Gem Buckeye Stove Question

Hi folks,
I am at the beginning of restoring a small 8-16 Gem Buckeye Stove. (An Ohio Stove Company Product) I had a specific question about this stove that I have never figured out, thought you guys might help me.

At the base of the main stove body, right where it meets the base that the stove body sits on, there are two places where a bolt would slide through. Eyelets for lack of a better word. (arrows show these on 1st photo) But there are no signs at all in the base itself that there was ever any way of fastening the two together.

Wondering if that is unusual? Wondered what exactly these are for? Been staring at these a few years now and have never figured it out. I should mention for a few reasons I know for a fact this base fits this stove and is original to it....

I have never seen another Gem Buckeye stove, if anyone has any info on them to share it would be a huge help and very much appreciated!

Thank you...Mark

Were for a one piece "boot rest" or "stove skirt" for which served as a functional air current deflector to move heat wider away from the stove. They dropped into the pair of eyelet holes, one "skirt" on either side, and swung or pivoted down to a solid resting spot...could of been polished nickle plated with detailed scrolled engravings. They would be removed during cleaning and polishing times and whenever the stove body was being carried to a new location.

Very Interesting McGiever....boy, now more than ever I'd love to find a catalog photo of what it looked like. Here all along I was thinking they were for some sort of way to tie the top part to the base.

Thank you....

If anyone has a photo of what something like this might look like, be it on this or another stove I'd love to see it....Thanks!

Welcome MTJ.

Those holes are not for a boot rail, or skirt, like some heating stoves have. Many cookstoves had a oven door shelf there. You can see examples of it on many of those early cook stoves if you do an online search.

The shelf was not strong enough to use as a foot rest like the boot rails of some heating stoves. That's why some are broken, or missing.

The self was so that you could slide a pan, or pot, partway out to check the baking progress, and to baste meats without having to hold it, or reach in under a hot oven opening. It was such a good idea that it was continued as the simple cook stoves grew into their bigger cousin, the range. Those shelves were on pretty much all with swing aside doors. Glenwood even had one that slid sideways on shallow ramps to jam up against and hold the oven door partway open to help regulate baking temps.

Not going to be easy to find an oven shelf for such a rare stove. Try doing a search and asking all the many stove restoration shops.

Paul

mtj547 wrote: boy, now more than ever I'd love to find a catalog photo of what it looked like.

Sunny Boy wrote: Many cookstoves had a shelf there.

Being as this was a Cook stove rather than space heater, the "Shelf or Rest" that would of been used was more utilitarian towards making the task of cooking easier...see below...

mtj547 wrote: ↑

Wed. Jan. 30, 2019 12:15 pm

I am at the beginning of restoring a small 8-16 Gem Buckeye Stove.

If you have not yet, start a thread, or update this one on your restoration efforts. Lots of pictures please.

From looking at old catalogs, it seems that there were cook stoves offered with the horizontal swinging oven door like yours that did not have a shelf underneath the door. So if you restore what you have, in my opinion it would still be period correct.

Hey guys...
I seriously appreciate the help, and the idea's! You'll start seeing why I've been baffled the last few years about this. I'll post another photo here. I actually do know about the shelf that sits outside the oven door. (But thank you for taking the time to post those photo's!) I sure wasn't real clear with my first photo's though. I'll post another, with the door off. See the two X's marked with an arrow....these holes were for the outside oven shelf to hook onto....and on this particular stove just the one side you're looking at had that shelf outside the oven. But Both sides have those holes that are pictured in the photo's.

Thank you so much for giving this some thought though! I've had this stove for quite some time, but have waited this long because I thought I'd surely find info or photo's or some clue as to what these holes are for...not much info out there on the Ohio Stove Company though!

Mark

Eventually I will definitely start a restore thread. I'm still in the "clean up" phase of the stove and finding all the correct parts and such. A couple serious cracks to fix on the top and I don't have that shelf outside the oven, but honestly, that's the least of my worries as I can find another and replicate it and then adapt it to my needs for this stove.

Kind of amazes me though that even through years of extensive searching I can't find another Gem Buckeye Stove....this is, or would have been a very cool, very practical yet very fancy stove. When done this will be put back in working order though, and nights like last night where it was 28 below zero it'll sure be used for cooking something! Thanks guys...

Sorry, this is a hack post, but I'll throw my idea out there anyhow.

Is the piece with the 'eyelets' separate, and square, that the 'eyelets' side could be rotated to the back?
The style of cook stove had variations with warmers on the back, or whatever they are.
Wonder if the back option was not integral to the stove and just hung or bolted on...

Gardener,
I had a Montgomery Wards Stove, this exact style and the water jacket with cast surround bolted on with two bolts at the top. This stove is set up with a warming shelf on top at that end and at least this particular model was not set up for that option. But also this stove is longer than it is wide, so no rotation possible, it only fits on the base one way...