Honey Bear with removable pedestal ?

[mtn man]

Looks a 100% better than what I started with. Was it made at CE Smith? Really couldn't see it at the bottom. Would like to get a clear pic of both tags if possible for my records.Send me your email and I will forward all the advice Coaly sent me. Does your smoke baffle come out or is it welded at the back? Makes it hard to clean out when I clean the flue out with the set up I have. Will modify it sometime so you can slide the plate foward and set a pale under it to catch the soot.

 

[mtn man]

Hey Coaly this ? is for you. Does this tag match up with the other honey bear tags on double doors?

 

[WeldrDave]

View attachment 91828View attachment 91829View attachment 91830 View attachment 91827 im sorry it took so long , mtn man i saw your stove and knew i had to restore this one . i hope you dont mind if i copy yours .. you did a great job .. im glad you told me they heat well .. i wonderd about that . its going in my small hunting camp . mtn man i hope you can read this if not let me know and i will take more pics of tag . coaly do you know how to get ahold of camfan to see if he will part with a set of legs .. thanks mike

"SHES A KEEPER"!, I'm jealous!..

 

[coaly]

Hey Coaly this ? is for you. Does this tag match up with the other honey bear tags on double doors?

No. The tags pictured in post #13 are all on the very bottom of the non-removable pedestal. They are tiny compared to the stove mounted aluminum ones like yours. My double door tag is stamped C.E. Smith across the bottom 6-8-84. As far as I know, they are still in business, and you can see some pics of their operation at their website. Just Google C.E. Smith Co. Inc.

Here's the only close ups I have of the tag like yours. It's from the stove shown on post #18 from Finest Fishers. It has been sold. He moves a lot of stoves. Everything is identical except having two doors.
I try not to use partial pictures for much information since the phrase "residential installation only" could be after "residential pedestal use is for........" etc.
The "testing report date" doesn't date the stove. You can use the left partial tag pic to see if it matches yours; Looks like it reads "also for use in Mobile Homes". It can take a lot of pictures with different lighting to get a good opicture of an entire readable tag.

 

[coaly]

I remember going into our local fabricator with a Factory Showroom, and the line up of brown metallic and brass stoves in one section against the wall was awesome compared to the black stoves in the rest of the shop. That's the color I'd make mine if I were doing one up for display. Hopefully I'll find one some day. The prices you guys paid are unheard of around here. Rusty junk is 5 and 600 bucks. That's why I travel to the ones I want. My Honey Bear came from near Buffalo NY. Non-removable pedestals are 3 sided, and get their air from above and below the doors. No way for outside air intake for mobile home approval. Goldilocks was the only Mobile Home approved stove back then.
Here's pictures of the metallic brown. Food for thought;

 

[WeldrDave]

Coaly, that stove is beautiful, is that/was that a factory color?

 

[coaly]

Yes, Stove Bright "Metallic Brown" was Honey Bear brown.
Stove Bright does make a Honey Glo, that is NOT the brown.
Early single door stoves were available black or brown.
That was todays Stove Bright "Bark Brown".
Black was not metallic. First ones were brush painted. DeRusto Bar-B-que Black was sprayed on many and is not as black as Stove Bright Satin, today's choice. Here's an article about painting over DeRusto;
(broken link removed to http://forrestpaint.com/uploads/images/stovebright/09%20Trouble_User%20guide.pdf)

I try not to get into paint techniques since all restorers have their own way. There's even a reseller on eBay that looks like he is thinning stove black down and wiping it on ! One of his auctions mentioned "the stove has been recently stove blacked........" Oh boy. That is for cast iron only, not machined surfaces or smooth steel plate. Even antique cookstoves with machined cast tops get oil on the smooth top like you would season a cast iron pan. Not stove black there. I can imagine in time people buying these top dollar stoves are going to come here wondering why they can't get paint to stick to their stove.

 

[WeldrDave]

Wow! I do love that look! I hope people learn to appreciate the stove and it's use, other than just flipping them and making a buck, I'm sad to think that. I'd like to see Mike bring this one through, That would be sweet! Hey Mike if you reading this, stick with it I'm no expert but I'll help where I can!.. Coaly you are the man!

 

[mike zimmerman]

thanks all for your input . just shows you can figure out alot if people put there heads together .. hey mtn man it was made by ce smith dont know if plate comes out but will check that .im starting on it tommorrow should be done within a week . thank you dave i am definitely keeping it and putting it at my nhunting camp . thanks coaly for all the pics and input we are very fortunate to have you on this site keep up the good work. speaking of price the lady i bought it off of wanted $450 she told me on phone that she was told by a stove service guy that came to her house that it was a baby bear with glass . she didnt have a pic on craigs list .so i had to go see it . when i got there i talked her down to $200 and i thought that it might not be worth much because it looked like the newer stoves .. i felt bad after finding out that it is as valuable as a baby bear and sent her $100 dollars more so i now have $300 in it and she was very grateful . and i am very happy and have really got to like the look thanks to mtn mans pic of his stove with legs ..

 

[coaly]

Dave,
I put the information about paint in my post above on the first post of the Everything Fisher thread since many directed here are looking for refinishing tips.

Just a hobby of mine that I like to share with people so they know how to use their stoves, be comfortable and safe. Give the credit to Bobby and Carol Fisher, and licensees and employees that stayed loyal to them.
Everyone that bought one new, has a story about the day they bought their stove, picked it up or had it delivered, hooked it up and tried their first fire. That was what I call the "original Fisher family". Many of those are gone, or no longer able to do the labor necessary to burn anymore. Now they are handing down their stoves or selling them and sharing their stories about the years experiances with their stove. That's where I'd like to make iteasier for the new owners. Those that got to know Bobby personally have been blessed with knowing a man with a heart as big as the world. That's where my inspiration comes from.

 

[coaly]

That's the way to treat people Mike, you still got a deal. If she didn't have a story to tell about her stove, she does now !

Baby Bear with glass. That's a new one.

Yeah, if I wasn't here, I'd be running around the country picking up stoves for 100 bucks and selling them for $400. Like Bob say's " I'd sooner be home".
(broken link removed)

 

[WeldrDave]

Thanks Coaly! This is giving me some Ideas for the future., again that stove is stunning! Coaly, I know you have heard thanks by many but let me personally say it again, Thank you for your help and direction on my ventures, I still have more to do but I got a better idea on things from when I started and a great source and mentor to ask! I'm going to start the frame work for the hearth next week, Got a good handle on that, I will supply pictures as I go along incase some one down the line wants to do something similar. 8 bells, time to throw log in the old girl......24 outside, 82 inside, hail to the wood stove God!

 

[coaly]

The story on my Honey Bear was when I found a Craigslist ad near Buffalo NY for $200, the seller called it a Honey Bear from the tag, but used this picture he found on the net in the ad !
And the ad stated "picture is not of actual stove, but the same model with glass doors" ! (hmmm, a 4 legged Grandpa compared to a one legged half pint Honey Bear)
That's over twice the stove !
So by a phone conversation he definately described a Honey Bear. Driving through lake effect snow, I got there with about 3 feet on the ground, and found a like new Honey Bear with only a fire or two in it that didn't even fill in the cracks with ash between the fire brick! It was in the basement, and the guy didn't know how to open the doors. The left handle is solid and doesn't move. He tried jerking on the handle so hard it rocked the stove. I showed him you lift UP on the right handle, and opened the doors easily. Gave him his $200 and removed the doors and brick to lighten it up. So I straped it to my hand truck, and let the air out of my tires at the bottom of the steps, so it wouldn't roll forward easy back down the steps. It was a very steep narrow stairway, so only one of us could fit on the step above it to pull it up one step at a time. Good thing there was no nosing on those steps. It wouldn't have worked. That was the heaviest Honey Bear I ever moved ! Once outside, with flat tires on snow and ice, I shoveled a path and slid it on the frozen slippery snow. They slide easy on a big flat pedestal base, even when they out weigh you. Had it been a full size model, it would have been winching and pulling to get it around the back of the house.
I copy and pasted to save the original ad, here it is. Wonder where he found out it was a "rather rare stove"? And how much would it have been if it wasn't rare? $20 ??

Too funny, it reads like a big heavy wood stove. (but doesn't mention keyword "basement" - they never do) Read; "beast will definately heat your home"............. This is a miniature stove compared to all other pedestals !
Not as good as a Baby with glass;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIKE NEW WOOD STOVE! Best Offer (WNY)

Date: 2010-12-17, 9:54PM EST
Reply to: [email protected][Errors when replying to ads?]

Like new Fisher honey bear woodstove. it turns out they are rather rare. has been sitting in the basement unused. recently cleaned. the stove is in great shape. it has a 6" flue and attached damper. comes with an extra flue pipe some extra firebrick a "heat shield" and a fire place shovel. if sold you will need to pick it up preferably with a truck or large vehicle as it is big and heavy. if unable to i will ask a 75 dollar increase at least (depending on your location) to pay for rental truck and labor. i wont take anything less than $200. this beast will definitely heat your home. picture is not actual stove but same model except it has glass doors. call 716xxxxxxx ask for alex if interested. if you would like actual pictures ask upon calling and i will send them to you as my comp. is not working for some reason. serious inquiries only please and thank you.
· Location: WNY

 

[coaly]

Thanks Dave, I see you almost have a family of Fisher's yourself.

 

[WeldrDave]

Getting there Coaly, I have what I want and need "but" if one or more come along and at a reasonable price and are fairly local, I'll grab them up! Go over them and find them a good home. I only live on 1/3rd of an acre, I do have a storage building and want to build a garage this year if I can afford it, "where Mama is going". They Tax the hell out of you down here, but thats like anywhere else I guess. I am very intrigued with the whole Fisher story and so glad to be a small part of keeping it alive, not to mention the outstanding result of an idea! I have been paying attention to the forums and seen some really neat Fishers I didn't even know existed, Too cool! there as classy as anything I see being made today, simple and functional!
When I was teaching, I used to tell my students, KISS, you know what that means...... Just because its pretty don't make it work!

 

[mike zimmerman]

coaly thats a neat story about your honey bear . its kinda like treasure hunting to me . that was definitely worth the long drive . if you are like me you probably like a good road trip . i hope someday i can travel thru 2 ft of snow to retrieve a fisher stove . now thats a moment in life worth remembering . going tommorrow to retrieve a baby bear in winchester va . going to have to pay up for this one . its about a 1979 by looks of spring handle very nice shape no rust pitting .. not burned much original brick looks good . $300 ...... just cant get the babys for cheap anymore .

 

[WeldrDave]

coaly thats a neat story about your honey bear . its kinda like treasure hunting to me . that was definitely worth the long drive . if you are like me you probably like a good road trip . i hope someday i can travel thru 2 ft of snow to retrieve a fisher stove . now thats a moment in life worth remembering . going tommorrow to retrieve a baby bear in winchester va . going to have to pay up for this one . its about a 1979 by looks of spring handle very nice shape no rust pitting .. not burned much original brick looks good . $300 ...... just cant get the babys for cheap anymore .

Be Careful Mike, It gets weird..... I'm looking for stoves now in places I never thought! and I don't need anymore! My wife thinks I've completely lost it, but she said that when I bought my 4th boat and my 40th gun too..........

 

[mike zimmerman]

finished my honey bear . it turned out well . cant wait to build a fire in it . i will be putting bear legs on before i install it . just wanted to show it finished with the pedastol . thanks for everyones help especialy cam fan and coaly

 

[WeldrDave]

View attachment 94298 finished my honey bear . it turned out well . cant wait to build a fire in it . i will be putting bear legs on before i install it . just wanted to show it finished with the pedastol . thanks for everyones help especialy cam fan and coaly

Absolutely Beautiful Mike Her door stands out sweet!

 

[mike zimmerman]

here it is with the bear legs ,, looks kinda familar doesnt it mtn man . notice the huntsman i sell the knockoffs and keep the fishers but i love the history of all the pre epa air tights if you think about it they are all fishers ...

 

[mtn man]

Hey Mike, Great Job! Looks like we have the only two that looks like this so far. Did you leave the UL label on the side? And was wondering if your baffle plate is welded in place too. Great find on the baby bear, bet it will look good too. Do you collect them or restore and sell your stoves?

 

[WeldrDave]

Mike, I think you stove is beautiful, and it's a true Fisher, but remember please, there is only one Fisher

 

[mike zimmerman]

dave i say there all fishers because most of the knock offs were started up by fisher fabricators who new how to make a bob fisher stove , so its a great thing that we have lots of knockoffs to buy restore and sell , and truthfully most of them burn just like a fisher . i really enjoy all the models out there around this era . it adds so much depth to this hobby and business if you keep an open mind , but you are right there is only one fisher thats why i keep the fishers and sell the rest . mtn man my baffle is original and is spot welded . i restore them all and i keep the hard to find stoves, ,whats the old saying and i may get this wrong . copying is the best form of flattery. i copied yours and the knockoffs copied bob just means you did something right ​

 

[mike zimmerman]

mtn man i did leave the ul label on . i took the heat shield off the back , i think it makes the stove look cleaner and took the warning tags off the ash pan . of course i did preserve everything . and will keep it in case i ever want to put it back to original .

 

[mtn man]

Won't be the first time someone copied a fisher style and probably won't be the last. Just alot of fun to bring something back to life and put it to use. Let me know how yours burns when you get it going and what the temps run on the stove and pipe if you use single wall. I used double wall all the way and just got the thermo on the slope to get an idea what the temps run. Just curious about it to keep creo build up away?