Sexton's Grand Heater

Found another Baltimore heater to work on this winter. This one was saved from becoming scrap during a farmhouse renovation in Lancaster, PA. The original boot rail is missing but this one kinda fits and looks ok. The front of the stove, magazine, fire-pot, and grate are in excellent condition. The sheet metal around the top and the exhaust tubes will need replacing. A couple of hinge caps are missing. And the back corners of the stove are busted up but the parts are there to repair and it looks like it can be made operable.

Here are some pics of the dampers and controls.

I’m guessing this is a check damper? It opens up to the ash pit. I figure it’s designed to divert air from the ash pit around the bottom of the coal bed and up past the fire-pot and through the exhaust to weaken the draft? There are a set of openings next to the second tier of windows for passage around the fire-pot.

The check dampers I've seen are more directly connected to the exhaust to weaken the draft from the coal fire but I don’t know what else this might be for. Any ideas?



I’ll have more photos in a couple of months when I start to tear it down and rebuild

Very nice!
Please post copious pictures of the breakdown.
Is that grate one of the styles that sits on a center pin?
Other than dirty it looks in excellent condition.
Great find!

Yes, it's in pretty good shape, can't wait to tear it down and rebuild.

The grate does sit on a center pin.

Nice J!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very lucky find. It'll be a beauty when you get it done.

Paul

jsmlesotho wrote: ↑

Sun. Aug. 25, 2019 11:48 am

A couple of hinge caps are missing.

I have a missing one. I have not gotten all of the hinges off so may need more.
Most of the hinges I took off also had threaded washers, both are pictured.
The end cap feels hollow, like it is some sort of sheet metal rolled around a washer at the base.

Have you found a source for replacements?

I did a quick search on the internet over the weekend and refined my search to 'decorative nut cap'.
I did not find anything comparable.
I need to try some other variations, would like to try finding it online before calling the restorers and bothering them about such a small item.

Go to eBay and search door hinge finials. There might be a close match.

A couple I was missing, found an exact match. Pretty cheap too 5 bucks for a pair.

They come in brass,bright nickel,blue nickel, and other colors.

If you can't find a match, those caps don't have to be hollow. Replacements can be machined out of bar stock. Drill and thread the pin hole first and use the pin as a mandrel to hold it in a lathe chuck to turn and polish the caps to shape.

Paul

mntbugy wrote: ↑

Wed. Mar. 11, 2020 8:38 am

Go to eBay and search door hinge finials. There might be a close match.

A couple I was missing, found an exact match. Pretty cheap too 5 bucks for a pair.

They come in brass,bright nickel,blue nickel, and other colors.

all of the ones that came up are male threaded
I tried also searching on 'door hinge pin finial', but the results were for antique hinge pins with fixed finials on one end
I will try and think of alternative search strings
Did you have to modify the finials you purchased?

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑

Wed. Mar. 11, 2020 8:39 am

If you can't find a match, those caps don't have to be hollow. Replacements can be machined out of bar stock. Drill and thread the pin hole first and use the pin as a mandrel to hold it in a lathe chuck to turn and polish the caps to shape.

Paul

That is a definite solution. Though that is way out of my skill set, but I am willing to try if I don't find a substitute.
Would I find a welding shop with a mini-lathe, or maybe buy a mini-lathe?
Could a consumer wood turning lathe handle a small metal bar?

Could be done as simply as using a drill press, hand files, and patience. But yes, you could do those on some mini lathes.

Paul

What the hell Paul, ya think everybody's just got a lathe layin around???????????? LOL

If you scrolled down to almost the end of eBay's door hinge finial, there is a whole bunch. Only the caps. Might need to go to the direct link to see length and diameter.

Just cut male end off, grind flush,then drill and tap for
12-24 UNC thread.

There is other kinds of caps, they are spun metal caps and also punched caps. Often found on lesser quality heaters .

I haven't gotten far enough along to find hinge caps. What Mntbugy and Paul said is great advice!

Some updates on the stove... I've broken it down and cleaned all the parts. Next steps are to weld up the back corner and get a couple of recast made. Also need to replace the sheet metal below the loading door. I decide to recast the magazine because the back side was eaten up pretty good. I used a product called "apoxie sculpt" to build up the eaten away part. Also need to recast the corner side wall piece because the left side was missing, (went missing at some point over the years). Good news, the corner piece I have seems to be interchangeable from right to left. You just flip it over and it'll work. Here are some photos.