Picked up a Papa Bear

[Don H]

Bought this Papa Bear the other day. Seems in good shape, needs paint and 1 brick replaced.
It was only 20 minutes from my house. A rehab outfit was redoing a house and wanted it out, I paid beer money for it and the workers loaded it on my trailer for me.

 

[Todd67]

Nice find! I wish I could get that lucky.

 

[Don H]

Just gotta keep an eye out and be ready to jump on it. Supposedly 6 people had called but no one showed up.

I have yet to find any identifying markings on the stove. The exterior bottom has a light coating of rust, when I clean that up maybe something will show.

 

[Todd67]

It was difficult to find markings on my baby bear and coal bear before I cleaned them up, but it was much easier after I painted them.

 

[Don H]

Did a little work on the new Papa bear today and found this marking. It appears to be a Dunn Brothers stove.

 

[Todd67]

I've never seen a Dunn Brothers stove before. Is there any welded markings on it?

 

[Don H]

No other welding marks, I'm assuming DB is Dunn Brothers. I know Dunn made stoves for the VA and WV area. This stove was bought in northeastern Maryland.

 

[SpaceBus]

No other welding marks, I'm assuming DB is Dunn Brothers. I know Dunn made stoves for the VA and WV area. This stove was bought in northeastern Maryland.

Northeast MD might as well be VA, so not too surprising

 

[Todd67]

At the Fisher Stove national convention in the spring of 1977 the Dunn Brothers received a large silver trophy for selling the most stoves. There's probably a good chance of finding a DB stove in any of the states that surround VA and WV.

My coal bear and mama bear were made in PA. Coaly can't determine where my baby bear was made because the only markings on it are five stamped numbers (40527) with no welded numbers or letters anywhere on the stove. I haven't cleaned up my grandma bear yet to see where it was made. I'm still waiting to take delivery of my 3 piece Papa bear from Oregon.

 

[Don H]

Northeast MD might as well be VA, so not too surprising

No doubt these stoves traveled, sometimes great distances. Ask any of our Northeast collectors about shipping stoves cross country.

Coaly, can you tell me where Dunn Brothers was located and if the DB initials do actually indicate this is one of their stoves?

 

[Todd67]

I found this post from 2013 from coaly that might answer your question;

Here's a 1977 dealers list giving the Virginia address;

Google Map; 1129 Florida Street, Salem, VA for a decent street view.

In 1979 it became E&W Machine as it remains today; (broken link removed)

I assume the Dunns went on to expand like many others to larger fabricating facilities.

 

[Don H]

Some pictures of my work.

All cleaned up and painted.

Came out pretty nice after 2 coats of paint.

Thimble welded from the inside. DB marking on the upper left corner.

 

[Todd67]

Looks fantastic Don! What are your plans for it? Did you replace or remove the firebricks?

 

[Don H]

I pulled all brick, replaced 1 broken and a missing brick. I like to pull them and and check underneath for rust. I'll flip them over if they're nicer looking on the opposite side. Here's what it looked like without the brick.

This stove is up for sale, but for now it keeps the Baby Bear company in the shop.

 

[SpaceBus]

Do you run a stove restoration shop, or is this just a hobby? It seems like it would be enjoyable. The stove restoration business sounds like it would be enjoyable!

 

[Todd67]

I haven't had much luck removing firebricks without breaking the bricks, so I end up removing all of the bricks. The few bricks that come out whole, I set aside for other uses. I leave the firebricks out of my stoves until I decide to use them. I use all new bricks when I replace them. My collector stoves have no bricks in them, and since I am a collector I don't sell any of my stoves.

 

[Don H]

SpaceBus, just a hobby. I like bring these old stoves back to life and finding a good home for them.
Todd removing bricks can be a pain. If there's broken ones on the floor I start there breaking out the brick. I use a flat pry bar and rubber hammer to get them out. I also use a thin putty knife and vacuum to get the ash out from between the bricks. That ash locks them in tight. I also have a homemade table saw made from an old circular saw screwed to a piece of plywood with masonry blade to cut bricks.

 

[SpaceBus]

Once I get some workshop space, I want to do the same. Many folks around here struggle in the winter with high oil and electric costs. There are a glutton of old stoves around this area as well. I'm medically retired from the army trying to figure out what to do with my life, so don't mind my rambling.

 

[Don H]

Thank you for your service SpaceBus.
I see you're from Downeast, Maine is a beautiful state. I walked halfway across it hiking the Appalachian Trail, it was my favorite state.

 

[SpaceBus]

Thank you for your service SpaceBus.
I see you're from Downiest, Maine is a beautiful state. I walked halfway across it hiking the Appalachian Trail, it was my favorite state.

That's amazing! We want to hike at least part of the trail. I enjoyed my time in the Army, but I'm not sad to be out. The difficult part is trying to find a career path. Something rewarding but not with a supervisor breathing down my neck would be nice. My father tried to run his own business, but always got beat out by corporations making cheap but inferior products.