Cookin' With Coal

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Fri. Nov. 06, 2020 10:44 am

I'm copying the follow post to here from another thread that is also discussing coal ranges. There's some info there that might help others with their range operation. Paul

Glenwood 116 to Help Out Little Tiget
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wren wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 9:37 am
Brilliant, the extension for wood. I'm actually not thinking of buying it,. but was hoping someone here would. It's very beautiful.
Oh, thought you were looking to move up, heat-wise.

Speaking of stove output, have you replaced the top plates on your range yet ?

Just replaced the T's and I's on mine after 12-13 years of hard use has caused them to warp some and form gaps of about 1/16 inch in the middle of the plates over, and next to, the firebed. Doesn't sound like much of an over-fire air leak, but what a difference it made.

Lately I was struggling to get and keep the stove hot,... even with a strong draft when it was near freezing outside. Today it's 70 F outside and I have to really damper it to slow it down.

Paul

Wren · Post by **Wren** » Sat. Nov. 07, 2020 6:48 pm

My warps are more than 1/16 of an inch! Quite a bit more. So I'm looking forward to a better burn when I finally get a round tuit.

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Sun. Nov. 08, 2020 10:54 am

I measured and worst top plate - the "I" over the middle of the firebed - is more like 1/8 inch of warpage. The others are 1/16 inch. Combined with all the other tiny air leaks from having ten top plates nesting together, even when they are in good condition, it really caused the fire to be sluggish.

The top support plates that were on the stove when I got it were in worse shape. They were warped and leaked so bad that after adding a fresh batch of coal, within a minute I could smell the fumes at the far end of the kitchen. This time, the plates didn't leak that bad, but enough so that it made a surprising difference in how the firebed reacts.

Another plus of doing this is I found a spare "I" plate that I forgot I bought 13 years ago and stashed on the bottom of a shelf in my stove stuff cabinet.

We're due to warm up the next few days so I'm going to let it go out tomorrow. There's some grinding I want to do on the broiler and ash doors to get some of the 117 years of warpage out. It's not bad, but every little bit of sealing it better will help with firebed control. Then give it a good cleaning all inside and ready for the next blast of Winter.

Paul

Wren · Post by **Wren** » Mon. Nov. 09, 2020 9:36 am

You grind your cast iron? That has to be a project.

Hambden Bob · Post by **Hambden Bob** » Tue. Nov. 10, 2020 8:45 am

Wren,As You Have Learned,He's An Animal!! So Are You And The Rest Of Paul's "Coal Cookstove Cronies"!!
That Is All,Carry On And "Well Done"!! I Love This Thread!!

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Tue. Nov. 10, 2020 10:21 am

Wren wrote: ↑
Mon. Nov. 09, 2020 9:36 am
You grind your cast iron? That has to be a project.

Not too tough when you have the tools and grind/sand metal as part of your job.

Paul

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Tue. Nov. 10, 2020 10:30 am

Hambden Bob wrote: ↑
Tue. Nov. 10, 2020 8:45 am
Wren,As You Have Learned,He's An Animal!! So Are You And The Rest Of Paul's "Coal Cookstove Cronies"!!
That Is All,Catty On And "Well Done"!! I Love This Thread!!

Heck, Bob, this was a piece of cake compared to all the grinding and polishing the guys who built these stoves had to do.

Paul

Hambden Bob · Post by **Hambden Bob** » Tue. Nov. 10, 2020 11:24 am

Truer Words Have Never Been Spoken! I wonder if those Amazing Souls ever realized that,even under Da' Gun,they where creating "Metallic Artwork" that would be appreciated long after they were gone?!?!

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Tue. Nov. 10, 2020 11:45 am

Hambden Bob wrote: ↑
Tue. Nov. 10, 2020 11:24 am
Truer Words Have Never Been Spoken! I wonder if those Amazing Souls ever realized that,even under Da' Gun,they where creating "Metallic Artwork" that would be appreciated long after they were gone?!?!

They surly had pride in their work, but I think beyond that, they were just everyday folks working to put food on the table. I'm sure they saw that products were not expected to last long before being updated and improved.

And when you think about it, you don't want your product to last too long or someday you might be out of a job.

Even Henry Ford eventually had to give up on the Model T and go with the changing times requiring new products. GM's Charles Kettering is credited in the early 1920's as saying it was their primary job to get people out of old cars and into new models. In otherwords, "planned obsolescence".

Paul

Photog200 · Post by **Photog200** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2020 5:24 am

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑
Wed. Sep. 02, 2020 8:05 pm
Even sideways it's a beauty. What an incredibly lucky find !!!!!!

Since your a standup guy I took the liberty of standing up your stove picture, but for some reason it fell over the other way. We need photographer Randy to fix it.

Looking at the shape and the single pivot, can I assume that Magic grate is for wood ?

Paul

Your wish is my command.

This stove is beautiful Dana!

Photog200 · Post by **Photog200** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2020 5:26 am

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑
Wed. Sep. 02, 2020 8:05 pm
Even sideways it's a beauty. What an incredibly lucky find !!!!!!

Since your a standup guy I took the liberty of standing up your stove picture, but for some reason it fell over the other way. We need photographer Randy to fix it.

Looking at the shape and the single pivot, can I assume that Magic grate is for wood ?

Paul

This should make it easier to read.

Randy

Photog200 · Post by **Photog200** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2020 5:40 am

D.lapan wrote: ↑
Wed. Sep. 02, 2020 8:08 pm

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2020 12:59 pm

Thanks Randy !

And that last pic has three examples of our stove grates - Dana's Magic grate, my triangular, and your dock ash.

Paul

Photog200 · Post by **Photog200** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2020 4:08 pm

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑
Sat. Nov. 14, 2020 12:59 pm
Thanks Randy !

And that last pic has three examples of our stove grates - Dana's Magic grate, my triangular, and your dock ash.

Paul

It surely does!

Randy

Photog200 · Post by **Photog200** » Sat. Nov. 14, 2020 4:19 pm

Photog200 wrote: ↑
Sat. Nov. 14, 2020 5:26 am
This should make it easier to read.
Randy

Personally, I would question wether the magic grate was designed for wood, or at least a very good design for this purpose. This design would be very difficult to maintain a good wood coal/ember bed because the embers would fall through too easily. If you look at the wood grates on most of the oak style stoves, you see that at least half of the grate is solid so as to maintain the coal bed yet allowing some air to come up through the grate. Having said that, the magic grate would not be an ideal grate for maintaining a coal fire either. You would have to rake each of those gaps in the grate to remove ash and klinkers. Interesting design I have not seen before.

Randy

Cookin' With Coal

Attachments

Attachments

Attachments

Attachments