# Can someone tell me more....



## Dana Rampi-Cruz (Jan 26, 2013)

I live in a house with what appears to be a Franklin cast iron wood burning stove. It is marked with the company Hearth Craft, Portland Oregon. The house what is built in 1912, but I do not know when the insert was purchased or installed. I would like to know more about this stove including a possible age. I have attached a picture but I cannot figure out why its posting sideways, hopefully you all can still figure it out. Any information or facts will be welcomed.


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## begreen (Jan 26, 2013)

Cell phone pics taken with the phone vertical seem to post rotated. Rotate the phone to horiz. and it should post ok. I'll rotate this one for you. No idea about the old Franklin, they are pretty common.


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## Heatsource (Jan 26, 2013)

it does look like a late 70's franklin style stove
freestanding open fireplace i call them.

unusual fireplace it is inserted into, is it original to 1912? 

very low efficiency stoves


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## Dana Rampi-Cruz (Jan 26, 2013)

begreen said:


> Cell phone pics taken with the phone vertical seem to post rotated. Rotate the phone to horiz. and it should post ok. I'll rotate this one for you.


 
Thanks!!


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## Dana Rampi-Cruz (Jan 26, 2013)

A1Stoves.com said:


> it does look like a late 70's franklin style stove
> freestanding open fireplace i call them.
> 
> unusual fireplace it is inserted into, is it original to 1912?
> ...



I want to say that the fireplace was handcrafted by the second owner of the house who probably moved in around the forties or fifties.  supposedly there is some sort of Memorial bricks within the chimney having to do with a son who is involved in the Vietnam War, so perhaps that is when the fireplace was constructed/reconstructed.  I have a hard time believing that the house did not come with a fireplace in 1912, so my thoughts are that it was remodeled somehow.  the chimney sweep who did the inspection on it a week ago found the whole thing very odd as well. I rent a room in the house so I don't know too much about it, but it caught my interest.I think it needs some sort of cover over the top of it to prevent any smoke leaking out, but I'm sure that would be some kind of expensive custom insert cover type of deal. I really love the look of this stove, but it is old and most likely needs repair.


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## BrotherBart (Jan 26, 2013)

U.S. Stove Company started making that revised Franklin design for Sears in 1963. At one point during the oil crunch in the seventies they were cranking out a hundred of them a day and selling them under various brands in various stores including Montgomery Ward where I bought mine in 1977.

They do a pretty good job as an open ambiance fireplace with a screen but are scary to operate as a stove because of lack of air control.


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