Help Me Choose Next Stove

SteveZee wrote:

Rob R. wrote:A friend of mine heats his house with a large Chubby stove. It probably isn't as efficient as a Glenwood, but it is still a very nice stove. Parts are readily available for the Chubby, and they are VERY airtight and easy to control.

They are pretty reasonably priced too and you can get the large one with a blower option. Any idea of the pot size Rob?

I think the stove barrel is about 18"...pot is probably 15-16" or so. A quick call to Larry will get you all the info: 781-293-7990

The blower option is nice, but don't forget that if you ever want to replace the pot you have to cut the tubes out and weld them back in. For me, one of the big perks of a hand-fired stove is silent, radiant heat. Call me crazy, but I would opt for the non-blower stove and put a large, slow-turn fan in the room (if needed) to help move the heat around.

Pot sizes for a Sr Chubby 16" x 9" round. The Jr is 12" x 7"
BTU for a Sr is 60-70,000 BTU's Jr 25-30 BTU's

With the round cast iron firepots in the Chubby's they radiate heat unlike firebrick which retard the heat.

Larry tells me in 25 plus years he has never had to replace one of fire pots.

You cannot go wrong with a Chubby. They are idiot proof and I am living proof of that statement!

My little Chubby Jr keeps our house very warm with only very occasional of our woodstove. I burned 3/4 ton of coal last year and less than half cord of wood and I am actively looking to replace the Soapstone with another coal stove.

Rob, I'm with you on the non-blower issue. I too (as referenced by my stove choices) prefer the simple and quiet version. I was just mentioning that for Jason's sake as an option to push heat.

Onedollar,
Thanks for the pot sizes. I didn't think they were that big a pot but I see not as deep as usual (for a pot that size).

Also, believe it or not the refractory lining on a pot is not only good for the pot's longevity, but doesn't hurt the heating output a bit. There is a reason that it's used and that's the insulating factor that allows the coal to burn efficiently while protecting the pot over time. I understand what Larry said but I promise you that one day it will crack if not lined if only due to the cycles of heat and cooling, where as a lined pot can go indefinitely.
You really don't want the pot to absorb that much heat. It's better to radiate more evenly from the entire stove surface. That insulation is a good thing.

Just remember, you have been spoiled by how easy the Glenwood is to operate. If you have the same expectations for another type of stove, you might have a let down.

Well Chrystal is Home,
She is sitting proud, watching vigilantly over the living room. I will be posting a full resto on her once I get started. I do have a few questions for those of you in New England.
1- Where is the best place to re-dip the (boot rests,top skirt,fineal, and 5 knobs)
2- roughly how much will that cost I am not doing the dome and what kind of prep do I need to do on the pieces before I send them out
3-Where is the best place to recast the burner plate, if I cannot track one down.(there is a cut steal piece in there now which fits great) I just want her 100%
I will have some more questions but we will start with these... Thank you in advance.. Jason...

g13nw00d-man wrote:Well Chrystal is Home,
She is sitting proud, watching vigilantly over the living room. I will be posting a full resto on her once I get started. I do have a few questions for those of you in New England.
1- Where is the best place to re-dip the (boot rests,top skirt,fineal, and 5 knobs)
2- roughly how much will that cost I am not doing the dome and what kind of prep do I need to do on the pieces before I send them out
3-Where is the best place to recast the burner plate, if I cannot track one down.(there is a cut steal piece in there now which fits great) I just want her 100%
I will have some more questions but we will start with these... Thank you in advance.. Jason...

Jason, I'm glad you're giving the Crawford a try. Should be a fairly easy restoration too. As far as the nickel plating goes, I would phone Bryant's Stove in Thorndike Maine. Whomever they use does a good job. Also The Love Barn in Orland could give you a quote too. (yep that's the name) and Mark MacLeoad is the owner. My guess would be between $200- $300 to replate those parts. That said, you may want to wait on that and make sure the stove is going to fit your application before spending that much money. If you do decide there is no prep work to do in advance. You sent the parts away, they come back nickel plated. They do all the prep at the plating shop.

Not sure what you mean by the "burner plate"? Are you taking about the shaker grate? The round grate with the fork for dumping and shaking? There are two foundry's that people use that I know do good work. Tomahawk Foundry in Wis. and Auburn Stove foundry here in Maine. They will cast any new part you need but you need something for them to copy (like the original). You get back exactly what you send pretty much. You can also check Woodsman'sparts plus.com for round dump grates that might fit your stove also.
I actually have a brand new one that I had cast for my Star Herald which is the same size as your stove I think, but you would need to measure and see what yours requires. I cast it as a spare and still have the original in the stove.

Thanks Steve, I am familiiier with the love barn and bryants. The burner plate (under the fineal dome) I will have to make a mold out of plaster or bondo of the opening to use as a casting. I may wait to do the nickle even though I don't want to (i am a perfectionist) I also need a new barrel and back pipe made. I am almost sure she will do fine, almost...
I was down at bryants the other day, they have a St. Nicolas stove the same size as Chrystal and its a base heater. What a nice looking stove it was. It did not look as tight as it could be though. They wanted 2,200 for it...wwwwwooooowwwww. I made them a reasonable but very low (compared to there asking price) offer. Jason...

g13nw00d-man wrote:Thanks Steve, I am familiiier with the love barn and bryants. The burner plate (under the fineal dome) I will have to make a mold out of plaster or bondo of the opening to use as a casting. I may wait to do the nickle even though I don't want to (i am a perfectionist) I also need a new barrel and back pipe made. I am almost sure she will do fine, almost...
I was down at bryants the other day, they have a St. Nicolas stove the same size as Chrystal and its a base heater. What a nice looking stove it was. It did not look as tight as it could be though. They wanted 2,200 for it...wwwwwooooowwwww. I made them a reasonable but very low (compared to there asking price) offer. Jason...

Jason, Oh yes, I think I know the stove your talking about. It is quite cool.

I would use them for the plating or try and get the plater shops name and go direct.

Got ya on the burner/top. I would keep an eye out on E-bay for the right sized burner plate or see if they (Bryants or Love barn) have a loose one. In the Antique stoves catagory of e-bay, I see them pop up here and there. You might also try Emory, at the Antique stove hospital. I'd bet that he has one and he can give you the plating shop to use also. He's a good guy.

The barrel/jacket, and back pipe are easy enough to order also. Emory, or either of the other two can certainly get you both items.

g13nw00d-man wrote:The burner plate (under the fineal dome)

Post the exact diameter of the hole and a member might have one you can have. I know I have one or two.

As Steve says they are on Ebay a lot too.

Thanks guys,
The burner plate is shaped like a D ( it has one "side" cut short of a circle). I might find a round one that fits and cut it. It would be nice if I could find an original, though. I was going to go to a local sheet metal shop to have a barrel and back pipe made, but you think Emery can get me both made to exact diementions? another question
-sand blasting or acid dip to remove all "matter" on the castiron.

I have a small sand blasting set up which works great, But I have seen the meriatic acid used here on the page and it looks like the iron is much cleaner. Check the spelling on "meriatic" ha ha Thanks again guys... Jason....

I think that muriatic acid can work very well for rust removing but it could be difficult to stop the acidic reaction on the cast iron, specially with bigger parts. Once the rust is gone, the reaction from the acid starts instantly to ""re-rust"" the cast iron. I made a few tests with acids and try to neutralize the acid as fast as I could with a high PH solutions but I think that my parts were in love with rust. So I went on the sand blasting solution.
Be very careful if you go with acids...

Call Emery. He is a Crawford expert.

That's my suggestion too. (What William said) I didn't realise the top burner was that D shape? I was going to suggest you copy my Star Herald plate but it's a round one. Emory can hook you up with both jacket and backpipe as well as those other Maine guys although they may want to do the work. You'r better off getting the parts and doing the resto yourself. Then you know it's done right. Just ask Pierre!