Grandma Bear door seal issues

[lv_III]

Hey all, new here in hopes someone can shed some light on my situation. I just bought a grandma bear. Seemed to be in decent shape other than some firebrick and a loose door, which I attributed to the lack of gasket while I was inspecting this stove on sight. It wasn't until I got the stove home and read on this forum that I realized these stoves aren't designed for a gasket. There was some leftover gasket on the stove. Anyways, as you can see in the pictures, the door isn't even close to sealing and all I can think of is that the door is warped. I did heat and bend the latch but that didn't make a difference.

The latch door barely makes contact, and because of this the left door is loose when they are closed together.

You should be able to see the Elmers Glue I used to identify where the door is making contact... On the outside inner channel on the stove. I put glue on the door and what you're seeing on the stove is where it made contact.

I did wire wheel all of the channels clean. I've given the door pins a good look and they seem to be in decent shape, a little bit of play but nothing too concerning. I have a Poppa Bear right next to it that seals great with similar play in the hinges.

How can I verify if the door is warped? Does anyone have any other thoughts?

 

[stoveliker]

Put A straight edge along the door...

I think it's more likely the stove body is warped?

 

[coaly]

The back of door has rusted beyond sealing. The raised edge on door is supposed to be smooth and flat to contact the center web of iron door seal. The edges of channel iron should be smooth to contact rear side of door. This gives 3 points of contact all the way around.

The contact area was rough cast iron, and was possible to remove (milling machine) no more than .050 inch material from sealing area. This had to be done before drilling hinge pin holes.

Flat gasket used for glass installation needs to be installed in channel iron door seal.

I have a granite surface plate for machine shop use that items are laid on, and feeler gauge is used to measure clearance showing flatness such as used on cylinder heads. If you have a flat counter, check it with the straight edge of a 3 or 4 foot level. Using a feeler gauge, test along level length. This will give you how flat the surface is. Flip level to see if you get the same measurement. (This checks level straightness) Lay door on flat surface and measure clearance all the way around to determine flatness.

Check door seal with straight edge the same way.

See Note 4 and 5 below;

 

[coaly]

You can use a straight edge of level to check a stove top to use as a flat surface plate for testing doors for straightness.

In background is a granite surface plate tester I keep a piece of paneling on to prevent wear as things inevitably get placed on it.


This thing is as heavy as a stove itself.