WoodStove Andirons?

[JamesGuido]

Hi folks,
We had a new Vermont Castings Encore Defiant purchased in 1993, we wore it out... so
we bought a new 2020 Jøtul F500 V3 Oslo stove.
Love it.
The VC had andirons in it, kept wood from hitting the glass doors..
Loved it.

Our new Jøtul doesn't have andirons...

Has anyone added andirons? I would like to.
Any suggestions? they are appreciated
Thank you.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Hi folks,
We had a new Vermont Castings Encore Defiant purchased in 1993, we wore it out... so
we bought a new 2020 Jøtul F500 V3 Oslo stove.
Love it.
The VC had andirons in it, kept wood from hitting the glass doors..
Loved it.

Our new Jøtul doesn't have andirons...

Has anyone added andirons? I would like to.
Any suggestions? they are appreciated
Thank you.

I will watch this thread closely. My Jotul insert doesn’t have them either I think they’d be extremely helpful.

 

[nortcan]

I got the same road as you did and I think that company coild add andirons to their stoves easily. The andirons could be removable and would protect the glass ... I did it and my andirons can be removed anytime if wanted, are bullet proof\ 1 inch St-St rod, can't fold on the glass and do not interfer with the stove structur, just laying in the stove floor.
I had a few VC stoves and on some the cast iron andirons melted ...

 

[firefighterjake]

To be honest I've thought about having my cousin (a welder by trade) fabricate up some andirons . . . but I'm cheap and lazy . . . and usually I find that stacking my wood works pretty well most of the time. Occasionally a piece will roll up against the glass, but it is relatively rare with how I load the stove.

Incidentally, in a way the stove has built in andirons if your wood is long enough you may note that the inside corner pieces near the front of the stove will hold the wood out and away from the "glass."

 

[David.Ervin]

I dunno about other stoves, but my Northstar's manual specifically says _not_ to add any.

 

[Caw]

Occasionally a piece will roll up against the glass, but it is relatively rare with how I load the stove.

Incidentally, in a way the stove has built in andirons if your wood is long enough you may note that the inside corner pieces near the front of the stove will hold the wood out and away from the "glass.

This of how I look at it. To me it seems like andirons would just get in the way and limit how much wood I could load. I like to have square/rectangular pieces for this exact reason. I'll load the wedge shaped pieces in the back 2/3 of the stove the the front I use a rectangular piece on the coals and stack either more rectangular pieces or two wedges on top of that. With this loading method I very rarely have anything hit the glass, it tends to fall back into the stove. If it does touch the glass it's mostly coals by that point anyways.

My stove also has the corners you're referring to. I utilize them when I'm going for a max power, fully stuffed overnight load. The corners will hold the wood in place until it turns to coals and by that point I'm not worried about them hitting the glass if it happens.

If I have no rectangles available and I'm not stuffing it to utilize the corners I just make sure the wood is slightly angled when loaded to ensure it falls towards the back of the stove. You can manipulate the coal bed to have the top of a wedge sit flat to add another and have it be stable.

Rectangular pieces are REALLY useful for us E/W loaders though. I highly recommend splitting some. When I split a big round I take off slabs then split those into the rectangles. It's very easy to do with oak, maple, and standing dead ash...even by hand. Its more difficult with stringier/wavy grained woods like cherry.

 

[nortcan]

I just wanted to show you the andirons I made on My stove and I love them, I made them adjustable so I could have them the height I wanted to and low enough to not bother when loading the stove. VC has them on their stoves and nobody seem to dislike them, plus : they protect the glass, Hearthstone specify in the owners manual to keep wood away from the glas, they keep the glas cleaner, they help to keep the ash/coal away from the front door so cleaner when opening the door especially in a clean living room, having a side loading door is made to load the stove and then having andirons void all what some said about andirons here. just MY opinion and not forcing anyone to have them, if you like the stove as is keep working on making the perfect form of wood...and all.
P/S my andirons are not attached /fixed permently to the stove and can be removed anytime if wanted.

 

[Caw]

I was just commenting on andirons in general. I think yours came out great! Nice metal work. Definitely above my pay grade fabrication wise.

 

[JamesGuido]

wow, tough crowd.
ok, i won't add andirons.
guess i'll just.... well, i don't know what i'll just, but i will.

thanks for all comments.

hurry up spring

 

[JamesGuido]

yeah....

 

[nortcan]

wow, tough crowd.
ok, i won't add andirons.
guess i'll just.... well, i don't know what i'll just, but i will.

thanks for all comments.

hurry up spring

Sorry but my poor Anglais Québecois don't understand what you mean?

 

[Gearhead660]

I got the same road as you did and I think that company coild add andirons to their stoves easily. The andirons could be removable and would protect the glass ... I did it and my andirons can be removed anytime if wanted, are bullet proof\ 1 inch St-St rod, can't fold on the glass and do not interfer with the stove structur, just laying in the stove floor.
I had a few VC stoves and on some the cast iron andirons melted ...

I did the same with my insert. Can easily pull it out if I want to. Found I can fill with more wood, longer burn. Also dont get that ash that falls out when I open the door to reload.

 

[Caw]

How can you add more wood? I suppose you're thinking you can go taller without wood falling into the glass? The andirons take up space.

I guess I never run into that issue...I can fill it right up to the baffle and an inch from the glass without wood rolling onto the glass. It happens once in a blue moon but it's typically coals by then. I have a smaller firebox though at 1.85 cu ft so I don't need to go very tall...that's something to consider.

Ash getting on the door or a little falling out when reloading seems like normal stove operation to me. Wood burning is messy!

If it works for you though then that's great. Different strokes!

 

[aansorge]

My Enerzone had them. I had the installers remove them immediately. They are so in the way!

 

[Gearhead660]

Guess it makes it easier to add more wood. Less of a puzzle. Wood heat is messy, but anything to cut down on that mess is a plus.
Wood falling on the glass is sort of a pet peeve of mine.
Still in the trial period with them. If I dont like them, it lifts right out. For now, I like them. Different strokes....

 

[nortcan]

Some andirons are too high and make the loading more difficult but if they are just the right size they are very helpful, they also can be removable. I made mine so I can remove one or both if needed but never had to and I can adjust them to be lower or higher, plus my Heritage has a primary air port just at the bottom of the front door wall and keeping the ash away from there can only be a good thing. I can't support opening the front door and have a truck load of ash falling down and making a mess and dust all around, burning wood doesn't have to be dirty, well that is what I think.

 

[Caw]

I try to minimize the mess the best I can but I just accept its the price I'm going to pay if I'm going to stuff full loads in the stove. Its not very big and I try to maximize the space inside.

Between bark, dirt, and ash I just vacuum up the area every couple days to keep it neat since it's in my living room. Not sure I can keep it any neater. Then when the season is over I give the whole area a mega cleaning and put the wood stuff away.

 

[XmasTreefarmer]

I'm going to chime in here on @firefighterjake's reply - it is Oslo 500 specific which is what the OP has.

The Oslo has the "built-in" andirons that FFJake mentioned. They are at the sides of the firebox. They are 18 3/4" apart, so you need at least 19" long wood to use them. A split placed against those is held 3 1/2" from the glass. Occasionally a split that burns through in the middle will roll forward, but not very often.

I cut my wood to 22" - that's the sweet spot for this stove for me. All splits put in the stove will be held back by those "andirons". Besides the advantage of the 22" length to engage the andirons, you can fill the stove with 22% more wood as compared to using an 18" length. That's significant, especially in really cold weather like we are experiencing right now here in WI.

One last thing on the Oslo - the OP showed a bit of the ash mess with his open front door. I only load from the side. That's how I loaded the old VC Defiant for almost 30 years, so I'm used to side loading and like it. It eliminates any ash falling out when loading. Using a 22" length, I load the splits in until they touch the far end of the stove and I have a 2" gap between the end of the splits and the door. As they burn down, all of the ash is behind the ash guard by the side load door. It's easy to keep a nice clean hearth. I only open the front door occasionally to do a thorough cleaning of the glass. The rest of the time I clean the glass from the loading door.

 

[Caw]

I definitely wish I had a side loading door (not possible in an insert) or a box big enough to load N/S. Both of those are so much more convenient than plain old E/W. I didnt have that option with my fireplace and size limitations bit my next stove, if I ever replace this one, will 100% be N/S. I'll tear out bricks if I have to to make it work!