Everything Fisher

[lightning]

well i plan on cleaning it up 1st of all. i want 2 tile the floor under it plus cultured stone behind it. it needs alot of cleaning and polishing. i used 2 have a grandpa bear at my other house and it worked awesome. so when i seen this on craigslist , i emailed the guy cause there was no price. he said he would like 2 get a $100. for it. i jumped on it immediatly. i noticed the 10 '' flue and i knew it was diff. who would have known it was 1 of a kind. thanks 4 the interest and the question.

 

[begreen]

Good to hear that you are going to give it some TLC. Please post some beauty pictures when it's all fixed up and in its new home.

 

[coaly]

From lightning;

 

[begreen]

Whoa, I thought that was just for the pics. That stove is much too close to the wall behind it. The Durock tacked to the wall is not a proper wall shield and regardless. doesn't come close to the required 36" clearances needed. Don't burn like that unless the wall behind it is solid cement.

 

[coaly]

Ditto lightning. I can't tell if the elbow is connected to a wall thimble, or if it's just pushed back against the wall protector to be out of the way. If that's a wall shield, thec codes require it to raised off the floor as well to allow air under it to rise behind it and carry the heat away. What looks like screws through it should have 1 inch spacers behind it, and you can't have a support with spacers in the center. NFPA 211 specifies what will work with heat shields. I took a piece of rookboard and leaned close to a stove, and sure enough it absorbed the heat liek a heat sink and got quite hot on the back side away from the stove. A cheap piece of metal, like galvanised sheet reflects teh heat away, and th eair space behind it keeps the wall within limits as long as the stove is the proper distance away as well.
I'm thinking there was a piece of pipe horizontal from the elbow to the thimble when in use, and it's pushed back out of the way for now? Post #132 in this thread shows the back of the Goldilocks, which is a reduced clearance stove with two steel shields on the back of the stove with 1/2" air space between them. It still has to be at least 12 inches from the wall. I put a 1 inch spaced black fabricated floor shield fo rkerosene heaters on the wall behind it anyway, and the wall stayed cold behind that.

 

[coaly]

On a lighter note, here is a stove that will be coming up for sale soon near Portage WI.

Early Mama Bear. Anyone interested, I have their contact information. All it needs is the correct chrome knob. Where to find that, I don't know. There is a little wedge welded to the door frame that the bent handle rod pulls the door tight when the handle is pushed down. The handle shouldn't be that low in the closed position, so either the rod needs bending on the tip towards the door, or the wedge is worn. No big deal to fix either way.

 

[lightning]

that is my existing fireplace spot. that is cement board that is fire rated 2 block off the old insert hole. that is double brick wall .

 

[coaly]

I have started to add to the Fisher Stove article in Hearth Wiki.

You can also find the Owners Manual for pre 1980 Fisher Stoves there as well.
Fisher didn't have a manual for the first stoves, but many people asked for one. So the Fisher Showroom in Factoryville, PA had them printed to give to their customers. This is the only manual I have found for the pre 1980 stoves. Fisher International printed manuals for the different models of the redesigned stoves after 1980.

Enjoy; https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/1803ed61c450729660b7c4c916156793/

Anyone needing the Goldilocks Manual can email me at [email protected] for the UL Listed 1980 manual.

 

[coaly]

For anyone installing a Goldilocks, the distance to combustible clearances are important enough to put here; Page 4 identifies the stove. Page 11 is for manufactured housing using an outside air source pipe through the floor. Page 12 is for residential housing and the stove base must be elevated 1 inch off the floor for air intake under the pedestal base. (bricks under the corners work well for this, Fisher supplied chrome 1" balls available separately.)

 

[coaly]

Another article by Claudia lynn; circa 1978

BOB FISHER: STOVE KING

Bob Fisher is the product of a simple, basic rural life along the northwest Oregon coast. He grew up learning hard work and acquiring common sense from his parents . . . farmers who were just trying to survive the depression years of the 1930's.

"I remember the chickens, cattle, pigs, groves of walnuts and filberts . . . and all those turkeys. We had over 4,000 turkeys at one time," Bob likes to tell his friends. "The parts of farm life that stick in my memory the most were either lots of hard work or lots of fun . . . but there was never a dull moment."

Bob didn't like school very much and missed many classes while working in his parent's orchard. Finally, in the middle of the eleventh grade, he couldn't take it anymore and dropped out. For several years after that he continued to help his parents ... then eventually started an independent logging operation of his own.

Fisher later went broke one year when his log tractor got mired so deep in the Oregon mud that he couldn't get it out for weeks . . . so Bob went on from there to try his hand at being a barber, millwright, and-finally-a welder. He didn't know it then . . . but his fortune at last was close at hand.

"My wife and I bought an A-frame up in the mountains about that time, and it had a huge stone fireplace," Bob recalls. "It sure was romantic, but that damn thing burned about a cord of wood a week and sucked all the warm air out of the house as it drew cold air in from the outside. I think it worked more like a refrigeration unit than a heater!

"I just got tired of burning all that wood . . . and that's how my stove idea got started," Fisher says as he muses over those early days on the mountain . . . thinking of how back to nature to him meant freezing his behind off while scorching his boots in front of that mammoth fire.

Ol' Ben Franklin must have had similar thoughts one cold Pennsylvania winter nearly 200 years before when he came up with his stove idea. And Bob, like Ben, had enough sense to put his mind to work solving the centuries-old problem: How do you heat a large room . . . the easiest, most economical way possible . . . with the simplest, most basic firebox?

It wasn't long before Bob Fisher was kindling his stone fireplace with scraps of drawing paper . . . on which were sketched rough ideas for his new Fisher Stove. "I just drew it up and built it," Bob says. "I knew in my mind exactly how it would work, and sure enough, when I got through welding those pieces of iron together, it did work!

"We sealed up the old fireplace except for a 6 inch opening in the chimney for a flue-then I put that first stove in place," says Fisher. "It heated the entire A-frame, and we had 100%, flame control. The stove was just a little slower to react than a gas or oil furnace, but we could turn the wood flame up or down anytime we wanted . . . and we could cook right on top of it! "

Bob admits he didn't realize the significance of his invention those first few months. But soon, friends began asking him to build stoves for them. He welded each one together by hand, and his new fireboxes sold as rapidly as they could be made. Eventually, Bob turned to subcontracting . . . then to franchising to keep pace with the orders.

Now, just five years later, more than half a million of the units are in use throughout the world . . . his stove is being manufactured in almost every state ... and demand for Fisher's woodburner is still growing! -Claudia Lynn.

I found it here; (broken link removed)

 

[coaly]

Here's a good example of WHY I started this thread to allow folks with unknown stoves to be able to post them for sale correctly, and get a fair price for them. What ever happened to "false advertising" ?????

This stove does possibly have original pipe cap dampers, and original chrome knobs. But it obviously has a 3 piece top. The door hinge castings are long and huge compared to a Fisher door. However Jake Jackson's prototype could have had a 3 piece top. If this were in or near Oregon, OK I'd believe it. But...... it's in Alaska. Obviously I'd have that thing shipped here pronto if it was truly a one of a kind Fisher ! Could this have been one of the few that Jake sold with the Fisher name on that got him booted?? Possibly, but the seller claims it has a serial number........ And number stoves didn't start until AFTER 1980 with the redesigned corners, legs and arch top doors. Or did Jake number his stoves. hmmmmm.

Here is the sellers response to me questioning it being a Fisher product ;
"It's a Fisher, has serial #, Logo and design. It's sold anyway."

The ad is still up a day later on Craigslist too. that means nothing, everyone does that...... Anchorage Alaska.

A closer picture would certainly show a logo on the doors. I need someone to put the picture in a program to blow it up to identify the doors. Ideas?? Rare example or deeeeeep BS ?
The ad;

fisher wood stove - $400 (palmer)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2010-04-11, 8:36PM AKDT
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Fisher air tight wood stove, fire box is 24" x 16". call ***-**** eves

 

[lightning]

hey coaly. i kinda thought there was gonna be more talk about this rare stove. thanks again.

 

[coaly]

EXPOSED by the Fisher Police (thanks Fay)

Frontier ! Maybe the sellers stove does have a tag that has "Fisher" on it, so it could be one of Jakes first ones that got him in trouble?

I'll turn this one over to the FBI. (Fisher Bear Investigation)
Fisher fraud may still be alive and well today.

Frontier Stove on Left. "Fisher for sale" lightened up on right.

 

[coaly]

That's a roger delta ohio.

I think seeing one in person would be a lot different than in pictures. The sheer size isn't appearent in pictures. Now opening the doors and sticking a Baby Bear down it's gullet would show it's girth. But you better beef the floor to do it, you're pushing a half ton doing that ! The "Sun" door with the strange logo is the king of rare bears. Yours is the same fire box and shell. As visitors looking to find out what they have find this thread, sooner or later more will surface. Anyone having one of these is asked to join and post pictures. If posting pics is beyond you, feel free to send them to [email protected] and I'll put them up for you. (or identify your stove at least)

 

[coaly]

The defendant in the above mentioned case has made a full confession as of 1:03 PM;

" You're right! I sold the Fisher a few years ago, this one is a Frontier. I error ed in calling it a Fisher. Thanks to you I corrected my mistake. I'm old, forgive me. "

 

[lightning]

well the invite is open. come check it out. im gonna send u some pics with the doors open soon. thanks

 

[tickbitty]

On a lighter note, here is a stove that will be coming up for sale soon near Portage WI.

Early Mama Bear. Anyone interested, I have their contact information. All it needs is the correct chrome knob. Where to find that, I don't know. There is a little wedge welded to the door frame that the bent handle rod pulls the door tight when the handle is pushed down. The handle shouldn't be that low in the closed position, so either the rod needs bending on the tip towards the door, or the wedge is worn. No big deal to fix either way.

So, you full up with stoves now Coaly? Your new original Baby doesn't need an original Mama?

 

[coaly]

I could use one, but the shipping cross country of the larger ones runs the price up. Not everyone is interested in crating them for shipment either. Figure about a buck a pound shipping, and if they won't take them to their nearest freight terminal, there is a local truck charge to pick up with a lift gate if needed as well. I hope to find them closer to the East coast and be able to go get them.
I'm dealing with a 7 mm kidney stone stuck in my right ureter somewhere just above the bladder for now. An ER visit with morphine to keep me on the floor early Wednesday morning, no driving with Percoset and a cocktail of other meds...... along with trying to drink the ocean trying to pass it now. I figured the oil would lube it up as well..........
I hear my friends at the EPA are looking for a few good men. But you can't have a sense of humor to work for them.

I was outbid on these bear legs the other week. Not something you see everyday.

 

[tickbitty]

Youch, hope you feel better soon Coaly!

Understand about the transit issues regarding huge iron stoves! You are still the guy in the know though for all the good stuff!

 

[coaly]

1981 Teddy Bear surfaced today in Texas. Nice ! With manuals, screen, stainless pipes. Shipping possible. No glass doors, but as good as it gets.
(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290435480697)

 

[summit]

those pedestals look pretty funny on the fishers...

 

[coaly]

Hey, Teddy Bears aren't 'funny' , they're cute !

Well, maybe a little strange looking without glass doors.

About the only difference between these and the Mobile Home Certified Goldilocks is the draft control that allows air to come up through the pedestal in the Goldilocks. Goldilocks has a fake right hand door draft cap, and the left one is on a threaded rod extending through the door about 2 inches to open the draft door flap on the bottom in front of the fire box when the door is closed. Goldilocks has a baffle system on the back for reduced clearance as well. Honey and Teddy use the regular air intake holes through the door, to use inside room air for combustion in conventional housing.

 

[tickbitty]

Coaly, check your PMs!
Hurry, hurry!

 

[lightning]

hey coaly......did u check out the fisher stove on e-bay. kinda looks like a 10 inch flue on top...

 

[coaly]

I only see one Fisher stove on eBay right now, so if it's the one I'm looking at, it's a pre 1980 Grandpa Bear. ( auction number 230484879901 ) It has angle iron up the sides that become the legs. The XL box has rolled corners, not welded with angle iron. The XL also has bolt on legs. These were the redesigned, UL listed stoves for 1980. The first XL ad I've found was from August 1979. So they were working on the design change mid 1979.

Thanks to anyone for bringing the rare collectibles to my attention !!