My Little Potbelly on Anthracite

Hi ALL,
Just a quick ?
I picked up a old Atlanta stove works #60 potbelly in very good condition no rust no paint just stove polished with a few xtra legs thrown in.
My ? ..I have her hooked up an have been playin with it this weekend since we have had a cool snap,is it normal for the burnpot to glow a bit? not BRIGHT RED but a mid range glow when she is filled to the load door and drafted down as far as she will go ?...I have seen old pictures an cartoons and they seem to show the lower part of the belly "GLOWIN"
She is throwing a massive amount of heat for her size and is warming my 20X30 shop to 80+ in no time.
SET-UP:
she is setting on a nice 6"raised stone hearth built on a concrete floor.
I have a manual draft in the 6" pipe bought 12" up from the stove wich I close when she is up an running and as much air shut down as it will allow, she is far from "AIR TIGHT"...lol.
Barometric damper installed bought 2.5 ft. above the manual damper,then a 90 out 4 ft. through the wall, stack temp is minimal I can lay a hand on the horizontal pipe above the barometric damper for a few seconds when the belly of the beast is glowing a slight red.
Burning anthracite Nut coal.
Grate system is pretty much a flat plate that is poor at shaking down the coals, you can get bought 2" of movement side to side but it does not do much but it will dump the ashes in a second if ya flip the grate, I have found it best to let the fire die and dump the ash, I can have a NEW fire in bought 15 minutes after the dump and relight.
I do not know the yr. this unit was manufactured and have had no luck finding info on the web on it other than Atlanta Stove workls is out buisiness/sold to another manufacturer.
I will be using her mostly on the weekends when I have time to be in the shop an tinker.
Just tryin to offset the OIL$$$ MONSTER that is the primary heat here in the shop.
Any info would be great.
Thanks,
Tim

I have an Atlanta Stove Works No. 40. it is the smaller version of your Atlanta No. 60. I have also found that the bottom pot will tend to glow a dark shade of red in spots. I believe that is because of the varying thickness of the casting. You can get these Atlanta potbelly stoves to put out some serious heat, but the burn times are shorter because it is not air tight. If you use a poker under the grate and move it through the grate spaces front to back, you can clear out the ashes better to get better air flow and continue the burn. I have found that it has run best with the draft settings pretty much closed most of the time because there is enough air spaces in the stove to keep the draft going just right with my tall chimney.

I'll have to see where I have anymore information laying around on Atlanta Stove Works. The only web link that I recall with any information is here. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&sq ... zg&cad=rja I hope this helps. Let's see some pictures.

That looks very much like one I am helping to restore with my father. Only mine doesn't have any markings on it. Total it's only around 2 feet tall plus the legs.

I would highly recommend that you put a refractory lining around the inside of the firepot. It is very easy to do. Get some Castable Refractory Cement, make a cardboard mold to fit inside the firepot about an inch or so smaller than the firepot's diameter. Pour the Refractory Cement around the mold and make a lining. Leave the cardboard mold inside until you light the first small fire to cure the cement. The cardboard burns away and you have a durable lining which will protect the firepot from getting too hot and glowing red.

Thanks for the tip on making the linning!...will try that this weekend.

Here are some pics. of the install and fire

Here is the last one, "THE GLOW" after she got up to a good burn and drafts closed down

Potbelly stoves are not airtight. To avoid over firing which that red glow indicates you should have a barometric damper to control draft and possibly a manual damper as well. If the air intake can not be controlled then the only way is to lessen the draft through the coal bed. Leaving a bit of ash on the grate will also help to slow things down. Lining the fire pot is also good advice.

wsherrick wrote:I would highly recommend that you put a refractory lining around the inside of the firepot. It is very easy to do. Get some Castable Refractory Cement, make a cardboard mold to fit inside the firepot about an inch or so smaller than the firepot's diameter. Pour the Refractory Cement around the mold and make a lining. Leave the cardboard mold inside until you light the first small fire to cure the cement. The cardboard burns away and you have a durable lining which will protect the firepot from getting too hot and glowing red.

Our stoves use to glow like that all the time. I didn't know about refractory cement untill years later, when I worked at an industrial boiler manufacturer. Refractory cement will save the fire pot.

I have the exact same stove that I picked up at a flea market in PA about 4 years ago for $45 bucks. I have nowhere to use it right now, but for what I paid for it, I'm gonna hold on to her! I read that that particular stove was in A lot of turn of the century American Post offices. They were Manufactured from like 1890 onward. I post a few pics of mine in a few days

Well I am going to the Feed Store later today and pick up 2 bags of Nut and 2 bags of Pea for testing in the little Potbelly,
the nut seems to have TOO MUCH air gap in the burning bed of coals.
What are your opinions on starting the fire with a nice layer of Nut then filling up the fire box to the top with Pea to make a longer lasting burn ?
Another notion I have blowin around in that space between my ears is too rope gasket the ash door and load door and make my own closure handles out of 1/4" steel round bar to help with the air gaps, also make a small slider plate out of 1/8" steel plate with a gasket on it that will clip on or spring loaded closures of some kind around the BIG AIR gap at the grate shaker ??
OPINIONS wanted!
thanks,
Tim

I had the same thought of doing that also to my smaller Atlanta 40 potbelly, but just never did it. It would probably make controlling the stove much easier. I'd like to see how you do it. Take some pictures during your project modification so we could all benefit from your neat idea.

for "SCUBA STEVE" ...ya gota heck of a deal on that stove for $45..I would KEEP HER ALSO !!.
I looked at what very few current selling rates I could find on the web for these stoves in GREAT SHAPE..wich mine is prob. a 9 outta 10 it also came with 2 xtra legs that are in perfect condition, no cracks anywhere all it took was a fresh coat of Rutland furnace cement on the joints during re-assembly.
From what I got from seller was that they picked this unit up in lancaster County PA, yrs back an had used it there home ..that was evedent from the LACK OF RUST ....it has NO PAINT just polish wich I really liked when I looked at it, the fire pot has no evidence of nasty rust or pitting, so this led me to believe this stove has not been in a the weather or a unheated barn most of its life, it was in a home.
For its state of conservation and lack of any rust in or out I sprung $300 for the unit wich I belive in its current state is "STREET VALUE"and worth the purchase price, and the fact that I have always wanted a Potbelly stove, an this thing makes nice heat was the seller.
I am sure I payed TOP DOLLAR ..BUT the unit is sound and needs nothing.

Just a friendly little reminder. Don't forget to put in the Castable Refractory Lining in the firepot.

I had one like that and used it for a winter to heat my basement. Glowing is the natural thing for it since there isn't a lining. If some kid touched it it would be an instant bad burn. These pot belly stoves glowed all the time. I remember watching cartoons showing the belly glowing in them. I think it was Scrooge from Disney.
Cast Iron can do that without warping. If it was steel and glowing you'd have problems with warping,etc. That's why Chubby coal stoves have cast iron doors and tops.