New Old Crane 404 Stove

nortcan wrote:

dcrane wrote: Don't you get me going MR. you know that a touchy subject with me (ill re-iterate again... VC has ZERO morals, ZERO belief or desire to help America or its work force or its economy, ZERO integrity, ZERO customer support, ZERO ambition to be and do whats "right")... NO good American would buy any product VC makes if they knew what I know... now can you tell who made that grate system first

Sorry for the ""irritation"" MR.

Don't let that man NEAR as soap box!

• Pierre, you're safe: different country. But me ... not a good American ?

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Thread drift off. I believe it's been discussed elsewhere that the hanging grate style was around during the coal burning hay-day of the 1800's.

I have an older house too... a greek revival farm house built in 1900 (as in the year 1900). Not super old... my girlfriends family's house was built in 1785 I think. Super old but nice.

Our house has gone thru some major renovations most of which was done by the previous owner. Back in the late '90s. He used a lot of reclaimed materials which is super cool but there are areas that have drafts and let the hot in and the cool in too! But you can't beat the character. We just had a custom front door made (odd dimensions and a radius top) we mimicked the exact door that was there previously. Even reused the glass that was on the old door. The millworker was like, "you know this is going to let the cold in during the winter time?". I was like "yup".

Not to get off topic but here is a pic of that door.... the millworker is a super job and nailed the original even down to ordering a special router bit for the molding. He didn't charge me for the router bit he had to buy because he said the detail was so freaking unique he was going to use it on his other projects.

Old door:


New door:


Sometimes you just have to go with whats right and not what everyone else is doing....

Nice entry, I'm glad I'm not the only sick one. Plus if you seal your house up how would your solid fuel appliance get it's air. A house that can breath is also alot healthier. I didn't want to switch to coal because my current heating system is heating outside. My boiler only runs twice a day when its cold maybe 2-3 hours a day.(energy kinetics 2000). I have a large water volume huge cast iron radiators and associated piping.
Once hot things stay hot. Heating oil at almost $4.00 gal. is the problem adds up quick. Plus I refuse to freeze in my own home. My parents with a small ranch built in the 60's use more oil than I do. Off topic again oh well. Hope the 404 works for you and welcome to the forum. Matt

Here's mine. Over 3 feet wide. Real easy to get furniture in and out. Take care, my wife likes your door too. Matt

Hey Matt, I work at a millwork and install such doors and things for them. That is a very nice piece of work. The lower panels were done correctly. I rarely saw anything like this in Maine, but down here there are tons of custom doors and woodwork.

Kevin

KLook wrote:Hey Matt, I work at a millwork and install such doors and things for them. That is a very nice piece of work. The lower panels were done correctly. I rarely saw anything like this in Maine, but down here there are tons of custom doors and woodwork.

Kevin

That door is fantastic! Book matched panels as Klook noted! That kind of work is rare today (that door is so darn nice I'd have made a thread just for that!)

I notice a lot of towns around me going to this "stretch code" crap (sometimes called a "green town") in attempt to be energy conscious... all it does is prevent any kind of solid fuel burning and makes for unhealthy air in the home (not to mention increases housing cost to the consumer as well as prevents economic development to some degree). I know being energy conscious is important, but we really need to find happy mediums in life and not go so radical crazy/extremist.

dcrane wrote:

KLook wrote:Hey Matt, I work at a millwork and install such doors and things for them. That is a very nice piece of work. The lower panels were done correctly. I rarely saw anything like this in Maine, but down here there are tons of custom doors and woodwork.

Kevin

That door is fantastic! Book matched panels as Klook noted! That kind of work is rare today (that door is so darn nice I'd have made a thread just for that!)

I notice a lot of towns around me going to this "stretch code" crap (sometimes called a "green town") in attempt to be energy conscious... all it does is prevent any kind of solid fuel burning and makes for unhealthy air in the home (not to mention increases housing cost to the consumer as well as prevents economic development to some degree). I know being energy conscious is important, but we really need to find happy mediums in life and not go so radical crazy/extremist.

Now that MA has adapted the International Building Code and the International Existing Building Code with a few addendums you will see the "stretch code" be adapted state wide. Its a bunch of bullshit if you ask me. I work in the commercial construction industry and a lot of times we install certain light fixtures to meet the "energy code" then swap them out because the client doesn't like them or wanted something "better".

Massachusetts to hell in a hand basket. I should have moved to NH.

When I was talking about improving insulatin of an old house, I didn't mean to destroy the beauty of it and its past...
Adding a few insulation in the attic is just an example.
About a breathing house, we can talk about it for a long time but that is a great error to believe that. In the past they didn't have the insulation products we have now, all was different and the house was nice but inconfortable during the Winter cold time...Anyways it's impossible to have a 100% air tight house...

Well I've finally loaded the stove off the truck. Here it is in place but not hooked up yet. I don't have "feet" on mine that can be adjusted so I need to get a metal shim of about 1/8th thick to keep her level. I also took a picture of the glass for anyone who is interested.

Doug do you have a diagram online of the water circulation component? I'm just curious....

Klook, Doug thats the original 1880 door. All the doors are original, the back door still has the mechanical twist door bell. Fortunately all the original woodwork survives. If I ever need custom work I'll keep you in mind. Ok I'll stop turning this into a old house thread. Ashdump you can have your topic back. Although you did ask about stove in basement. Matt

No feet Is their a heat plate under the bottom plate? Hmmmm... that's fishy take a pic of the underside of the stove when you can.

The Hot Water Coil was merely a copper (I think 1/2" or 3/4" water pipe) that was coiled back and forth... let me try to draw it so you can understand better

OK... here is a finely skilled architectural drawing of the hot water coil for a crane 404

DePippo79 wrote:Klook, Doug thats the original 1880 door. All the doors are original, the back door still has the mechanical twist door bell. Fortunately all the original woodwork survives. If I ever need custom work I'll keep you in mind. Ok I'll stop turning this into a old house thread. Ashdump you can have your topic back. Although you did ask about stove in basement. Matt

Its a good thing the Moderator of this section goes off topic more than anyone... else we would all be infracted

Ok one more and I'm done. Nortcan I know your right, I just see these shows on tv and get disguisted with what they do. I have a brand new 200 amp service and the electrian didn't have to gut every plaster wall in the house. He didn't cut into one wall except for a few new plugs in our bedroom. Never had plugs. I go by a few scrap yards during my runs at work and can't believe what people throw away. Saw a whole pile of radiators and two clawfoot tubs. Imagine if that was a pile of baseheaters. Very passionate subject for me. Took my wife and I a long time to get a Victorian house that was affordable and not molested. Like I said before born in the wrong era or maybe I did live 100 years ago in a past life. Sorry for hijacking topic. Matt

dcrane wrote:No feet Is their a heat plate under the bottom plate? Hmmmm... that's fishy take a pic of the underside of the stove when you can.

The Hot Water Coil was merely a copper (I think 1/2" or 3/4" water pipe) that was coiled back and forth... let me try to draw it so you can understand better

OK... here is a finely skilled architectural drawing of the hot water coil for a crane 404

water coil 001.jpg

Amazing diagram! jk but thanks for taking the time!

I'm pretty sure all that is underneath the stove is "knubbies" maybe 3/4"x3/4" "L" shaped steel. Like small angle iron? I'll have to tip the stove and shoot a pic.

Super rookie question here:

The outlet on the back of the stove is (outside to outside) 5-7/8" so I imagine that a 6" stove pipe would fit around it. It looks like this part is cast iron? Or is it steel? How do I fasten the pipe to the stove? With self taping screws? Will those even work? I've done my fair share of minor ductwork in the past but not for a wood/coal stove.