Woodstock Soapstone Progress Hybrid Stove

[Machria]

I think with no cooktop, you get one large piece of stone instead of 3... But I'm just guessing...

 

[siddfynch]

Here is two pictures that will help you. The first shows the cooktop installed, with only the center stone lifted to reveal the center cooktop burner (high heat). You can also lift the right and left side stones, and reveal the Med and Low heat burners if you like. The second photo shows the underside of the cooktop with it removed from the stove to reveal the "cooktop heatshield". The heat shield is the thin stainless peice of metal with 4 bolts fastening it to the underside of the cooktop.

If you don't use the cooktop, that's no problem just leave the top stones down and nobody will ever know it even exists. BUT, if you want to cook some chili on it, just lift up the stone, and head on over to the Progress Hybrid recipe thread:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/recipes-for-the-progress-hybrid.94828/

Thanks for the pics, very helpful. oh, and nice job on that hearth.

 

[Cross Cut Saw]

I think with no cooktop, you get one large piece of stone instead of 3... But I'm just guessing...

If you don't have the cook top you get 3 stones with a thin heat shield below them. The stones are thicker and have rope gaskets inlaid into them to create a seal so no smoke comes out.

They look exactly the same on top as it does with the cook top.

 

[Machria]

Just finished making and installing a one of a kind "Progress Hybrid Soapstone Clock". Bought a 16" round pizza soapstone from Woodstock, and fabricated a mantle clock out of it. It weighs about 20 lbs, so I had to use a serious hangman mount. Glued on some wooden numbers and painted them black, put lag bolts thru at each # spot, and painted the heads black. The 2 and 10 bolts actually are thru bolted to the mount.

 

[HotCoals]

Pretty fancy there mister..I like it!

 

[melissa71]

That turned out fantastic! I love it! What kind of tiles are those in yourhearth and surround? They're beautiful.

 

[Ashful]

Looking at the two items placed atop the stove, I figure the one on the left is a steamer, although clearly equipped with far more gadgetry than mine (got a pic?). What's the thing on the right, though?

 

[melissa71]

Looking at the two items placed atop the stove, I figure the one on the left is a steamer, although clearly equipped with far more gadgetry than mine (got a pic?). What's the thing on the right, though?

It's a fan for circulating the heat. I've thought about getting one, but am too cheap. The blades turn from the heat, so you don't need power to run it.

 

[Ashful]

It's a fan for circulating the heat.

I see it now! Thanks, Melissa.

 

[siddfynch]

Mine arrived yesterday. Sitting in back of truck in Mystery Box until I can install next week. Is it best to move the whole crate onto the exact final spot on my hearth before tearing apart the crate and assembling the legs, etc?

 

[Machria]

That turned out fantastic! I love it! What kind of tiles are those in yourhearth and surround? They're beautiful.

Thank you. The tile, actually "stone" is called Silver Slate. It's simply a polished slate tile 1/2" thick, and it's very heavy. The back of them looks exactly like a regular peice of slate as you would put outside on your walkway... amazing what a difference it makes when they polish it.

Looking at the two items placed atop the stove, I figure the one on the left is a steamer, although clearly equipped with far more gadgetry than mine (got a pic?). What's the thing on the right, though?

Left one is a steamer, pretty neat, the steam comes out of the campfire on it: http://www.amazon.com/Adirondack-Chair-Stove-Steamer-Black/dp/B007JXWXKQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hg_1

Right one as noted is the ECO fan which runs itself off of the heat, it makes no noise and actually moves a fair amount of air: http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Wood-Stove-and-Accessories/Wood-Stove-Fans/Ecofan-UltrAir
(broken image removed)

Mine arrived yesterday. Sitting in back of truck in Mystery Box until I can install next week. Is it best to move the whole crate onto the exact final spot on my hearth before tearing apart the crate and assembling the legs, etc?

Sid, oh the wait!! I had it sitting in the back of my truck for a week also, it hurt to look at the box and not be able to open it! You should leave it in the create as long as you can during the move. If the entire box doesn't fit, then you can remove the top part of the box/crate if you must, and leave the bottom part of the crate to grab it with a handtruck... We uncrated mine a few feet in front of the hearth. Then lifted it with a fancy handtruck and dropped it into place very carefully while measuring to make sure it was correct. You can see how we "moved it", still in the box/crate here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...problem-progress-hyrbrid-install-pics.101580/

There is a good video of how to remove the final peices of the pallet on youtube:

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Good luck. Your going to love the stove.

 

[Waulie]

Also, try to bring it in at least 24 hours before you build your first seasoning fire so the cast and stones aren't cold.

 

[Machria]

Also, try to bring it in at least 24 hours before you build your first seasoning fire so the cast and stones aren't cold.

Great point. When we brought mine in, those sones were cold for 6 or 8 hours. Just like it holds the heat, it also holds the cold!

 

[Machria]

I had my first really bad burn last night. I loaded a decent size load (about 1/2 full), with 2 med splits, and 4 small splits (small 2 or 3" rounds). I loaded it at 11pm onto a pretty large and hot coal bed. I shut the air down to about 1/8th open and closed the bypass after only about 3 or 4 minutes. The wood was very dry, and took off before I even had the door shut. About 1 hour later (around midnight), the secondaries were blazing al the way across on all 4 rows, and the stove was hotter than I normally have it running (pipe got up to about 350-375). I check the stove again at 8am, and it was already almost cold, at 140*, with almost no lit coals left, just a larger than normal ash bed left over. I would have needed a super cedar in there to re-start. The hosue was still nice and warm, but man that was a fast burn. It really makes a huge difference on the size of the splits loaded, and how hot the coal bed is.

 

[Cross Cut Saw]

Just like it holds the heat, it also holds the cold!

I've seen someone selling soapstone ice cubes online!

You freeze them and then put them in your whiskey and it doesn't water it down...

 

[Waulie]

I had my first really bad burn last night. I loaded a decent size load (about 1/2 full), with 2 med splits, and 4 small splits (small 2 or 3" rounds). I loaded it at 11pm onto a pretty large and hot coal bed. I shut the air down to about 1/8th open and closed the bypass after only about 3 or 4 minutes. The wood was very dry, and took off before I even had the door shut. About 1 hour later (around midnight), the secondaries were blazing al the way across on all 4 rows, and the stove was hotter than I normally have it running (pipe got up to about 350-375). I check the stove again at 8am, and it was already almost cold, at 140*, with almost no lit coals left, just a larger than normal ash bed left over. I would have needed a super cedar in there to re-start. The hosue was still nice and warm, but man that was a fast burn. It really makes a huge difference on the size of the splits loaded, and how hot the coal bed is.

That would only be a bad burn if it wasn't nice and cold out! If it is cold, put more wood in and you'll still have nice coals after 12 hours. If it is warmish out, burn the coals down a bit before loading the half load. With super dry wood and a ton of coals, it can be tough to burn real low.

 

[Ashful]

It really makes a huge difference on the size of the splits loaded, and how hot the coal bed is.

I reserve the small splits for the after work evening fire, when I want to burn fast to get the house heated back up and have it burn out inside of 3 - 4 hours, so I can then load the big splits for the overnight load.

I've seen someone selling soapstone ice cubes online! You freeze them and then put them in your whiskey and it doesn't water it down...

Got 'em... mostly a gimmick, but they were a gift. I do occasionally use them, if I plan to be nursing a glass (Balvenie or McCallan) to matter.

 

[Slow1]

I had my first really bad burn last night. I loaded a decent size load (about 1/2 full), with 2 med splits, and 4 small splits (small 2 or 3" rounds). I loaded it at 11pm onto a pretty large and hot coal bed. I shut the air down to about 1/8th open and closed the bypass after only about 3 or 4 minutes. The wood was very dry, and took off before I even had the door shut. About 1 hour later (around midnight), the secondaries were blazing al the way across on all 4 rows, and the stove was hotter than I normally have it running (pipe got up to about 350-375). I check the stove again at 8am, and it was already almost cold, at 140*, with almost no lit coals left, just a larger than normal ash bed left over. I would have needed a super cedar in there to re-start. The hosue was still nice and warm, but man that was a fast burn. It really makes a huge difference on the size of the splits loaded, and how hot the coal bed is.

I'm curious about your stove top temps during that burn. I don't know my pipe temps very well as I have double wall and although I do keep track of the surface temp (it runs about 160-180 most of the time) I don't have a probe. However, what you describe (including having a warm home) is about what I would expect from each of my burns. Perhaps it is all down to my split sizes...

 

[Machria]

Slow, not sure what your asking? The stove ALWAYS heats well, I never have a problem with that, in fact it's way overkill for my room, but that is a good thing I think. I just make smaller fire and/or open some windows if we are baking.

What I meant by "bad burn" was it was much shorter that I expected or have been getting. I get overnight 8 to 12hour burns without trying. I have yet to load this stove up.

My stove to is usually around 300 when the stove is cranking. I did not check for that "bad" burn

 

[Slow1]

Slow, not sure what your asking? The stove ALWAYS heats well, I never have a problem with that, in fact it's way overkill for my room, but that is a good thing I think. I just make smaller fire and/or open some windows if we are baking.

What I meant by "bad burn" was it was much shorter that I expected or have been getting. I get overnight 8 to 12hour burns without trying. I have yet to load this stove up.

My stove to is usually around 300 when the stove is cranking. I did not check for that "bad" burn

I was asking what the stovetop temps were during that particular burn. I'm curious to know if they are the same as I typically get - i.e. in the 350 range for the majority of the time with a spike to 550 on occasion (measured on the cast iron to the right of the flue exit - vertical flue here).

And I agree - I too am getting great heat from the stove even if my normal burns sound more like your 'bad' one, but all in all it seems I'm burning wood at about the same rate as I did with the FV and the house is warmer...

 

[Machria]

Gotcha, I wasn't monitoring the temp that night.

On another note, the stove just scared the bejesus out of us, I loaded it with 2 spirits and 3 or 4 small chunks/uglies on top. Chared them for a few minutes and they took off big time, so I closed the bypass and shut the air all the way down. The fire quickly went down, with some light secondaries, and about 1/2 hour later it was dark, just some red hot spots on the bottom of the pile burning.... About 20 min's later we had a loud "puuuuuufff", and the firebox was like a gas chamber in hell! It was pretty loud, not just like a normal gas light off, this was a big one. Woke my wife up, sleeping on the couch. I noticed the pipe temp was a lot higher than or,al, up around 450 which I rarely hit. I did not see any smoke come out anywhere, but I did smell a bit of wood smell afterward.

These puffs/small explosions really, normal and occur often...?

 

[ddddddden]

These puffs/small explosions really, normal and occur often...?

It happens. . .not sure how often in the PH.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/progress-backpuff.80000/

. . .so I closed the bypass and shut the air all the way down. The fire quickly went down, with some light secondaries, and about 1/2 hour later it was dark, just some red hot spots on the bottom of the pile burning. . .

If you want it to happen less often, don't shut the air down so much. Leave more flame in the firebox to prevent gas buildup.

 

[rideau]

Yes, after you completely close the air, immediately just barely crack it open.

A good puff can make the entire pipe/chimney assembly rattle. Not fun.

 

[Ashful]

After complaining about my own back puffing woes, I received replies and PMs from a few PH owners, that they've had the same trouble. Perhaps this stove is very prone to back puffing.

 

[Slow1]

I had a lot of puffing at first as well. I believe that my change in habits to more slowly reduce the air and to keep the air open a crack, especially when it is warmer out (lower draft days), has pretty much eliminated them for me. Mind you I never had any really violent ones like I've heard described here (i.e. never heard them out of the room or had pipes rattle etc).

I tried to run the PH like I did the FV at first - that was a mistake. While the PH is very forgiving/adjustable on the air settings, I don't think I can just 'heat it up and slam it down to where I want it after engaging the cat' like I did with the FV. I have found that engaging the cat, then waiting a few minutes before reducing the air about 1/2 way to final destination, then wait a few more minutes and then moving it down again to final setting works much better. I almost always run with the air fully closed with the PH which is weird in a way - I 'set the burn temp' by letting it run up hotter before closing the air down fully. Where I get caught doing this during the day if the temps rise significantly and I'm trying to run very low temps - then I have to remember to not shut the air all the way.