My $50 Crane 404 Adventure.

artbaldoni · Post by **artbaldoni** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 8:49 pm

Well , I just paid for the elusive (7 phone calls and 2 emails) Craigslist 404. Had to give all of $50 for it and drive a whopping 30 min to pay the lady.

She said they bought it new 30 years ago but stopped using it 2 years ago when they got a heat pump. Also said she wished they were still using it. It is still sitting in the living room on the hearth.

Hopefully pick it up this weekend. Then the fun begin begins! New door gasket, replace some worn shaker parts, and the kicker is the warped fire pot. Hopefully Doug Crane got some made. If not I will have to do some basement engineering!

I will post progress and if I'm lucky a first fire thread before the warm weather gets here. Pictures to follow.

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 8:56 pm

Congratulations on your purchase but you have more patience than me & more trust in the seller than me. I would have loaded it right away & taken it home where I could look at it every day. How badly is the firepot warped ?

artbaldoni · Post by **artbaldoni** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 9:09 pm

I have a bad habit of trusting people. These are older folks who understand the value of a man's word. You can tell by talking to them. I trust them. They won't answer the phone if somebody else calls anyway!

Fire pot has about a 2" deflection in the back below the flue. It has a 1" long vertical crack from bottom in the center of the bow. The baffle still looks good. The glass is all good. Needs a good wire brushing and a couple coats of paint.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 9:31 pm

http://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/169063/products/ ... repot.html
start looking for another stove! They're out there.

artbaldoni · Post by **artbaldoni** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 9:58 pm

michaelanthony wrote:http://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/169063/products/ ... repot.html
start looking for another stove! They're out there.

Don't need another stove. There are options including using fire brick or having one cast. I'm not going to abandon this because of this. It can be fixed for low bucks. Woodsman's is always super expensive, they're the Graingers of stoves. Have what you want if you want to pay top dollar.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 10:05 pm

artbaldoni wrote:
michaelanthony wrote:http://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/169063/products/ ... repot.html
start looking for another stove! They're out there.
Don't need another stove. There are options including using fire brick or having one cast. I'm not going to abandon this because of this. It can be fixed for low bucks. Woodsman's is always super expensive, they're the Graingers of stoves. Have what you want if you want to pay top dollar.

Sorry Art, I meant to say to look for a parts stove.

for some reason lately there has been some inexpensive 404's around.

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 10:10 pm

The only thing that hasn't been around is Doug Crane himself!

over.

artbaldoni · Post by **artbaldoni** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 10:14 pm

Got it. I'd hate to pay more for a parts stove than I did for this one...

artbaldoni · Post by **artbaldoni** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 10:15 pm

freetown fred wrote:The only thing that hasn't been around is Doug Crane himself! over.

I PMd Doug. Hope he answers.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 10:19 pm

Our friend Doug would beg everyone and anyone if we found a 404 cheap to get it for him because of the value of the pot!

windyhill4.2 · Post by **windyhill4.2** » Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 10:31 pm

If all the glass is in good shape you are one step ahead there. We had to replace the 1 glass,it was over $30 & we could not find glass as thick as the original..

artbaldoni · Post by **artbaldoni** » Tue. Jan. 27, 2015 12:06 pm

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VigIIPeaBurner · Post by **VigIIPeaBurner** » Tue. Jan. 27, 2015 12:46 pm

Always like the looks of this stove and did spend some time searching for one a while back.

I don't know what the pot sits on or what's around it. Could a pattern box be fabricated and a then use the casting refractory putty to make one out of refractory material?

artbaldoni · Post by **artbaldoni** » Tue. Jan. 27, 2015 1:42 pm

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:Always like the looks of this stove and did spend some time searching for one a while back.

I don't know what the pot sits on or what's around it. Could a pattern box be fabricated and a then use the casting refractory putty to make one out of refractory material?

That's what I am hoping to do if I can't find a suitable replacement for not much $. Also thought of just filling the void behind the warp with refractory putty so air could not bypass between pot and stove wall. My other idea is to cut out the warp and just make an in place repair with the putty.

Any thoughts from anyone?

coalvet · Post by **coalvet** » Tue. Jan. 27, 2015 2:23 pm

There is an air gap between the baffle and the fire pot normally so I wouldn't worry about that anyway.

My $50 Crane 404 Adventure.

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