Restoration of a Mama Bear, and a connector question

[T4NGO!]

Hi Everybody! This is my first post in this forum, and before i begin I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for all the info you all have been posting here. I Have been reading this forum for months, but until now I found everything I needed and I didn't think I had anything valuable to add, so I refrained from posting.

Last summer our housing situation enabled us (me, wife and 2 kids) to get a wood stove for the first time. I started looking in Craigslist for something used that would fit our budget. Because we live in Connecticut it seemed to me, after a little research, like it might be a good idea to get an All Nighter (there are plenty coming into the market around here). As I kept looking for a good option, I kept reading a lot of posts here in hearth.com about how Morande had stolen Bob Fisher's ideas, etc. etc. Eventually when the time came to actually buy a stove, Somebody put an old Fisher Mama Bear for sale in Southern CT, so I went and got it -For just $180!

The stove wasn't in very good shape. The previous owner had let it rust deeply in some parts, mainly the back and the top (there are round marks that made me think somebody used it to cook or heat up water and never dealt with drippings on it). Besides this, it was a smoker's home and they had several cats on that house who had been pissing on the stove for some time, so to me it smelled really, really bad.


I restored it trying, to my best, to follow Coaly's suggestions: I used a wire brush cup on my drill and scour pads to get as much of the rust out as I could, then I wiped it with mineral spirits, and then applied lacquer thinner. Then I spray painted it with Stove Bright "Satin Black" paint.


My first attempt at painting was bad, so I read all the instructions on the stove bright site and watched their YouTube videos, scratched the crappy paint, applied mineral spirits and lacquer thinner again and then I sprayed it again with several light coats from 12-15 inches as recommended. I think now looks pretty nice, though it isn't perfect because the rust was eating up the plate in some parts of the top. I also removed all the ash and the firebricks that were crumbling and replaced those with brand new ones (I had to replace 7). Then I took it outside to cure it, following the paint maker's recommendations.




Here comes my question! As I was trying to connect an elbow pipe to hook it up to the flex liner I put in my chimney I found that the opening in the back of the stove is too big to work as a male, and too small to act as a female. I read this post:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/question-about-baby-bear-stove-pipe-connection.106668/

So I bought some crimping pliers and tried my best to crimp doing that "upwards pull", so the pipe keeps being parallel and doesn't look like a cone. I stuck the connector in the stove's opening, but because I'm such a noobie I'm not sure if I did a good enough job. It feels snug, but I'm a little worried of smoke leaking through the crimped pipe, or any other problems I'm not foreseeing. I should put screws on it, right? The guy at my local chimney supply store said I don't need to use cement if it's a tight fit, but because I had to do the extra crimping, should I put cement? Please let me know your opinions. And thanks a million again for all the info that has been posted in this forum, I bet many other guys like me are reading and getting tons of valuable info even if we don't post here.

 

[pen]

check out this recent thread with the same connector question. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/5-5-to-6-increaser-for-all-nighter-wood-stoves.146859/

In all, there are a few options if you aren't happy with your crimp... adding furnace cement is one, check out the thread and there are a few other suggestions as well.

Good luck,

pen

 

[mzadrick]

Nice looking fisher! I am located in CT as well, best of luck with the stove! I recently purchased this 5.5" to 6" increaser and it worked out great. It's a little pricy so a t fitting might another route. Hope this helps

http://www.discountchimneysupply.com/catalog/item/7685761/9983662.htm

 

[T4NGO!]

It does help, thank you both. That adapter is rather pricey indeed, though I wonder if you can buy just the half that goes into the stove. I found the double skirted duravent at a couple of online retailers for under $20, but I'm not understanding what does it do... Does it act as a female to female? If so, is it a little bigger than 6 inches on the side you put on the stove? Or is it smaller on one end and goes into the stove?

 

[coaly]

Welcome to the forum (and the Fisher family of stove owners !) ;
Yes, 3 screws.
It will leak air in, not smoke out. High temp silicone or a dab of furnace cement in the holes takes care of it.
I like to slip a T over the vent pipe outlet and cap the bottom. The T eliminates the multiple elbow pieces that can leak between swivel joints too.

I had a Papa Bear that was used for years to boil down maple syrup with that same type large pitted pattern. If you keep a water kettle on it and cook, you will need to touch up the top at the end of most heating seasons. I sand the top with orbital sander that doesn't sand the paint out of the pits, and after a few years they fill in and are gone.

 

[No Smoke]

Welcome to the forum (and the Fisher family of stove owners !) ;
Yes, 3 screws.
It will leak air in, not smoke out. High temp silicone or a dab of furnace cement in the holes takes care of it.
I like to slip a T over the vent pipe outlet and cap the bottom. The T eliminates the multiple elbow pieces that can leak between swivel joints too.

I had a Papa Bear that was used for years to boil down maple syrup with that same type large pitted pattern. If you keep a water kettle on it and cook, you will need to touch up the top at the end of most heating seasons. I sand the top with orbital sander that doesn't sand the paint out of the pits, and after a few years they fill in and are gone.

 

[No Smoke]

Am new to this forum- we just bought a small Baby Bear Fisher stove and hearth.com here is helping us with the restoration- I am told this stove sat outside for 6 years but it seems to be in good condition. (To be honest my husband has been cleaning it up but its going well) In laws have a Mama Bear and love it, this one will be for a small camp/garage. Thanks for sharing information, its very helpful!

 

[Jeff68739]

I'm new at this so bear with me.
I just purchased this baby bear, and I'm concerned about the nickle plating getting damaged if I wire wheel the door to repaint.
I'm hoping someone has advice.
I'm also curious about the heat shield attached to the air intake nut, what is the reasoning behind that? Thanks

 

[Todd67]

Welcome to the forum jeff68739! Someone with more knowledge on refinishing a plated door should be along shortly to help you.

 

[coaly]

No wire wheel on door. Only metal polish for precious metals on nickel. Clean any loose rust on door front by hand with Scotch Bright pad or sandpaper. Don’t touch the raised questions with anything but polish and a soft cloth. After painting, you can wipe paint off raised portions with mineral spirits. Clean paint off before firing for final cure.

The shield inside is called a nickel plate shield. It was optional. The entire door is actually nickel plated so you should not have any rust issues even on the black portions.