Need a Replacement Front Firebox Plate for a Weso (Old) 125

I'm trying to locate a front firebox plate for a Weso (Old) 125 Coal fired stove, Part No. 19046.
Mine has partially cracked and warped, so the draft into the firebox bypasses the grate and I can't get a good coal fire going.
Or, if anyone can tell me how I can have it repaired, I would be most grateful.

regards,
Hansel de Sousa

Hi Hansel and welcome to the forum.
If you can send some photos showing the front plate it could help for help.
I did replace the front horizontal retaining bars in my Vig ll with a 1/2" steel plate and it worked very well till I sold the stove this year. Lot of guys can make it for you if you don't want to make it yourself.

If you can send some photos showing the front plate it could help for help.
I did replace the front horizontal retaining bars in my Vig ll with a 1/2" steel plate and it worked very well till I sold the stove this year. Lot of guys can make it for you if you don't want to make it yourself.[/quote]

Here are some pics.

I wonder if you could stuff some fiberglass insulation between that plate and the wall of the firebox (I'm assuming it goes up against the firebox wall) until you could find a better solution or a replacement piece.

If you are handy, I bet you could heat it up to make it straight again, weld it back together, fill in any gaps with glass bondo/sand it smooth, then send it out to be re-cast. recasting is cheep. If you track a good one down have it recast before so you allways have a spare...
:punk:

Lightning wrote:I wonder if you could stuff some fiberglass insulation between that plate and the wall of the firebox (I'm assuming it goes up against the firebox wall) until you could find a better solution or a replacement piece.

Good idea. May try it with some mineral wool, which may have a higher melting point.
Thanks,
Hansel

The reason I suggest this is because I too had a bypassing of combustion air around the grates between the firebox and the coal bed liner. I stuffed it with simple fiber glass insulation, problem solved.. I haven't melted it yet

Boy that cast is tough to fix It is a tough material that can take a beating. My old Buderus had a similar plate in it, I bought a spare early on knowing it was vulnerable. If you can get one recast that would be HUGE! I doubt plate steel would last long in that environment, but if you get it cheap enough, it may not be out of the question to make it a maintenance item that gets replaced periodically.

Thanks for all the great advice.
I'm still waiting for the replacement plate ($208 + $18 shipping) and did manage to find a couple foundries (http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/FoundrySources.ashx) willing to recast a duplicate ($50-$80) for a spare. Most foundries no longer fool with small custom cast iron, or require a pattern which costs a couple thousand dollars to make.
I'm not handy at all, so trying to make a template for recasting out of the cracked/warped plate was not in the picture. Should've done that when the hairline crack first appeared.
Meanwhile, I've stuffed enough door gasket material into the gap between the plate and the firebox so that stove seems to be working properly. Will replace that stuffing with some scrap rock wool when I can get it later this week. Thanks again.
Hansel

For some small re-casting of parts for stoves the foundries mentioned in threads here by other members here are Tomahawk Foundry or Auburn Stove Foundry.