# Atlanta Stove Company repair



## Mtncabin (Feb 11, 2014)

Hello Everyone and COOL website

My name is Jeff and I am new here and to wood stoves.  I just bought one on a whim to put in my future workshop in my future North Georgia log cabin.

So I bought an Atlanta Stove Company wood box #125 off Craigslist.  Just plain, small free standing typical looking wood stove.  It is really cool looking and I plan to give it a little upgrade with some black paste I bought.

However..........I noticed something the other day and I need to know if it is really a problem and/or if it can (or needs to) be repaired.  On the side panel (that appears to be removable if one knew how) there is a 1/4" x 3" gap between the side panel and the back part of the stove.  Looks like the edge of the side panel has been broken off leaving the 1/4" x 3" gap right at the seam of the two pieces.  Is this a problem for actual use in a workshop and can it be welded or filled somehow??

Any information would be helpful.

Thanks


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## Mtncabin (Feb 11, 2014)

Mtncabin said:


> Hello Everyone and COOL website
> 
> My name is Jeff and I am new here and to wood stoves.  I just bought one on a whim to put in my future workshop in my future North Georgia log cabin.
> 
> ...


 
Ohh.........also, this stove did not come with a grate inside.......does it need one or can i burn right on the bottom of the stove.


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## swestall (Feb 11, 2014)

I'd buy another stove, welding cast is possible but most welders either charge a lot or don't do it. If you want to do it, check for someone who fixes transmission cases or engine blocks.
You can burn on the stove floor for sure. Get some inexpensive fire bricks and line the bottom, better yet.


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## valley ranch (Feb 12, 2014)

Greetings, Atlanta Stove made some OK stoves. If it is a fake Franklin I'd put it in the yard. If it's one of their fire boxes with a hinged door, not the accordion doors, I would fix it, if you want to use it for a while.

Is it cast iron?

Not seeing the stove, but picturing it, I would, if you weld. get a few sticks of cast rod and slobber the gap closed, but not welded it to the adjacent piece.
Then, with stove cement, fill all the gaps all around from the inside.

Another way, 1/4" gap 3" long is nothing, if it's low on the fire box, lay a piece of " L " shaped sheet steel, and fill with stove cement, you can bolt it in place if you see the need. All the cast stoves had wows and small gaps at the seams. Look it over for your self, you can tell if it's sound. Now paint it.

You're going to put this on a stone or brick apron I'm guessing. You don't need a grate. Then fire it up and sit in front with a large brandy.

If you show us a picture that would be nice. Keep warm.


Richard


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## Mtncabin (Feb 14, 2014)

valley ranch said:


> Greetings, Atlanta Stove made some OK stoves. If it is a fake Franklin I'd put it in the yard. If it's one of their fire boxes with a hinged door, not the accordion doors, I would fix it, if you want to use it for a while.
> 
> Is it cast iron?
> 
> ...


 
Thanks Richard!!

This is one of their stove boxes (#125) and it does have a nice hinged door.  It is a relatively small unit which I thought would be perfect for a 24x24 (or so) work shop.  And, YES, it is cast iron.  I just gave it a nice coat of the Imperial Stove Black paste and it looks AWESOME!!  I will take some pix to post if I am not too much of a noob here to no be allowed to post pix yet.

I think I will try to find a welder that can fix her up.   I am in the ship building business with lots of (aluminum) welding so maybe one of our welding instructors could help me out or point me in the right direction.  There is a place where the top plate tab hooks/hinges to the main structure that looks like it was repaired previously but i don't see a typical "weld" as I can still see the crack..........but it is on there solidly!!

This stove will eventually be in a workshop with a cement floor but i still plan to make a nice brick/tile apron just so it looks nice.  The next challenge for another post is to connect the stove pipe.  It has a wierd (to me) 6.5" x 4.5" oval opening at the top.  I am guessing I will eventually need to find an oval to round adapter after doing some internet searching.  It doesn't seem too hard.

Where can I get some stove cement...........I am assuming this is not a Walmart item!


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## valley ranch (Feb 15, 2014)

I think they have Stove Cement at Lowes, not sure they are in Alabama, shouldn't be hard to find. Stove Cement does work in that application, if applied per label, will stay in place and allow better control of the primary air intake. 

Our main ranch is in the mountains, we see the use of many types of stoves. When kept in good nick and used properly good stoves are just that: Good Stoves and will heat, giving a fuel to heat ratio that will make us happy. Most wood stoves burn very clean when used as intended most were not intended to be choked down to a smoldering mess, when the first sooty fuel is burned off the primary air can be lowered and dampened when the box is hot with a bed of coals, we know how an Oxy acetylene torch will burn before oxygen is added. 

Some of the great stoves have been scrapped and replaced with newer stoves that are not designed to burn the wood we have and burn, wood that hasn't been split stacked and aged for three years with a moisture content almost nothing, we never have that luxury . Up here we, most often, cut firewood on our property the year we burn it.


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## Mtncabin (Mar 5, 2014)

Ok..........found some stove cement on E-bay for $7.  Should be plenty to patch up my "holes".  You can see the areas in need of repair in the last photo!  The horizontal seam problem is obvious and the vertical probem is just to the right......from the bottom up about 3" to where it looks like you can see a blockage in the gap.  You can't see fire through it but it is open. 

She cleaned up pretty good in my opinion


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## Mtncabin (Mar 10, 2014)

Well, le tme tell ya..........8oz of stove cement goes a LONG way!!  I patched up my "issues" and the color even matches!!  I really packed those separations so it is in there nice and thick and I still have 90% of that little jar left.  One more coat of the black paste to really get her looking good and I think she is ready for use!!  Thanks for all the help and i look forward to continue snooping around here for more info!!


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## fbelec (Mar 11, 2014)

welcome to the forum

from what i see that stove needs to be taken apart and rebuilt. ( clean up and re cement the seems ). from the picture it looks like you have a crack starting to form at the spot where you can see the fire. it's not hard to do it's just messy. if you burn the stove the way it is you will have a hard time controlling the fire and it will get to hot. it may be easy to control new but when you hook a chimney to it it's really going to take off.

frank


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## Mtncabin (Mar 11, 2014)

Well...........I think I did just that.  Now, not exactly a pro job but it is cemented up and it looks really good (in my opinion).  The only two places that were leaky were the lower spot that you could see the fire where it looks like the side was dented and the lower vertical void.  That horizontal seam is now sealed up and what maybe looks like a vertical crack is gonna be there since I am sure i am not gonna find a new side and I am no cast iron welder.  The big fat vertical seam to the lower right is suppoed to be like that (all the way up) but the inside flange (bottom 3") of the back piece was broken off so there was a void as it did not overlap the side piece....which also got cemented up nice.  That stove cement is really easy to work with and matches the cast iron color and texture wonderfully.

I am sure there may be a small spot or two that needs a little cement once I get her up and burning but I think it will serve it's garage/work shop purpose just fine.......I hope  For $50 it is worth a shot and if nothing else it has been fun to work on and learn about.


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