Wood Cook Stove conversion

[Jaw818]

I always thought old wood cooking stoves were really cool and had a lot of character. One of my neighbors still has the original one in his old farm house. The kitchen is all updated, but he left the old wood stove in and in working order.

So I have always thought one would be cool, but clearly not practical for a modern application. Looking at his, the fire box is tiny, takes very small shards of wood, and though it throws off a fair amount of heat, unless you can stoke it every 20 minutes would be useless as anything more than a conversation piece.

That got me thinking though, the oven compartment in the stove is large. Since the stove wouldn't be used to bake a cake, the oven part really isn't needed... so how hard would it be to convert the oven section into a fire box? The stove top could still be used to humidify the house or even cook on if you desired, making it practical for both space heating and as a cook-top, as well as a nice looking and unique piece of home decor.

Unfortunately these old stoves are not easy to come by, and ones in nice shape are not that cheap. So if I were to invest in such a project, I would like to know if anyone has done something like this before. how they did it, and to what results?

 

[bholler]

I am sure it could be done but it would mean a complete rebuild of every internal part of the stove i would be cheaper easier and probably work better to get a modern cook stove. Or just burn coal in an old one like many of them were designed to do

 

[Jaw818]

I dont really have an interest in the cooking aspect of it. More just the heating aspect. I like the aesthetics, and if a bigger fire box could be fitted so it could be used to heat my house or garage, i think it would be cool. Im happy cooking on my modern stove.

 

[bholler]

I dont really have an interest in the cooking aspect of it. More just the heating aspect. I like the aesthetics, and if a bigger fire box could be fitted so it could be used to heat my house or garage, i think it would be cool. Im happy cooking on my modern stove.

Yes but making it work burning in the oven would mean a complete tear down and rebuild with lots of fabrication

 

[Jaw818]

That is what I was afraid of.

 

[bholler]

That is what I was afraid of.

Anything is possible if you are willing to spend the time and have the skill to fabricate everything. But regardless you will have an unlisted stove that will need 36" clearance and your insurance company might not like it at all. It would be very cool but i don't think it is practical at all

 

[Jaw818]

Yeah, thats why I had thought garage, or possibly fish house/camper heat source.... Not something I have the time to do, and not entirely certain I have the proper tools for all the fabricating that would need to be done. It is probably only something I would attempt if I could see that soeone else had done it successfully and could get an idea of a good way to go about it.

 

[Oldman47]

As a kid growing up I spent time in my aunt's kitchen. She used a wood cooking stove the year around and it did an awesome cooking job. I have many fond memories of sitting in her kitchen soaking up the warmth of that stove while I waited for a meal to be ready. I can't begin to imagine defeating that function to convert her stove to a space heater. Even my grandmother had a wood stove, not quite as fancy as my aunt's, that provided all required meal preps for her home. Again it was all about cooking but it sure made for a cozy place to wait for supper. She had what my wife would call a harvest kitchen. There was plenty of room to hang out and do whatever struck your fancy while the other function of the space was meal preparation. Both of these cook stoves were well over 5 feet long and had a nice and readily controlled cook top. Since the stoves were focused on cooking needs they did respond well to a need to change heat levels, so as a primary heat source they might have been lacking, but that did not detract from their charm or their ability to heat a space and make it feel warm and inviting.

 

[JayD]

Get a Kitchen Queen, They will put out some heat from what I understand. (broken link removed to http://www.kitchenqueenstoves.com/kitchenqueenstoves/kqwcs.htm)

 

[begreen]

I heated an old cabin for a couple years with an ancient Baldwin cook stove. It takes awhile to get the large mass of the stove up to temp, but it was a wonderful heat. Sure it had to be fed every few hours, but that was no big deal as long as someone was home. It slowly released the heat in the cabin at a very comfortable rate and kept releasing for hours after the fire had died out. If I had room and the place for a wood cook stove I'd gladly put in one now. Run properly it cooks, bakes and heats wonderfully.

 

[SteveKG]

The newer cookstoves address the small firebox problem. Ours is also an airtight design. I do all our baking on ours, some of the stovetop cooking as well. If the fire burns out in the evening, the stove is still warm the next a.m. Lots of mass in all that cast iron. I've had two old cookstoves prior to this new one, and the old ones worked fine but, yes, they required frequent tending. The new one doesn't need any more tending than any other wood stove, including my Woodstock.

 

[Jaw818]

The newer cookstoves address the small firebox problem. Ours is also an airtight design. I do all our baking on ours, some of the stovetop cooking as well. If the fire burns out in the evening, the stove is still warm the next a.m. Lots of mass in all that cast iron. I've had two old cookstoves prior to this new one, and the old ones worked fine but, yes, they required frequent tending. The new one doesn't need any more tending than any other wood stove, including my Woodstock.

Do they make new ones that have that vintage look of the old ones? How much are they? The link JayD provided showed some of the new ones, but the style is a lot more modern and utilitarian, which defeats the original reason I had any interest in this in the first place, which is i think they look really cool.

 

[kennyp2339]

Stick a NC30 in the oven and call it a day lol

 

[SteveKG]

Do they make new ones that have that vintage look of the old ones? How much are they? The link JayD provided showed some of the new ones, but the style is a lot more modern and utilitarian, which defeats the original reason I had any interest in this in the first place, which is i think they look really cool.

Sure they do. Just one place to browse to get ideas is http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/ On the main page, click on "wood cookstoves." The owner used to show up on the forum here regularly, don't know if he still does.

 

[bholler]

Do they make new ones that have that vintage look of the old ones? How much are they? The link JayD provided showed some of the new ones, but the style is a lot more modern and utilitarian, which defeats the original reason I had any interest in this in the first place, which is i think they look really cool.

Yeah there are a few from what i have seen the build quality is not as good as allot of the old ones but they look great. They are very expensive though. Don't get me wrong there are still very high quality cook stoves being made but most of the high quality ones don't look like the vintage ones

 

[begreen]

Do they make new ones that have that vintage look of the old ones? How much are they? The link JayD provided showed some of the new ones, but the style is a lot more modern and utilitarian, which defeats the original reason I had any interest in this in the first place, which is i think they look really cool.

The Heartland Oval looks like it was made for your grandmother. It's a beautiful stove.
(broken link removed to http://www.heartlandapp.com/products/woodburning-cookstoves/oval-woodburning-cookstove.aspx)

 

[bholler]

It's a beautiful stove.

Yes it is and they work well to.

 

[Jaw818]

Wow, that Oval is a great looking stove... but the $7000 price tag kills that buzz in a hurry. someday when I am wealthy perhaps. lol

 

[Oldman47]

The Heartland Oval looks like it was made for your grandmother. It's a beautiful stove.
(broken link removed to http://www.heartlandapp.com/products/woodburning-cookstoves/oval-woodburning-cookstove.aspx)

That may look like it was made for your grandmother begreen but the one my grandmother and my aunt each used were far more substantial. Both were full depth top to bottom all the way from the firebox on the left side to the centered chimney above the stove after the keep warm shelves. In recently available wood stoves I have never seen one that would measure up to those stoves in terms of just plain useful space. I really hate to think what one of those would cost today.

 

[bholler]

That may look like it was made for your grandmother begreen but the one my grandmother and my aunt each used were far more substantial. Both were full depth top to bottom all the way from the firebox on the left side to the centered chimney above the stove after the keep warm shelves. In recently available wood stoves I have never seen one that would measure up to those stoves in terms of just plain useful space. I really hate to0 think what one of those would cost today.

I agree totally the build quality Of the heartlands is no where near the same as the old ones they are copying.

 

[English BoB]

Try this. These are much better looking and have a long history. AGA stoves.com

 

[bholler]

Yeah AGAs are great stoves very well built but very pricy and not the traditional look. Esse has very similar stoves as well

 

[begreen]

The Sopka Magnum is a more affordable version of this style and has glass view fire and oven doors.
http://www.sopkainc.com/index.php/product/wcs/magnum

 

[bholler]

That looks interesting begreen have you seen one in person? Its clearances are much larger that the AGA of esse but still not bad at all and it looks pretty good to i like the looks of the gulliver to

 

[bholler]

They have some really nice looking woodstoves to