# New to the forum, and I guess I have a Classic!



## Redcloud5400 (Nov 4, 2013)

I am copying my thread and posting here as its more appropriate given the vintage of stove I have...Circa 1940's?

I have had a 'Mity Oak' Parlor Stove now for about 5 years, and finally could afford the proper pipe to install it in my shop. The fella who gave her to me remembers his dad using it to heat his auto shop some 45 years ago.

My friend told me his dad bought it new from a stove shop in Pennsylvania years before that--so I would guess the stove to be over 50 years old? Its in great shape and hasn't been fired since his dad passed 45 years ago, when he acquired the stove.

The way my shop is laid out it made best sense to go with a cathedral box installation for 6" chimney. I will post up some pics of my stove a bit later.

I am excited to have joined this forum--looks like a great resource and place to talk stoves.
This is my first wood stove and wanted to do a bit more reading before my first firing--I can't wait to get her rolling.

A little bit about my install--The stove sits about 52" tall at the oval discharge, and I have a 10 to 11 foot run of single wall, including the slip joint, Class A to single wall adapter, and two elbows to locate the stove where I want it, topped off with 5 feet of my Class A chimney and cap. I am slightly 2 feet above the peak of my shop (I do a lot of wood working and cabinet making)

To date I've been heating with Kero, and have had enough of that.

I see from browsing that most of you have some seriously nice stoves...quite modern--someday for this guy! I will continue to read through the newb section to glean what I can.

I searched for similar stoves here, and didn't find too many listings. What do you guys think?

I will start with a small fire to see how the stove responds, how the throttles work, how she responds to dampening, etc. To start I have some seasoned and dry black locust. I know this wood has some of the highest btu/lb. Plan to star with some tinder, and add a couple of small chunks/split pieces 3" x 3" x 12"

I finished the install last night, have a very nice draft that I checked by burning some incense.
Any other thoughts? suggestions?

How long did it take you to get comfortable with your stoves, and by comfortable, I mean shutting the stove down, leaving the shop/building, and not having any worries?!

Cheers!

[Edit] here are some pics of the ol stove...


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## Redcloud5400 (Nov 4, 2013)

North Manchester Foundry...I did a little searching and came up with some neat info about the foundry that cast this stove...

North Manchester Foundry
The North Manchester Foundry Company was incorporated July 3, 1911. Common stock was issued to J. C. F. Martin, president W. J. Ranger, vice-president and John Stauffer, secretary-treasurer. John Stauffer purchased the stock of W. J. Ranger in 1913 and the stock of J.C.F Martin in 1919. Mr. Stauffer had come to North Manchester priority rating, the foundry experienced no trouble in getting raw materials.

Soon after the war when the M. H. Detrick Company purchased the plant the work for the company took an increasing percentage of the total capacity. This production was engineered refractory heat enclosures which are applied to open hearth earlier after a foundry he had operated in Dayton, Ohio burned out. The major part of the common stock remained in the Stauffer family until January 1947 when all of the outstanding common stock was purchased by the M. H. Detrick Company with main offices in Chicago. After this transaction the foundry became a division of the M. H. Detrick Company.

John Stauffer served as general manager from 1911 until his death in April, 1927. His son Robert M. Stauffer succeeded him as general manager, and became a vice-president of the Detrick Company and continued to manage the North Manchester plant. The foundry is one industry that has never called upon the town for financial assistance.

The foundry was originally organized to make castings for the Peabody Seating Company and for approximately twenty years this production was 90 per cent or more of the total castings produced. In the early 1930's the foundry was forced to branch out into other lines of castings due mainly to the fact that steel movable school desks began to replace the cast iron stationary desks. Among other types of production, the foundry began the manufacture of coal burning heating and laundry stoves, producing 20 to 25 thousand stoves a year in the late 1930's and early 1940's. Then the use of coal began to decline and stove production was phased out. In 1935 the foundry began making castings for the Ford Meter Box Company at Wabash.

During World War II the foundry produced farm machinery castings for the J. I. Case Company of Rockford, Illinois. As their castings carried a high furnaces, metallurgical and steel processing furnaces, refuse incinerators, clinker coolers for the cement industry, etc. M. H. Detrick Company operated foundries at North Manchester and Peoria, Illinois to produce mechanite metal for heat resisting castings which support the special fire brick shapes.

Foundry operations were not highly mechanized due to the great variety of patterns involved in their production. The new building improved production somewhat going from melting 22 to 24 tons of iron daily to a capacity of 30 to 36 tons daily.

In 1959 the plant began a rather unique plan of construction of a new building. The entirely new structure was built over the old structure without interrupting operations within the old structure. Once the outer structure was complete, the removal of the old structure began and that was completed by 1961. In the summer of 1961, on the fiftieth anniversary of incorporation the management considered having a day for open house but decided it was impractical. They did invite any who were interested in watching the iron being poured to call and arrange to watch any afternoon from Monday to Friday. Visitors on any day were to be limited. The new building had a 50 per cent greater capacity than the old.

Smoke pouring from the chimney of the new plant was a daily sight as the fire was lighted in the big cupola every morning about 10:00 o'clock. Within a few minutes after the proper heat was reached the smoke was dissipated and the cupola was loaded with the metal to be melted. Iron was poured every day from 2:00 o'clock until 4:30.

In addition to Robert Stauffer, other members of the management staff in 1961 were Clyde Brindel who had been with the foundry since 1915 and became plant superintendent in 1935; Don Roberts who joined the company in 1927 and had been foundry superintendent since 1945; Jack Richards who had worked since l938 and had been assistant foundry superintendent since 1959; Dale Berry who had worked since 1947 and had been in charge of quality control since 1960; Gene Coe had been office manager since 1955. Workers in the plant included Dick Reed, Laymon Howard, Ronnie Bridegroom, Roy Hippensteel , Homer Kerr and Charlie Conrad. There were as many as 85 on the payroll in about 1960.

The North Manchester Foundry was among the first in this area to install a profit-sharing plan for its employees beginning in 1935. Group insurance benefits began in 1929, vacation pay in 1944, holiday pay in 1950 and an employee loan plan since 1954. All of these were innovative at the time.


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## Redcloud5400 (Nov 5, 2013)

Planning for my first fire tomorrow night!  Again, plan to start slow, will have a couple of thermometers to check stove top temp and stack temperature.  Is there any rule of thumb for the height at which you put the thermometer on the stack? 

Do you all have any preferences for temp gauges?  I don't have a lot of cash.  I saw some thermometers in Lowe's by the Selkirk/Supervent stuff...they seemed ok and about my budget.  I am sure there are some pretty elaborate ones out there.  I just need ball park.  I also have a nice infrared that I will use to compare.

Any other input would be appreciated for a first fire!  I do have a fire extinguisher handy...I also have a round damper to install in the stack...is there any way to NOT do this?  any recommendations?


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## oldspark (Nov 5, 2013)

Stack thermometer is supposed to be 18 inches above stove, most brands are off at least some, my old condor is about 50 off until it gets to 450 or so and then can be off by 150 or so, this is all checked with an IR testor which is a good thing to have also.
Just started a first fire in my old stove with the new chimney last night in the shop, sounds like you are doing what I did, made sure the stove was installed correctly ( I assume you did) and built a small fire and keep an eye on the temps, hard to get into trouble with that formula. Moving on to a bigger fire today because all went OK last night.


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## Motor7 (Nov 5, 2013)

Interesting story....I wonder how many foundries like that are left here in the US?

Yes, any magnetic thermo will work, and I think I would get two, although I am not sure where to place it on that stove, the other one should go on the flue pipe around 18" up from where it exit's the stove. Oh, and if you are running single wall pipe, magnetic is fine, if it's double wall, you need the one with the probe.


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## oldspark (Nov 5, 2013)

"How long did it take you to get comfortable with your stoves, and by comfortable, I mean shutting the stove down, leaving the shop/building, and not having any worries?!"
That can take a while depending on your comfort level, If the stove works like it is supposed to maybe 10 or 20 fires would get me there, if the stove however does not work well you will never be comfortable with it. As the weather changes so does the stoves operation but you can see the changes happening along the way. Trying not to babble (habit of mine).


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## Redcloud5400 (Nov 5, 2013)

oldspark said:


> ...made sure the stove was installed correctly ( I assume you did)...


 
I am pretty sure I have it all correct.

So the installation...I went with the Selkirk/Supervent as it seemed the most economical and parts are readily available from Lowe's.  The roof pitch is slightly less than a 6/12.  Installed the box which provides for the 2" clearance from combustibles, and even lined the outside of the box with 5/8" Gypsum board as a thermal barrier and then framed the box with 2x6.  I cut and folded the box material onto the roof deck, as well as secured it to the 2 x 6 framing making sure the box was plumb and level. 

I have to tell you I was surprised there wasnt more that held the Supervent Chimney Pipe in place other than gravity, the slip/locking collar that sets on the cathedral box, and the flashing.

I have 5 feet of the Insulated Supervent Chimney--one other thing I found strange is that they don't advertise or label this chimney as being Class A--you have to dig on their website to find out its temperature ratings/UL listings etc.  Is this common in the stove pipe world?   Is saying pipe is Class A the same as saying it is Triple Wall?  Is insulated double wall the same as saying Class A?   Maybe NFPA 211 has these definitions?  Another thing I found odd was that there were no ratings shown on the box, nor was there any literature in the chimney boxes.

All of the single wall pipe is secured with (3) 1/4" self piloting/drilling sheet metal screws.

Chimney sections are banded together with a locking band...do I need a locking band on the transition piece from the chimney to the single wall?   It is the Supervent Twist Lock transition piece.

Is there any special way to mount or install the Damper?  I picked up the standard one for like 7 dollars from Lowes...in my mind it makes good sense to have that in there to regulate the burn.  Maybe its as simple as punching a couple of holes in the black pipe?

Slip joint is at the base of my stack, and the stove has its flue pipe and a section of single wall that fits into the slip joint.

Single wall is min 18" from any combustibles.

Stove is on level concrete.

Though the stove is not Air-tite, it does have refractory/grout in the stove wall joints where it meets the head and base.  Any thoughts on grouting or checking anything else out on the stove?

Thanks all!  I am really excited for the first firing...its been a 10 year wait for me...living the dream right now!


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## Jags (Nov 5, 2013)

Yep - poke a couple of holes in the pipe and install the damper.  Got any pics of the install?  You know what they say about 1000 words and all.  You following the 3 ft clearance to combustibles for the stove?


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## Redcloud5400 (Nov 5, 2013)

Jags said:


> Yep - poke a couple of holes in the pipe and install the damper.  Got any pics of the install?  You know what they say about 1000 words and all.  You following the 3 ft clearance to combustibles for the stove?


 
Yes--and then some.  My shop is an absolute mess right now as I have been involved in a flurry of projects before the snow starts flying.  Embarrassed and all, I wanted to clean it up a bit before snapping some pics, and more importantly firing her up.   The stove as shown in the pics is in its final position...it hardly gives you any context or surroundings though!


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## Redcloud5400 (Nov 5, 2013)

Motor7 said:


> Interesting story....I wonder how many foundries like that are left here in the US? .


 
I know first hand that there are quite a few small foundry's...a lot of brass goods, and places that cast aluminum with reverbatory furnaces.  I am sure they are on the decline though given the cost of labor, and just plain ol cost of goods sold when competing in an international market with people that are truly hungry.


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