mine is the only Lakewood stove I've seen in person. You are actually getting my hopes up that I am in fact wrong.

 

[Lake Girl]

Interesting morning ... found an article in a Whitby, ON paper that mentioned a business that carried Lakewood stoves. Business is still there so sent an email mentioning hearth.com and asking if they had any manuals in their archives. Time will tell...

Another search using a box number in Ontario that was found in a motherearthnews.com article from the 80s about the stove and oregon emissions testing. That lead me to a business listing for Lakewood Stoves in Bobcaygeon associated with the name Gordon D MacKay. Numbers from that listing are no longer connected with any manufacturing or hearth related business. Sad but he may be deceased as I found an obituary for a Michael Mackay from Bobcaygeon from 2015 that mentions a brother predeased him.

Hoping the Whitby hearth store has some info...

 

[Lake Girl]

Sent another message to another hearth store in the area (Keswick). Called one in Bobcaygeon. Seems everyone knows of these stoves but no one has a manual. The hearth store in Bobcaygeon would love one too even though he is a Napolean dealer The trademark was registered in 1981/82 for the elk double door, unicorn double door and the single door cottager (per tradmarkia). What materials are needed for trademarks? Similar to patents?

Also found a Popular Mechanics article on catalytic wood stoves that mentioned Lakewood Manufacturing (Jan 1982). Found reference that Ryerson Polytechnic tested these stoves so may see if there is anything in their archives.

 

[Squisher]

Wow. Great digging. I'll be watching to see what you turn up. Thanks.

 

[Squisher]

I found this name/address listed as their 'Representative for service' on their Canadian trademark.

IAN W.M. ANGUS
THE CANTON MILL
R.R. #1
PORT HOPE
ONTARIO L1A 3V5

I don't know if that might help at all?

 

[Squisher]

Also I've been curious and searching around a bit and have seen a bunch of 'kijiji' listings with unicorn stoves in them. And the ones that provide proper pictures seem to show a lever on the right hand which I must assume is some type of a bypass for the cat. I've also seen a couple with thermometers on them too, but couldn't tell if it was a factory cat thermometer or just a magnetic one?

I'd love for there to be a cat in my 'elk' model but I just don't see how it could be?

I did pick up all new brick for mine today from the local builders supply. They were like $1.60 a piece. I'm looking forward to getting mine going in my shop.

Thank goodness I didn't get rid of it. My plans are to eventually put a BK, king in the shop but it wasn't happening this year and I thought my old 'wood circulator' would have a couple more years left in it but it was literally falling apart on me. The old Lakewood to the rescue.

 

[Lake Girl]

The Lakewood seem to be a fairly beefy stove. I would think that it'll do the job for now...

Ian Angus has been sent an email as I have no idea what type of documents are required for filing trademark. Hopefully it includes accessible technical documents.

I did hear back from Ryerson. They do have a brochure within their files. Not sure what else is included in the file but the Archivist hopes to pull it tomorrow. The file is restricted access that requires a Freedom of Information request. If there is more pertinent data there, guess I'll try to make the request.

Still waiting to hear from a couple of stove shops in the Bobcaygeon area.

That is a beautiful area of Ontario ... part of the Kawartha Lakes region. I used to travel near there but through Burleigh Falls on the way to my Great Aunt's cabin on Jack Lake near Apsley, Ontario. My place on this lake gives you the same vibe with quiet lake, pine trees, and exposed Canadian Shield rock.

 

[Lake Girl]

The trademark on the Elk double door was assigned to Ronald C Barnes out of Cole camp, Missouri in 1985. The trade mark was not renewed in 1991, serial 73416786, registration no 1315619 and the name became Elk Pine Stove.