Hand Fired Stoves

I have a pot bellied coal stove made by vogelzang. Granted it's not as large as what you guys have, but it does put out heat! It's entirely cast iron and what I did was put in 6 pieces of fire brick in the lower portion of the firebox. Someone told me that it is possible to burn out the stove or weaken the cast iron with direct contact with the coal. I start the fire with a good hot burning wood fire and gradually add about three scoops of small diameter coal to the burning wood. I sort of heap it in the center. Then I let it burn. I listen to the fire. I can hear the whoosh of the draft as the fire burns and starts the coal. Small pieces of coal fall into the ashpan and I can see a orange glow above the ashpan (where the grate is) Open the door and I can see the coal starting to glow orange - I add more coal in the center about 6 scoop fulls and close the door. all the time my ashpan damper is wide open. After about 20 minutes I look at the fire - blue flames in and around the fire. I add more coal to a depth of about 8 inches. The flames disappear but soon start up again and I see blue flames. Then I just let it burn. My stack temperature is relatively cool about five feet above the stove - I can put my hand on the chimney and not feel heat. After the fire has been going - about 8 hrs - I shake the grate - I found out that as the coal burns, it forms a sort of cone in the firebox - all the coal is consumed and what's glowing is super hot ash. I made a poker out of a piece of 3/8" pipe and I poke from underneath between the slats in the grate and I can reduce the size of this cone and the fire takes off again burning nice and hot. Add more coal and I'm all set for the next 14 hours.

It sounds like you have it worked out and burning great!! Did you try moving the hot air around with a fan? I remember we discussed that.

Every stove and size of coal has it's own characteristics. Once you find the right combination, they really put out the heat.

Greg L

Hey Buffalo--Did you post an image of your potbelly? If not, sounds like you should if you have the camera. I've never seen a real potbelly stove in person or at least one while it was heated. I would be interested.

I do have a lamp in my living room made to look like a potbelly stove. I always wanted to dismantle it and make it into a light duty stove. I bet it would work. But's it not cast iron and no fire brick so maybe it would melt!
Check it out.

hey cap....i like the lamp! where would I find somthing like that?

That looks like a stove made into a lamp. Are you sure it's not cast?

I am not sure where this lamp was originally sold. My inlaws gave it to us shortly after we moved from S. Jersey to Northampton County, PA. What my father-in-law was doing with a pot belly lamp to this day boggles my mind.
The only stuff he is concerned with would be, bass & crappy fishing in the summer and striper fishing on the Jersey beaches in fall & winter. But he was born & raised in Reading,PA so maybe he picked it up from his mom 20 years ago?

One of these days, I'll smoke it!

Buffalo,

What size/type of coal are you using in your Vogelzang??

Putt...

coalkirk wrote:That looks like a stove made into a lamp

It's easy to do!...Here's my first wood burning stove that I made into a lamp-table for about $15.00

(makes a much better lamp table than it did a heating device!)

Cap wrote:Hey Buffalo--Did you post an image of your potbelly? If not, sounds like you should if you have the camera. I've never seen a real potbelly stove in person or at least one while it was heated. I would be interested.

Its pretty neat from looking at the picture.

**Broken Link(s) Removed**

Yeah,
I saw the date of the original post AFTER I posted my message....

Putt...

Devil built a lamp!

t's easy to do!...Here's my first wood burning stove that I made into a lamp-table for about $15.00

Cool lamp Dev. Can you make me one? That way I'd have two

Maybe a good retirement gig? Buy up old wood stoves and convert to electric lamps. No that's going green...huh???
Well least we extending the life of the unit rather than melting the iron in the big pot.

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I have a Morso 1410 Squirrel and I just can't get a good bed of coal going. The flue seems to have plenty of draw- you can hear it whistling. I get a woodfire going to coals and add a shovel of nut coal trying to be careful not to smother anything. The fire seem s to get going, but the temp. never gets above 200 on the pipe and I have yet to burn all the way through a load of coal. One thing that concerns me is the primary air is just a vent- the Morso people got rid of the ash door and just have one large door. It just doesn't seem like I can get the coal enough air. Any solutions out there? Has anyone else burned this model? It is such a perfect size for the room I am heating. All advice is appreciated.

Hi Raymond, I believe there is another thread on the topic of the 1410 stove,, I'll try to find it.. I think it is NOT a coal burning stove.. it doesn't have separate air controls for over and under the fire combustion air.. and you must have only under-fire air for anthracite.

Here it is: Trouble Keeping Coal Stove Buring

Greg L