Help me choose a bigger wood stove

[john26]

used papa bear in Kentucky already painted $450

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Johnson city Tennessee $300
https://www.facebook.com/marketplac.../?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search

 

[hawkfan9]

Just got this back. 9 hour road trip, so I hope it puts off more heat than the Grandma Bear.

Coaly and bholler, thanks for the paint information. I'll get a quart and roll it on with these foam rollers I use for painting cabinetry. They leave a fantastic finish..........and it's a stove, so it will be just fine.

It has some rust, so I'll see what a wire wheel will do, but I'll probably take it to get soda blasted.

Can anybody tell me what size baffle plate works best for the Grandpa Bear stove? I have plenty of 3/8" plate steel laying around here, and can cut it to whatever size I need. How far down from the flue chute, inside the stove, should the plate be mounted? I don't want to mess up an expensive sheet of steel, and I don't know how big to make it without guessing.

Thanks.

 

[blades]

if you are planing on adding secondary pipes i woud not use a steel baffle for that. rather a ceramic board type in the 2000 deg range. if you are talking about a baffle in front of the exhaust port(flue) that is a different story. not that familiar with the internal’s of Fischers.

 

[bholler]

Just got this back. 9 hour road trip, so I hope it puts off more heat than the Grandma Bear.

Coaly and bholler, thanks for the paint information. I'll get a quart and roll it on with these foam rollers I use for painting cabinetry. They leave a fantastic finish..........and it's a stove, so it will be just fine.

It has some rust, so I'll see what a wire wheel will do, but I'll probably take it to get soda blasted.

Can anybody tell me what size baffle plate works best for the Grandpa Bear stove? I have plenty of 3/8" plate steel laying around here, and can cut it to whatever size I need. How far down from the flue chute, inside the stove, should the plate be mounted? I don't want to mess up an expensive sheet of steel, and I don't know how big to make it without guessing.

Thanks.

View attachment 275864

View attachment 275865

It will put off a little more especially if you add a baffle and your grandma didn't have one.

 

[bholler]

if you are planing on adding secondary pipes i woud not use a steel baffle for that. rather a ceramic board type in the 2000 deg range. if you are talking about a baffle in front of the exhaust port(flue) that is a different story. not that familiar with the internal’s of Fischers.

It is a big open box not much to be familiar with

 

[hawkfan9]

My Grandma has a steel baffle inside. Someone welded angle iron on each side of the inside, and it sits on top of it.

Does anybody know where Stove Bright satin black is available in quarts? I can't find it on google, amazon, or ebay..........

 

[bholler]

My Grandma has a steel baffle inside. Someone welded angle iron on each side of the inside, and it sits on top of it.

Does anybody know where Stove Bright satin black is available in quarts? I can't find it on google, amazon, or ebay..........

If the grandma had a baffle as well I really don't think you will see that big of a difference.

I really thought it was available on Amazon. If nothing else your local stove shop could order it for you. Or just get a few spray cans

 

[hawkfan9]

My hope is to duplicate the results I got with the Grandma Bear, in terms of increased heat output, with the baffle. The Grandma Bear puts out a considerable amount of extra heat when the baffle is in place. You can tell right away.

I'm thinking that adding a steel baffle under the flue opening will cause the same increase in performance for this Grandpa bear, and it should put out MORE heat, because it's a bigger stove. Otherwise, what's the point of having a bigger stove?????

 

[bholler]

My hope is to duplicate the results I got with the Grandma Bear, in terms of increased heat output, with the baffle. The Grandma Bear puts out a considerable amount of extra heat when the baffle is in place. You can tell right away.

I'm thinking that adding a steel baffle under the flue opening will cause the same increase in performance for this Grandpa bear, and it should put out MORE heat, because it's a bigger stove. Otherwise, what's the point of having a bigger stove?????

Yes it is bigger but not by that much. I really think the best solution is a hot air furnace. But you have the grandpa now might as well try it. I hope it is enough of an improvement.

And yes a baffle does make a huge difference.

I found quarts of satin black stove brite on amazon. The rutland stuff isn't bad either

 

[coaly]

Series III (small glass) and Series IV (large glass) had factory baffles. They were laid on welded angle iron and easily removable. They are not welded in place. But they were designed to be able to heat a flue 8 inches or larger in case anyone hooked them to existing fireplace chimneys. You can now adjust it for your chimney for a more optimum burn. The object is making the smoke space (the area the exhaust travels through) the same size as your square inch area of chimney flue.

Make a template with a piece of cardboard.
Set it on the brick retainer shelf at rear.
Angle upward toward front so it comes just ahead of the lower bend in top.
The square inch area of your flue is 50.24 square inches. Measure across the stove inside. I think it will be 27 inches. (that is the magic number to fit bricks and was the depth of a Mama Bear as well, and both would take a 24 inch log) That gives you about 1.86 inch slot all the way across to equal the same square inch area.
If you weld angle iron on the sides with a leg facing down, you can set a brick on each side on edge, and set the baffle plate on those bricks. The angle iron prevents bricks from falling inward.
By sliding bricks fore and aft, you can raise and lower the plate to adjust for the exact smoke space. This eliminates a lot of smoke, takes the temperature spikes away from the exhaust and drives the heat forward so the front top will be hotter than the rear top.
This decreases how much you would use damper since this adds a little more resistance through the stove itself.

Does your factory baffle have notches cut in the front corners? This was to allow more heat up at the front corners, create turbulence, and prevent stagnation of moving gases in the corners. It's not necessary, but this design was tested by Fisher research and development to reduce smoke particles which it did very well.
This design was called the Smoke Shelf Baffle. It was made of 5/16 mild steel, the same as the top.

Here is a pic of angle iron welded to 5/16 plate for a Mama Bear; Plate is upside-down to show angle. Notice how brick is held against walls . Put the angle at the front end where it will contact bricks.

 

[coaly]

The original paint is #1990 by Forrest Paints. It is industrial stuff with an industrial smell. Much worse than any other high temp paints. All the rest I tried goes on ok, but this stuff leaves the hair on your arms feeling weird and really stinks. It is blacker and stays black longer. Sandhill is now the wholesaler and marketer, still made by Forrest. They started in business the same time the first Fisher stove was welded up. Bob went there and gave them a lot of business. The first stoves were brush painted and can still be found with original paint. A couple years later Fisher had them formulate the first color other than black in a high temperature paint and was the talk of a home and patio show. It was the Bark Brown color still available. This is not the Metallic Brown on your Grandma. That was years later.

It's cheaper to buy 2 rattle cans, it goes on really well for spray can paint. Wear a respirator if using inside and fire for final cure with doors open. I like to roll them outside with a few pieces of pipe on them to burn them off.

If that stove has been sitting over the summer, the brick will absorb a lot of moisture from the air. The first fire will not feel as hot as normal carrying the moisture out as steam until the bricks are dry. New ones are the same way or worse. That shows how much BTU is taken up the stack and used to create steam.

 

[coaly]

You're going from a stove designed to heat 1500 sf with no baffle and 1750 with factory baffle, to a stove designed to heat 2000 sf without baffle and 2250 with factory baffle. Your custom baffle drives it up a little more closer to 2500 sf.
These estimates were for a 8 foot ceiling height in Seattle Washington area with common insulation in the late 70's early 80's.

BTU goes by the temperature of each square inch of surface area. The temperature varies greatly. You will notice a lot more heat goes in the direction behind the stove without the rear shield and floor will get much warmer without the bottom shield. After a few hours you can't put your hand under it for long, unlike the Grandma with shields. The cast doors radiate more than the glass without the direct radiation you get through the glass. Without door gasket material, you will close the air dampers more unless someone added door gasket material.

The right door handle needs adjustment. Heat the bend in the latch rod to almost red and bend into more of a 90* angle so it pulls door tighter. Just a little bend with a large adjustable wrench until the handles are the same angle when latched. Bend it hot, or it will go right back when heated.

 

[bholler]

I really prefer aw perkins paint over stove brite. It seems to go on better and holds up better. It does smell worse though

 

[coaly]

I really prefer aw perkins paint over stove brite. It seems to go on better and holds up better. It does smell worse though

I never tried it, the Fisher purist I am.

 

[hawkfan9]

Thanks, Coaly. I appreciate all the knowledge you've shared. It will help a lot. The tip for making the baffle plate is excellent, especially welding on the brick holders on each side. I would have just welded directly to the inside of the firebox, which would have been a lot more work.

Quite a few of the bricks are broken in the stove. I will take them out this weekend and see what kind of condition they are in. I'll probably put new bricks in. I did that to the Grandma bear when I bought it.

I have a forklift. After I paint the stove, I'll fire it the first time outside to burn off whatever smell is created. I don't want to stink up the shop. I spend too much time in there. I have a 3M PAPR filtered powered air filtration helmet that I always wear whenever creating dust, fumes, painting, etc......my lungs can't take bad smells or off gasing of any kind. Slight COPD from nearly 40 years of exposure to sawdust, and lord knows what else.

 

[Frankdozer]

Here’s what I used. First, I started a fire in the stove. Then let it almost die ( No flames or glowing coals ) until you could barely put your hand on it. Then sprayed it. The spray dried immediately. Brought the stove inside. There was no smell or smoke with first fire indoors.

 

[john26]

I used that on my trim pieces with no primer mineral spirits will wipe it off after being dried for a year

 

[Frankdozer]

I never had a need to wipe it with mineral spirits or anything close to that. To clean dust I just used a damp dish towel and didn’t tell the wife. She finally figured out what I did and never let me forget it.

 

[bholler]

I just don't find that the rust-oleum holds up well enough.

 

[Frankdozer]

I’ve never used anything else so I can’t compare it. I like the way it looks and it’s easy to apply

 

[bholler]

I’ve never used anything else so I can’t compare it. I like the way it looks and it’s easy to apply

Stove brite is a step up from rust-oleum as far as durability and finish. And perkins is a step up from that

 

[hawkfan9]

Got the paint removed off the top and flue ring. Most of the rust is gone, too, but I've got some pitting. I'm not about to mount this up on the mill and fly cut it.

Is there a product, like a high temp, hi-fill primer, than can fill some of this pitting, or do I have to live with it?

If I don't do this now, I'll never do it again in my lifetime.

 

[hawkfan9]

2 cans of Stove bright Satin Black are on the way. I couldn't find it for sale locally.

 

[john26]

I just don't find that the rust-oleum holds up well enough.

It doesn't spray evenly either

 

[coaly]

Got the paint removed off the top and flue ring. Most of the rust is gone, too, but I've got some pitting. I'm not about to mount this up on the mill and fly cut it.

Is there a product, like a high temp, hi-fill primer, than can fill some of this pitting, or do I have to live with it?

If I don't do this now, I'll never do it again in my lifetime.

Spray some paint in the cap and let it tack up. Spread it on the low spots and let dry. Sand flat if you have to. That's the only way I know to fill low spots with something that won't burn or melt off.