Stoves

[stuartcnz]

I noticed on Sharkchat, the idea being floated to start a thread showing the stoves we use. I'll start with the stove on my boat. It is a Dickinson Pacific. It uses diesel for fuel. It has an oven and ample stove top space. It produces a lovely dry heat in the boat and can be retro fitted with a wet back for hot water.

[Dusty]

That's cool Stuart , nice looking stove , good size too.

Thanks for starting the thread.

Here's my 'Shipmate' I burn pinecones on it , though I guess it is designed for coal also.

It has a stainless base and sides and a cast iron front and top , the front is Nickel plated.

It has a 1 cu ft oven. Nicer pics of it can be seen on the 'Dustys Bus' thread.

[Sharkey]

Three stoves in one post:

Beginning, here is my original wood stove purchased at the Oregon Country Fair in 1975. It was built by a goldsmith who did blacksmithing on the side. It's a six gallon electric water heater tank adapted to stove use, so it's glass lined. The door swings down and the air damper is a flap of metal that pivots over the intake hole.



This photo was taken about 1981 or so. A few years later, I installed a small sheet metal pan under the door to act as a fender and catch ashes and cinders that spilled from the door opening.

About 1985, I purchased a replacement stove, a Vermont Castings "Intrepid", which was on sale at one of the local heating stores. It would take longer wood, and had a much more spacious hearth. It was also carefully constructed and gasketed as to be air tight, which meant that keeping fires overnight was much easier and probably a lot safer.

Here's a pic of the inside of the Housetruck taken in 1991. It also shows the "Blue Bonnet" kitchen stove, which I purchased in 1974 at the Long Beach Swap Meet for $25.



I did modify the gas stove somewhat. I added slide catches to the doors so they wouldn't pitch open when the truck was on the road, and I applied some castings from an old Monarch wood range that I discovered in the ruins of a house that had burned down.

Here's a close up:



Apparently the original purchasers of the Monarch didn't opt for the in-door oven thermometer (probably at an additional cost of $2), so this cast iron embellishment has a stamped sheet metal disc covering up the round hole where the gauge would have fitted. It features a likeness of the range, with the oven door open and a stout-looking man standing on it while a nicely dressed gentlewoman of the day looks on. The inscription underneath reads:

Monarch Malleable - The "Stay Satisfactory" Range
Beaver Dam, Wisconsin

[Dusty]

I was at a fair and some of the guys with Traction Engines had towed their accommodation along with them (as usual)

Its not common for them to be welcoming strangers into the whare, but I must have sounded ok.



Nice stove , burning the same stinkin' coal the Engine was

.

[dadeo]

I like how the stove in the wagon is recessed, kinna cool. Maybe not as much radiation effect, but still cool. As to coal, I love the way it smells!!

[GoodClue]

My favorite stove, wish I still had it ... sold it to some desperate kids for $75. It had a waterjacket to heat water and send to a hotwater tank, burned primarily coal but did wood nicely too ... was low to the ground so laundry tubs could be put on top and stirred ... I am always looking for another ...



I had a stovepipe oven, given to me by my aunt ... this was my 92 year old grandmother next to it ...



.... also a pic of how I ran my insulation ...



The stovepipe oven was too efficient ... even with it's built in crank, I could never keep it clean of creosote. When it finally rusted I decided not to get another, tho it did help heat the bus well, and baked like a champ.

Goodclue

[Mark B]

Three stoves in one post:

Beginning, here is my original wood stove purchased at the Oregon Country Fair in 1975. It was built by a goldsmith who did blacksmithing on the side. It's a six gallon electric water heater tank adapted to stove use, so it's glass lined. The door swings down and the air damper is a flap of metal that pivots over the intake hole.

I remember seeing plans for a stove like that in Mother Earth News. Something similar, at least.

Linky

The plans call for top loading design, which would make stoking and adding wood to the fire a precarious proposition.

Mark

[dadeo]

This is the one I have, needs rebuilding:

"DURO OAK no. 119"

When I get another bus, I want an Estate caboose stove:



"If I'm good, please tell others about it"

[dburt]

Stuart- does your boat stove have it's own fuel supply or does it take fuel from your boat's engine fuel supply? I can see a stove like that in a bus home running off the diesel engine's fuel supply- beats trying to find firewood on the road or in nasty weather! Is it pretty fuel efficent?

[stuartcnz]

Yes my stove does have it's own fuel tank. In my case it is gravity fed. Optionally you can use a low pressure pump, 4lbs maximum I think, but I considered it to be an un-necessary complication.

A lot of fishing boats use the lift pump on their engines to supply the stoves fuel tank, with a return line back to the main fuel tank. I have a separate filler for each tank and keep them completely separate.

All Dickinson stoves burn about 6 litres of diesel on low every 24 hours and about 15 litres on high. They all have the same burner, from the smallest heater to the largest oven, the size of the heater/stove determines how much heat they produce. The big ones put out an enormous amount of heat, with the exact same burner.

A stove the same size as my one has kept at least one family warm on a 40 foot boat throughout winter in Norway.

[Mark B]

This is the one I have, needs rebuilding:

"DURO OAK no. 119"

What is involved in rebuilding a wood stove?

Mark

[Sharkey]

Depends on the stove. That one looks to have cast iron bottom, top and front, and a sheet metal body, which eventually burns/rusts through and has to be replaced.

Some stoves, such as the one depicted in this photo of Jeannie's bus, have a "see-through" front of mica that allows the fire to be viewed. The mica erodes and has to be replaced:



Even solid cast iron stoves are put together with retort cement caulking the seams and crevices. This mortar finally will crumble and needs replacement.

Stoves that use a grate to burn the wood on will need that grate replaced at some point.

Fire is a relentless oxidizer, it carries away metals just like it does wood, it just takes longer, that's all.

[Mark B]

Depends on the stove. <snip>Fire is a relentless oxidizer, it carries away metals just like it does wood, it just takes longer, that's all.

Thank you for the excellent explanation. You learn something everyday!

So.... Just because you come across a cool old woodstove, it doesn't mean it's immediately usable.

Mark

[dadeo]

Yeah, this one might work as is, but it really wants to be took apart, cleaned up and new caulk/cement stuff added. I'm not really sure where to get the stuff; I looked online, found some but I don't know which is best. I also need this kind of fire-proof sticky rope to use to make the doors seal good. As is, if I fired it up, it would likely smoke from 10+ different areas! And it does need the grate replaced.

[Mark B]

Is that a common enough design that a grate would be available?