I Thought I Would Share. Hot Blast #153 Restoration

My new project, a Hot Blast #153. If all goes well it will look like this: http://www.antiquestoves.com/parlor.htm Page down to the #153 or this:
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And one more.. make that two..

Quite the project! She's going to be a beauty.

What detail! Nice! Do you have to sandblast, or are you just using steel woal?

Excellent work Grumpy! She really looks like a beauty. I really love these before and after pix. It's truely a labor of love but will be well worth the effort when your done. You'll have a stove that can't be beat in beauty and efficiency. Keep the pix coming. You're inspiring me to get out there and find another one! I sure wish I had a compressor and sand blaster set up cause my arm gets sore just thinking about the alternative.

Thanks guy's, no sand blasting or steel wool needed. Thanks to advice from one of our friends here on the board I learned about Muriatic Acid. I use a 50/50 mix of acid and water, I put the parts in a tub and watch them boil, that's right boil. the acid eats away at the Iron oxide and whats left is the original casting. It is a bit nasty to work with and much caution should be used. It gives off gas, and a mist. Like death chamber gas. And if it gets in your eyes it can cause blindness. I wear my gas mask I had from my trip to Kuwait during the second gulf war. I found safety glasses were not enough. That gas is like a thick fog and if the wind blows the wrong way your at risk.

However it works great and does not scratch the parts. When there done put them in water and baking soda to neutralize the acid then rinse and dry. I use a blow dryer to dry fast before rust sets in,and it can very fast. You can get it at home depot for seven bucks a gallon.

grumpy wrote:Thanks guy's, no sand blasting or steel wool needed. Thanks to advice from one of our friends here on the board I learned about Muriatic Acid. I use a 50/50 mix of acid and water, I put the parts in a tub and watch them boil, that's right boil. the acid eats away at the Iron oxide and whats left is the original casting. It is a bit nasty to work with and much caution should be used. It gives off gas, and a mist. Like death chamber gas. And if it gets in your eyes it can cause blindness. I wear my gas mask I had from my trip to Kuwait during the second gulf war. I found safety glasses were not enough. That gas is like a thick fog and if the wind blows the wrong way your at risk.

However it works great and does not scratch the parts. When there done put them in water and baking soda to neutralize the acid then rinse and dry. I use a blow dryer to dry fast before rust sets in,and it can very fast. You can get it at home depot for seven bucks a gallon.

I had heard of lye dips before but not the acid although it makes perfect sense. As a kid I worked in my Uncle's plating shop and we used "bright dip" before plating. That was also an acid bath and would heat it with a live steam hose! Talk about crazy! I remember the scrambling every time the OSHA guy came round. It would turn copper instantly bright!

This is a good investment of your time. At the end you will have a superior stove. I would like to see some more detail about how the hot blast feature works. I see the stove has the secondary air ring around the fire pot like the Glenwood does and it looks like the stove has the double heating feature as well. Nothing made to today can touch this baby when it comes to heat producing efficiency. As far as Mid West made stoves go. Florence is one of the best. Another good Mid West compay was Gem City stove company. They made the, German Heater which was competition for the Florence Hot Blast. These are top notch stoves. Now you have the most desirable model of Florence and I can't wait to see it all done.

Will, what do you mean by the Hot Blast feature? Are you talking about the riser in the back of the stove?

You can see it here in this ebay listing, click on the enlarge tab to get all the pix.

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Very nice job. The stove will look great.

Okay, the tube in the back is double heater portion. I was wondering how it is put together at the bottom. It looks like there is an opening in the back of the firepot casting. I'm wondering how that is designed.

I'm working on the firepot now. I'll take some pix when I am done. It appears that the secondary air intake can be from the ash chamber or the back (room air) or both at the same time. My #77 does not have this design.

If that is so then there are two different functions there. If you admit room air then it gets pulled in the bottom so you get heated room air out of the top. That is what is meant by the term, "Double Heater," the stove is both a radiant and convective heater at the same time. Now if there is the ability to admit air into the same tube through the ash pit, then that is for an entirely different purpose. I think it may act as a check damper to short circuit excessive draft through the fire. Or is that how the air gets to the secondary air ring around the top of the fire pot? I'm not 100% sure though until I can see how it actually is put together. I'm extremely curious about it since I have never seen one of these stoves in person.

Greg,

By the way, I forgot to ask you if you got all the parts you needed with the stove? Looks like you're all set but thought I'd ask. It's gonna be a beauty when you're done!

SteveZee wrote:Greg,

By the way, I forgot to ask you if you got all the parts you needed with the stove? Looks like you're all set but thought I'd ask. It's gonna be a beauty when you're done!

No I'm still looking for that piece that hangs on the top loading door, I have a few leads. Also a new grate would be nice.