Glenwood #6 (gasket around ash pan door?)

Hi all. My stepdad is selling me his Glenwood #6 base heater at an incredible deal. He’s wanting to replace with a Glenwood C or K cook stove. He bought his from Barnstable stoves completely refurbished about seven years ago. After doing some research, I noticed there is not supposed to be a gasket around the ash pan door. I guess these things were originally supposed to be airtight. We took the gasket off and tried a small cold fire. Well as you can imagine, temperatures were almost uncontrollable. Given what he paid for the stove and shipping, I am a little surprised that it wasn’t more airtight. I understand these are over 100 years old and metal will expand and contract overtime. It’s still a great stove and my question is, what would be the best gasket to use? I called Barnstable stoves and left a message but have yet to hear back from them. I am kind of impatient, so I’m hoping someone could answer in a more timely fashion. It had three-quarter inch flat gasket, charcoal or black in color. Sounds petty but I want to make sure I get the correct size and good quality gasket. Thanks so much for any advice!

Welcome to the forum.

You are correct, these stoves never had gaskets. They were machined to fit tight, not sure about air tight! You can always replace the stove gasket, but not sure you can find thin enough gasket. I would either true the fit up by marking the high spots and filing the door to fit tighter, or just run a bead of high temp silicone on the door lip and trim once dry. With the silicone method rub chapstick on the base surface, silicone on the door surface then close until dry. The chapstick prevents the silicone from sticking to the base side. I’ve done both methods. The silicone is the safer option and works great.

Welcome, CCN.

Tcalo is right, there were no gaskets, just well fitted parts that don't stay that way with time and use.

Cast iron warps with age and hot/cold cycling as the casting stresses in the metal are relieved.

And, back then, "airtight" had a different meaning then what we think of with modern gasketed stoves. It was airtight enough to work well, but not sealed as tight as today's meaning.

My GW #6 ash door had some gaps from age. I used a feeler gauge to find all the places where it only contacted when closed. I marked the contact areas with caulk and filed them down with a mill file until the door contacted all around. Plus, the hinge pins and holes were a sloppy fit from years of wear. I used short pieces of steel brake tubing to make bushings for the worn hinge pin holes.

No need to wonder if a gasket was going to stay on, and now the stove temps are very controllable.

Paul

Thank you guys so much for that valuable information!

I don't have a 6, but a 111, and have never fitted the doors. It has a "calibrated" air-flow through it, and when I shut all my dampers down, the stove will keep a fire for 12-15 hrs, with combustion chamber temps around 200°. Perfect for cruising. If I want it to die, I just don't shake the ash out of it, and in a day or 2, it'll be done.
Good luck with the cook stove. Hope to see some pics.

Which "high temp silicon" do you guys prefer for this job?

Rutland has a nice latex call good to 900F and it is black and easily removable and pliable. Just throwing that out there. No idea what these antique guys would recommend.

Hi all. I measured the bottom hole of the ash pan door base and I got .07 mm or 20/900 of an inch. The pin is .06 mm or 20/100 of an inch. The top base hall is 3000s of an inch or .075 mm and the pin is .07 mm Or 22/100 of an inch. I’m using calipers that I’m not very good at using. So excuse me if I am not using the right Mathematical language. I think I have pictures attached but not sure. Hopefully they will attach when I submit this. I also bought some high temperature silicone gasket maker and it arrived today but it was red instead of black. So I don’t have any experience with any preferential brand. Advice on that would be greatly appreciated too!