Keeley Stove Company Colombian Oak B15

CoalCracker3 · Post by **CoalCracker3** » Sat. Dec. 24, 2016 2:21 pm

Hello:

I picked up a new project today and have a few questions. I have an antique potbelly that I use upstate at my cabin it's a Buckwalter villa. I've been so impressed with how it runs that I wanted to get a PA made parlor stove also to use at the cabin. I settled on a Keeley stove co Columbia oak b15. The base pot has a small crack that was repaired with stove cement and
The finial was cracked and repaired. Should the finial be attached to the top loading door? How
Do plumb the exhaust as it has two ports with seperate dampers? Thanks in advance for any guidance. Uploaded a picture stove is apart now as I just moved it. Merry Christmas

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Sat. Dec. 24, 2016 2:32 pm

Congrats on the new stove.

More pix would help us, but for now, it sounds like what you have is known as a, "double heater" oak.

Look and see if one of those "exhaust ports" just leads to an air jacket that is surrounding the firepot and barrel.

One opening has to be the flue leading from the firepot.

The other opening can be used to send that jacket-warmed room air through a stove pipe to another location, such as to a second floor room.

For safety sake, the cracked and patched firepot really should either be sent to a cast iron foundry, such as Tomahawk, to have a recast made, or welded by a professional welder experienced in the tricky welding of cast iron.

The finial should be able to swing off to the rear so that the round cover located under it - what your calling the, "top loading door" - can be opened to load long pieces of wood in from the top.

Paul

ddahlgren · Post by **ddahlgren** » Sun. Dec. 25, 2016 1:45 pm

Is the crack external or the actual fire pot where the coal burns? If nothing else with a crack the first order of business is to find the actual end points and drill though them to stop the crack from traveling.

deepwoods · Post by **deepwoods** » Sun. Dec. 25, 2016 2:35 pm

Wilson is your man for cast repair............508 763 8941 You may have call a few times to make contact.

CoalCracker3 · Post by **CoalCracker3** » Tue. Dec. 27, 2016 6:15 am

Thanks for the replies folks I appreciate it. The crack is in the fire pot opposite of the door and down a little lower looks to be about 3 inches long. The second exhaust port is definitely a heated air takeoff from the jacket as Paul suggested. The top loading door under the finial has a drop tube below it that extends down to the burn pot. I assume it gets filled with coal to hold as a reserve. It has a two price center grate that dumps and an outer ring that turns to break up ash. I just got it back together yesterday. Will post some more pics today. I can't wait to use it looks like it's well designed. The castings are very tight tolerance so looks like it should seal well. It's funny what makes you tick but I love these stoves very excited about getting it ready to burn again!

Thanks, Rob

CoalCracker3 · Post by **CoalCracker3** » Tue. Dec. 27, 2016 10:07 am

Pics, still cleaning it up

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Tue. Dec. 27, 2016 10:12 am

Looks like a different stove already.

joeq · Post by **joeq** » Tue. Dec. 27, 2016 10:40 am

Wow! You did good Rob. What a nifty piece you've acquired. A double heater "with" a magazine. Once you get the bugs worked out, your cabin should be really warm. Keep us posted on your progress.
(P.S. I just saw a thread on how to turn your pictures, so they post straight. Think it was in the "technology" catagory of this site.)

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Tue. Dec. 27, 2016 10:51 am

Nice work. And a nice feature with the hinged bonnet/lid for filling the magazine.

There's a safety concern, though. If you don't do something about "stopping" that crack in the firepot, the thermal expansion can make it travel. As said, you need to clean the pot around the crack and find the very end of it. Then center punch the end of the crack and drill a small hole through. The hole keeps the crack from going any further. Better yet, get it welded by someone experienced in welding cast iron. Very few welders are set up for and experienced in that type work.

Paul

wsherrick · Post by **wsherrick** » Tue. Dec. 27, 2016 9:14 pm

You have a super stove there and it is in rare condition as it is complete, even with a magazine. That's an extreme rarity to find.
Now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the fire pot must be recast. It's not that hard to fix really. Call
Tomahawk Foundry. They specialize in such repairs. They are quick and affordable. Once you do that and put a refractory liner in the fire pot it will last longer than you or I will. Just do a web search for Tomahawk and get the number off of their web site.
This stove will amaze you at how easy it is to use with coal and how much heat you get out of it. The double heater option you have on that stove makes it both a radiant and a hot air (convection) heater.

ddahlgren · Post by **ddahlgren** » Wed. Dec. 28, 2016 1:20 am

wsherrick wrote:You have a super stove there and it is in rare condition as it is complete, even with a magazine. That's an extreme rarity to find.
Now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the fire pot must be recast. It's not that hard to fix really. Call
Tomahawk Foundry. They specialize in such repairs. They are quick and affordable. Once you do that and put a refractory liner in the fire pot it will last longer than you or I will. Just do a web search for Tomahawk and get the number off of their web site.
This stove will amaze you at how easy it is to use with coal and how much heat you get out of it. The double heater option you have on that stove makes it both a radiant and a hot air (convection) heater.

Why not stop drill the current crack and reline with refractory what he has? I am assuming (and that is a very dangerous word I know) that refractory material has some insulating properties that will take some of the thermal load off the existing fire pot.

CoalCracker3 · Post by **CoalCracker3** » Wed. Dec. 28, 2016 7:44 am

Hey thanks again for the feedback. I will definitely put a call into tomahawk. I'm a diehard do it yourselfer and have a good bit of experience welding cast so my plan is to attempt to drill out the crack end points and with a preheat and post heat it should weld up with some nickel rod then reline the pot. All else fails I can send the piece out to recast. It will only get used a couple weeks a year at the cabin. I thought the stove was a special piece when I saw it and how well it was cast. Good to hear it confirmed from the boys though. I paid $125.00 for it so even if it takes a recast pot to get it right I think it's worth it.

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Thu. Dec. 29, 2016 10:34 am

CoalCracker3 wrote:Hey thanks again for the feedback. I will definitely put a call into tomahawk. I'm a diehard do it yourselfer and have a good bit of experience welding cast so my plan is to attempt to drill out the crack end points and with a preheat and post heat it should weld up with some nickel rod then reline the pot. All else fails I can send the piece out to recast. It will only get used a couple weeks a year at the cabin. I thought the stove was a special piece when I saw it and how well it was cast. Good to hear it confirmed from the boys though. I paid $125.00 for it so even if it takes a recast pot to get it right I think it's worth it.

If you email the measurements and a digital picture of the firepot to Al at Tomahawk, he's pretty good at giving estimates. http://www.tomahawkfoundry.com/request-form

Paul

puddlejumper · Post by **puddlejumper** » Tue. Oct. 30, 2018 8:25 pm

Please forgive me for resurrecting an old thread. I am searching for parts for my stove and this thread is the only thing that pops up that specifically refers to the Columbian Oak B15. I would like to know if Coalcracker3 got his stove fixed u and working.

Mine is I think set up for wood burning. It does not have a magazine, and does not have any fire brick inside. It is also missing the plate inside the door that says "Keeley Stove Co. Columbia, Pa."

I need to find an ash door that is intact, mine has a broken hinge. I may get it recast. Can anyone help me find parts for this old stove?

Thanks.
Dave

Keeley Stove Company Colombian Oak B15

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