station agent 22

picked up a project stove station agent no. 22

nice old stove was really expecting a little wider grate seems @ 12 inches on grate maybe 14 wall to wall, The mid section off stove @ 18 to 20 inches inside diameter the upper part or mushroom is full 26 inch . i will be on the look out for the belly holla hoop guard . very rusty will be wire wheeling and stove paint or stove black not sure due to condition any advice . The station agent name placard is silver and very dull is this nickel coated should i use brasso on it to bring back the shine ? Trying to upload picture so far wont let me attach, more to follow
do we know off any foundries that stock the old parts auburn foundry Maine was in my memory banks but lost there number

again any info you can share will be much appreciated

follow up with the cost off coal @ 500$ a ton and cord off wood at 300 cord do theses old station stoves burn wood ok ? and advice on best way to burn wood in it ? thinking a 4 inch layer off coal to protect the grate and give spot for some ashes to build it has under bed air louvers and above bed air louvers

thanks again

A coal firebed burns from the bottom up - wood from the top down. With coal you use the damper in the ash door to feed the fire. With wood you use the damper in the loading door as the main source of air.

By not having a wood fire fed air from below, that reduces the heat the grates are subjected to. Plus, wood grates have smaller openings so they can hold more ash to protect the grates.

Usually, either the stove has some type of "combo grate" with one set of faces with larger openings for coal, or turn the grates about 90 degrees and they become a set of wood grates with smaller openings. Or the stove used a "wood plate" - a cast iron plate laid on top of the coal grates that has smaller holes to better support a bed of ash and wood embers.

A wood plate can be made by drilling holes in 1/4 inch steel plate cut to cover the grates.

Paul

kstone wrote: ↑

Sun. Apr. 02, 2023 8:11 pm

follow up with the cost off coal @ 500$ a ton and cord off wood at 300 cord do theses old station stoves burn wood ok ? and advice on best way to burn wood in it ? thinking a 4 inch layer off coal to protect the grate and give spot for some ashes to build it has under bed air louvers and above bed air louvers

thanks again

So you want 4" of coal on bottom and then wood on top ? You doing this in a batch burn process v. continuous burn ? Hey, if want to, go for it; let us know how it works out.

Ahh I think the steel plate is much better solution but first thought was coal acting kinda like lava rock with using the upper grate for combustion air the coal shouldn’t ignite and burn down wards the top layer might smolder but the steel sound like a better idea I think I have some rotten pump and pipe flanges that might be that size I’ll try latter today to post some picture

kstone wrote: ↑

Mon. Apr. 03, 2023 7:38 am

Ahh I think the steel plate is much better solution but first thought was coal acting kinda like lava rock with using the upper grate for combustion air the coal shouldn’t ignite and burn down wards the top layer might smolder but the steel sound like a better idea I think I have some rotten pump and pipe flanges that might be that size I’ll try latter today to post some picture

The bed of coal would act more like lava than rock. It would burn.

Paul

Sunny Boy wrote: ↑

Mon. Apr. 03, 2023 9:55 am

The bed of coal would act more like lava than rock. It would burn.

Paul

Thank you yup the steel plate the better option still haven’t tried and don’t know if a station agent will burn wood well . Most of the stoves I see have a secondary air supply to re burn the smoke .