Can anyone identify my Florence Hot Blast..??

Newbie here, and wondering if someone can identify this Florence Hot Blast for me..??

We pulled this out of a neighbor's house in about '71, when Dad installed a new fuel oil furnace for them. Just getting too old to fire this stove anymore. It's been sitting in my old shop since then. Brought it out today, to install in my new shop.

I found no names/numbers on it, ID tag, or anything, other than the tag on the front, Florence Hot Blast. Thinking this may be from the 40's era when the house was built. It is in great shape, inside and out... Would just like to know exactly what model it is.

Thanks..!!
DJ from Central Ohio


http://www.flickr.com/photos/21994019@N03/8095498118/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21994019@N03/8095493620/

Wow, even I'm stumped..

It's not the usual Florence we see that are a very good quality cylinder stove. That looks like a later 30's to 50's circulator type similar to a Heaterola.

Hi DJ and wecome to the forum.
Just a suite to Steve's post, a photo showing a Florence Hot Blast like we are used to see.
The photo is from and with the permission of: Ginger Creek Antique Stoves

Thanks guys. I took an overall closer look this morning. Inside, at the top of the door is a cast piece that says "Radi- Circulator".

Entered that in a Google search in quotation marks, and got 440 hits. Only one pertaining to a Florence Hot Blast Radi-Circulator. And that was an archived ad in a semi-local newspaper, dated 1937. http://newspaperarchive.com/circleville ... 17/page-8/

Looks pretty close to it, but maybe not exact. At least I have an idea what I have, and approx. era.

Saw a similar ad, of a different model advertising it as having a mahogany cabinet. Dark porcelain, with tan swirl. So something else to look at later this evening.

Pretty cool, considering I live about 25 miles from where they were built.

nortcan wrote:Hi DJ and wecome to the forum.
Just a suite to Steve's post, a photo showing a Florence Hot Blast like we are used to see.
The photo is from and with the permission of: Gingercreek Antique Stoves

Hum, I have seen this stove somewhere near by...

Id say it will be a good stoveif its not burned or cracked. If you want to try it out I know of a few places in the central ohio area that sell coal.

carlherrnstein wrote:Id say it will be a good stoveif its not burned or cracked. If you want to try it out I know of a few places in the central ohio area that sell coal.

Coal dealers, or buy it at the mine..?? Last I bought was from Brahi Coal in Vinton Co. And that coal was mined by Sands Mining, and brought to Brahi to sell. That's been several years ago, and #5 lump was going for $70.00 per ton. Nice clean coal, and dumped on a concrete pad, under roof. No, "loading of the bottom"....

Found an active mine about 25 miles away in Perry Co. Oxford mining sells lump. Not sure of the price, but if it's raining too hard to do much, may take a skyride tomorrow, and check it out...

Hard to believe, but we bought coal back in 1965 for $8 per ton. We had a class project to compare heating bills... The teacher said there was no way we heated, for what I had written down... I assured her there was. 3 tons of coal @ $8 per ton, + approx. $10.00 for gas to make two trips to the mine = $34.00....

WOW Looks in great shape enamel terrific. Good luck please keep us informed.

Wow $34. My dad said it was 98 before him and his brother spent over $1000 to heat there mothers house but, its furnace ate 12 tons a year and they had the coal delivered.

The obetz hardware store sells what they call "kentucky lump" the last time I checked (its been a while ago) they wanted $220/ton or $11 a hundredweight they will load for you or you can handpick.
Oxford reclamation just outside of New Lexington has lump for $75/ton you can handpick or they will load you.
Bramhi south of Wellston Ohio last year there prices were $100/ton for lump and stoker and $85/ton for egg this coal was mined by Waterloo they load so you get a lot of fines.

Thanks Carl, with the rain today, believe I'll head down towards the Oxford mine, and just see where it is. It's only about 25 miles from here. Need to stop in Miller Pipe Supply, and see if they have some 7" pipe for a chimney anyway.

Yeah, we used to get lump at the Mt. Perry tipple on 22 just east of Somerset, for the $8 per ton. Then later at the Chilcote mine just across the road after the Perry mine shut down. There used to be more then several smaller mining operations that kept a pile of lump around for home user's. Not so anymore...

The coal bin would hold 3 tons pretty easy, and we'd always have a bit left come spring. The coal furnace is still in the basement, disassembled, setting in the corner for just in case.

There was a fellow in SE Columbus that used to advertise either W.V., or KY coal on Craigslist, for about the same prices you posted. Come to find out, the guy at Bramhi told me he sold a semi load or two to a fellow in the SE end of Columbus, that had a small coal yard. Wonder if it is the Hardware..??

If you have access to Kentucky lump, then that is your best bit/bet . Your stove was made to burn bit coal and Kentucky Lump is as good as bit gets. It will burn anthracite too but that will be more expensive and KB is every bit (pun intended) as good energy potential wise as ant.

For the price difference, I can deal with the local #5 coal. We burned it for years in the house, and I burned a few tons through the other shop furnace with no problems. Same coal, just under a different hill, LOL...

Found me a piece of pipe for the chimney, and found the mine. They let me up on the hill to look at the coal. Believe I will take my time, and hand pick it... It is definitely ROM. Lots of just right sized pieces for the stove, some "over nighters" too big to get in this stove's door down to bug dust...

They do have #6 coal, but not for lump sale. Goes straight to the power plant.

Your stove is a late model circulating stove. This type of stove began to be produced in large numbers during the mid 1920's. The designation,"hotblast," refers to the design of the fire pot of the stove. These models provide heated secondary air over the fire to increase the combustion efficiency of Bituminous Coal. Your stove is made to burn Bituminous and it will do a very good job of it. If the stove hasn't been used for years then it needs to be rebuilt. This means that the entire stove should be taken apart and all of the seams resealed with new furnace cement and all of the old bolts replaced.
The dampers are of prime importance also as they must fit tightly or the stove will perform poorly. To control the stove you must have absolute control of how much air gets to the fire.

I've been trying to find more info on this stove, and after using the somewhat proper name, still not that much info out there.

And yes, last night I decided to tear it down and re-cement it. Now is the time... I found a thread on here somewhere someone posted. Even had pictures of cementing the sections back together. Very detailed thread... Now, can't find it to save me, LOL...

The dampers seem to be pretty snug yet. I was really hoping to come across some operating instructions, as far as the damper on the back, as far as adjusting in conjunction with the front one.

And would love to see a picture of the shaker handle for this stove. Seems I can picture it from memory as a kid. I looked around the old shop where it was stored, but nothing even looked close. Maybe I was looking too hard.

Also need to find the thread I found last night about the fellow that makes new ash pans. Mice built a nest in this one, so you know the rest of the story... The sides and hardware are in good shape, but the bottom is shot... So need to get some measurements, and see if he will built me one. Would be sweet to send what I have, and re-use the original hardware.

So, a few questions...

1. Do most prefer a heavy body cement, or regular body?

2. Any preferred brands and types of cement? I found Rutland at Lowe's. It says it's regular body type. And at another home supply, a High Heat brand I believe. It comes in regular body, and heavy body.

3. If I remember correctly, there was a first thinner layer applied, then a second one, then fitted together, then stove bolts inserted.

4. I am assuming the stove bolts are just snugged real good. Don't imagine you're going to get a lot of torque on them with a slotted head. And probably just want it to fit snug, because of expansion. Am I close in assuming this..??

5. As for the curing. Seems I read that the cement was cured in two stages. A low fire for a certain amount of time, then to finish cure, a higher temp fire. Or, does the cement even need to be fired to cure..??

There may be directions on the containers, but I was just looking for products through the stores websites. I may find something more at the product websites...

Probably have more questions as I get into it, but this is a start.

I'm guessing the hardest part will be getting the shell off the firebox. Looked like the shell is screwed to the framework of the firebox. The rest on the firebox I can buzz through with my disc cutter.