Andes wood/coal cook stove 1920-30

Hi there,

A few days ago I acquired an Andes wood/coal cook stove with a heat exchanger in the firebox, and although it's broken in several places and missing at least one part, overall it looks to be in pretty good condition. I used to burn coal in a small Majestic pot bellied stove, and I plan to pull out my electric range and oven (along with some cabinets) and install the repaired stove and use it.

I got the stove in the house and cleaned up, and am headed out to buy heat shielding and chimney parts.

I have been hunting through the internet for information about this stove and happened upon this forum. It seems several people here have gotten older stoves going or restored them and I'm hoping to learn about this stove in particular, how to use it properly, and what all the interesting engineering I see is for.

I'm thrilled with this project. I also plan to use the stove for domestic water heating. To me the stove is a very pretty and functional piece of useful art that will lower my electric bill. I know burning solid fuel for heat and hot water and cooking is quite a bit of work, but if I keep all my current systems in place and functioning while I slowly bring my new systems online I can perhaps ease the transition and regulate the amount of new work (and expense) I introduce to my life.

Here are a few pictures of the stove. I believe it was built after 1924, when the stove company that made it changed its name to the Andes Range and Furnace Corp. which is on the inside of the oven door. The most frequent number I see on many of the parts is 22A, but there are lots of 22B and 22C castings as well.

The broken parts include part of the trim at the bottom of the oven, the small apron just under it that hooks to it, the small flap door near the chimney oval that holds the draft diverter in place, and a cracked corner fitting on the bread warmer. It all seems to be within range of my limited metal working ability.

I will post as many pics of the project as I can.

Welcome Handy.

Very pretty enameled range with a warming oven on top of the mantal.

I can't see the grates in the bottom of the firebox to tell if it is a wood-only stove or a coal burner. The type of grates are key to its use.

There are several of us on here that use an antique range for heat and cooking/baking. I use mine exclusively for all cooking and baking during the 9 cooler months of the year. And it also heats the back half of my house.

Technically, your stove is called a "range", not just a "cookstove", which is an earlier term from when kitchen stoves were much simpler.

Everything question you'll have, and all you'll need to know, about using a coal-fired kitchen range has been covered in a thread we range owners posted to. It's the "Cookin With Coal" thread - linked to here. Cookin' With Coal


Paul

Those threads are good reading, thank you!

Here are pics of the firebox and grate. The grate is unbalanced, inasmuch as when you push on one corner it wobbles the whole thing along the diagonal axis in a satisfying clack. I'm hoping I'm set up for coal and that is the shaking action. But I don't see how one would do that without going through the fire box itself. Im also hoping the pedal lever thing with FERN on the back is part of that system though I can't for the life of me see how it fits on the stove if indeed it does. The fellow I bought the stove from thought it did.

Attached are pics

More firebox pics

Good pix, thank you.

Sadly, that is a wood-only grate. If you tried to use coal in it, you will not be able to clear ash well enough to keep a firebed going,.... if it doesn't first warp that grate.

If you want to use coal, most ranges are made so that the grates can be changed to another design. If you do a web search and contact stove restoration shops, you may be able to find a set of coal grates for that model.

Then all you'd need is to remove those iron firebox liners and install "ramset" type refractory lining (it's workable like kids modeling clay) to protect the stove from the high heat and also to help hold heat in the firebed so that the coal burns more efficiently.

Paul

SB forgot your kick pedal. It goes under the apron below oven door. Might need to unbolt that apron. Should have a leftr/right notch for it. Install with ears left/right with little leg up. Pedal pretty side up.
Little leg goes in behind oven door, when closed.

When your hands have a big roast pan or cookie sheet in them. Step on little pedal will open oven door hands free to hold pan.

mntbugy wrote: ↑

Sun. Dec. 11, 2022 7:44 pm

SB forgot your kick pedal. It goes under the apron below oven door. Might need to unbolt that apron. Should have a leftr/right notch for it. Install with ears left/right with little leg up. Pedal pretty side up.
Little leg goes in behind oven door, when closed.

When your hands have a big roast pan or cookie sheet in them. Step on little pedal will open oven door hands free to hold pan.

SB only saw the second set of grate pix when he saw there was a response, clicked on the title to reopen the thread, and that's where it landed.

Thanks for catching it, MB.

Usually, to shake wood-only grates, you open the loading, or the top round covers, and run a right-angle tipped poker through the wood ash to move them around and get them to drop through the slots into the ash pan below.

Does not need to be done often because you want to leave some ash on the grates to protect them from heat. Plus, the grate slots don't need to be very clear because wood burns from top down for air supplied over the fire (called secondary air) so you don't need a lot of air being fed up through that grate (called primary air, which is what coal needs). Bottom feed air will just make the wood burn up sooner.

Or, if there is an extension to the front end of the grate just behind that loading door, a specially shaped shaker handle is hooked onto it and you push/pull the grate front to rear to shake the wood ashes down into the ash pan.

Paul

A million thanks for the information. Too bad about the grate, but very happy to know what the foot pedal is for! I found where it fits after your description.

I am going to go ahead and install the stove now, planning to burn wood until I can do a proper coal conversion. I am keen on coal because compared to wood, it's cleaner, easier to handle and move, burns longer and hotter, and although I haven't done a direct cost comparison I'm pretty sure coal will give me more btu for my buck.

Thanks again for the "grate" information!