Quadrafire Isle Royale rebuild

[Beech]

After 11 seasons and as near as I can figure 160 face cord of wood the Isle Royale needed to come apart. The front panel to side panel gaskets were leaking really good and the stove had to be disassembled.
First I removed the stovepipe and rear heatshield, the doors and top griddle as well as the baffle.
The top of the stove was removed next so the air manifolds could be accessed. Then using a small ball pein hammer and a 1/4" chisel I went to removing the cement on the front and side vertical manifolds as well as the cement around the bottom of all the main panels. The vertical front manifolds have at least a pint of cement at the bottom in the internal cavity and care must be taken in removing them.
Next all the flat head screws holding the manifolds in were removed. They were tight, corroded and stubborn. Just move work them back and forth patiently and they come out.
After the manifolds are removed the start up air on the back panel was removed. These small screws were the most difficult and my perfect record of no broken bolts or screws came to an end. I broke one off.
At this point remove the nuts and studs and you have a Quadrafire in pieces.
I used my 4 1/2" angle grinder with a twisted wire wheel to clean the grooves out and a cup wheel to do the rest.

 

[Beech]

Have the Isle Royale back together and it is not the easiest stove to assemble. Here is what I used.The gasket for the panels is Fil-Tec 1/4", the gasket for the start up air flap is a piece of Interam , same stuff used on catalyst. The gasket between the start up air and stove back is 1/2" kaowool. The IR does a weak spot in the design and it is that the front panel supports the main air control manifold, 2 vertical manifolds and the glass air wash baffle.The front panel is held to the base by 2 ears which is good, but nothing to tie it into the side panels, it relies upon the vertical manifolds which screw to the side panel and uses only cement to hold it to the front. It then relies upon 2 ears on the air wash baffle to hold the top on. That is why they are prone to leak air at the front seams. I found the imperial brand of cement to be the right consistency and easier to work with.