Vermont castings tie rods

[Bobde1234]

Hi all! I recently bought a Vermont castings Intrepid stove (made in 1982) which was conveniently local, and looked good (some light surface rust). I only noticed that the 3 log grates were warped from heat. After doing some reading, I’m thinking that since this stove is 36 years old it may be a good idea to take it apart and apply new cement to the seams, as well as new gaskets and repaint. The construction seems simple enough, and repainting the individual pieces seems easier than as a unit.

when I looked at the front tie rods, I saw there was a little jig to them. I looked at the parts list and see all 4 are the same part number so I suspect the fronts are warped from heat. When I looked at the cost of the tie rods I was shocked to see $75 and even higher depending on the website. Does any one know why they are so pricy? Is it the grade of metal? what have others done insofar as sourcing new tie rods?
Thanks!

 

[DAKSY]

Go to Home Depot & get some 1/4-20 threaded steel rod.
The grade won't matter...
Don't cut to length, but when you install them,
feed them though the bottom (& front, back or sides )
& seat them securely into the threaded holes in the top.
Tighten the nuts on the bottom until snug & THEN
Snap the excess off with a pair of vise grips.

 

[peakbagger]

Dies are cheap, just buy standard steel rod of the appropriate diameter and thread the ends. If the fancy end nuts are gone you can buy stainless steel acorn nuts at any hardware store. The tricky part is getting the rod cut to the right lenght so you do not run out of adjustment.

 

[Bobde1234]

If I made my own I was thinking to run down to alro steel and get unplated 1/4” rod stock and copy the rod length in the stove presently, including the thread length. The rods on my stove have regular hex nuts, were they originally acorn nuts? I still have a hard time to understand the cost of these things. The other prices I see for replacement parts seem ok reasonable, so it really makes me wonder if there is anything special to these rods.

 

[DAKSY]

Nothing special about the tie-rod material,. Like I said, 1/4-20 threaded steel rod.
DON'T cut it to the necessary length beforehand. I have rebuilt a NUMBER of VC
wood stoves, & ALL of them have you snap off the ends AFTER the hex nut (NOT ACORN)
is installed. This is in ALL the rebuild instructions for VC stoves with tie-rods.
The replacement tie-rods have about 4" of extra length for this purpose.
The exorbitant price you pay from VC or actually HHT, now, is because they order it
in long, cut it, package it & ship it.

 

[Bobde1234]

Thanks guys! Daksy, do you by chance have a link to vc rebuild instructions? It would be good to read. FWIW I’ve never tried to snap a threaded rod, I was thinking to cut it with an angle grinder. Actually as I’m thinking about it now, if I left the rods a bit long, they could be the mounts for a bottom heat shield rather than the one that mounts using the leg bolts.

 

[Bobde1234]

also, thanks for the tip on keeping them long initially. I hadn’t considered that it might be tough to pull it together but that makes sense now.

 

[DAKSY]

Thanks guys! Daksy, do you by chance have a link to vc rebuild instructions? It would be good to read. FWIW I’ve never tried to snap a threaded rod, I was thinking to cut it with an angle grinder. Actually as I’m thinking about it now, if I left the rods a bit long, they could be the mounts for a bottom heat shield rather than the one that mounts using the leg bolts.

Sorry, I don't I will do some research tho...

 

[peakbagger]

I reused my rods on the second rebuild.

 

[Bobde1234]

Mine are sort of pretzel-like. I think I may do the hardware store threaded rod route

 

[Bobde1234]

Sorry, I don't I will do some research tho...

I got the stove apart today and used a wire wheel on my angle grinder to clean off the surface rust and joint cement. Wow that was some job, glad it’s behind me. I could tell that the tie rods had been snapped, as the nuts didn’t want to thread off the end I’m thinking I’m gonna go the hardware store route and use threaded rod unless anyone has a reason why not.

when you do a stove do you typically paint the inside face of the castings as well?

 

[DAKSY]

when you do a stove do you typically paint the inside face of the castings as well?

Waste of paint. Gonna be gone after the first fire or two...

 

[Bobde1234]

Good to know I wasn’t sure. Thank you!

 

[Bobde1234]

Go to Home Depot & get some 1/4-20 threaded steel rod.
The grade won't matter...
Don't cut to length, but when you install them,
feed them though the bottom (& front, back or sides )
& seat them securely into the threaded holes in the top.
Tighten the nuts on the bottom until snug & THEN
Snap the excess off with a pair of vise grips.

Hey Daksy may I ask you a related question to my rebuild? What type of stove joint cement would you recommend? And is it best applied with a putty knife to the channels in the dissembled stove parts, or with a caulk gun? I’m wondering if it is too thick if the putty knife may be easier? Thanks

 

[DAKSY]

Rutland Stove and Gasket Cement Mfr# 78 - Ace Hardware

This gasket cement pulls double duty because not only can this cement adhere any fiberglass gasket to most any metal, it can also be used to fix those small cracks, pinholes and leaks in your cast iron stove. Available in a hand squeeze tube or in a larger caulking-gun-ready cartridge, this...

www.acehardware.com

 

[Bobde1234]

Rutland Stove and Gasket Cement Mfr# 78 - Ace Hardware

This gasket cement pulls double duty because not only can this cement adhere any fiberglass gasket to most any metal, it can also be used to fix those small cracks, pinholes and leaks in your cast iron stove. Available in a hand squeeze tube or in a larger caulking-gun-ready cartridge, this...

www.acehardware.com

Thanks! I actually went to the store and got that today. I was gonna paint the stove pieces today, but realized it would be much easier to put it together and then paint it. I ended up buying 5 tubes not knowing how much I’d need, and ended up using 1 tube on the intrepid.