Safe,stupid or sacreligious?

[gooney]

What if you cut say a 4"x4" section from the door of a Fisher bear stove and Installed stoveglass?Now you could monitor the flame and fine tune the burn.Is this a totally misguided idea?

 

[Jags]

Cutting a hole in darn near anything will compromise its stability. Can you guarantee that warpage won't happen? (more of a rhetorical question than a real one). If that door warps, the glass goes "snap".

 

[webbie]

I say generally safe. I've done similar and actually created glass doors out of cast iron (at the foundry) by removing the middle.

Ideally, this would be done on a milling machine...mounting the glass detail can be found by looking at other stoves.

Here's the kicker. The glass is likely to get really dirty. If I was doing it, I'd think about it this way - first, I'd make the glass as large as possible - just because I want to! Secondly, I would mount it so that gasket was left off the top of it so that a small amount of air would come in a wash over the glass. This should not be enough air to mess up the combustion - in fact, it may even improve it.

If coaly does not chime in here, send him a conversation and ask him to comment. He probably has seen a lot of similar mods in his time.

 

[Jags]

Creating points of attachment could get interesting. Did you simply use flat gasket and clamp the gasket between glass and cast? That would at least make a small area of "forgiveness".

 

[webbie]

We tapped holes in the cast iron for small screws (stainless) and made up either clip or a bracket (better than clips) to hold the glass. If the hole in the door is milled, the glass can actually fit partially into it. and use the glass wrap gasket, etc.

 

[Ashful]

If the hole in the door is milled, the glass can actually fit partially into it. and use the glass wrap gasket, etc.

I might be reading you wrong, but I think I'd want to avoid any glass/iron contact, relying on the compliance of a braided gasket to protect the glass from the unmatched CTE of the cast iron. That's how Jotul does it, anyway.

 

[webbie]

Yep, if the glass is gonna be set into a rabbet, a small round gasket or small flat is laid in there first (glued to the iron). Then the clips or the frame installed behind it. If the glass wrap gasket is used, it provides gasket for both side as well as the edge. Nothing should fit tightly - leave room for expansion.

 

[Prairie Pucker]

My first (and only) stove is an old Woodland circa late 70's. I just had to have the glass door. While being able to see the flame certainly helped tune the draft, keeping the glass clean was a total pain. Finally I just gave up and learned to adjust the drafts based on the feel and sound of what was going on inside. Years passed. Then, new house, mostly air tight. Old stove. Not a good combination. Decided to do a modification to bring in outside combustion air via pipes into the firebox from the back running along each side of the firebox up to within a couple inches of the door. Presto. Day and night difference. No more dirty glass. Yeah, I planned it that way. Not. Worth considering if you're planning a modification.

PP

 

[WES999]

I added a 3"x3" window to my Fisher. No problems at all. The glass stays reasonably clean considering there is no air wash. I do usually clean it before I light the stove.

 

[oldspark]

I tune my Nashua with flue temps and now will also use stove top temp, dont need no stinking window.