Warm Morning 414a speed tear down and re-seal

Smokeyja, talking about nice looks, is the ""lady"" on you avatar your helper? That could explain why the parts you make are so nice

nortcan wrote:Smokeyja, talking about nice looks, is the ""lady"" on you avatar your helper? That could explain why the parts you make are so nice

Haha that picture is such a great cartoon !

So I bought the second 414a up at the salvage yard and it has a perfect top and front frame so I'm using it for parts to make this one even better .

Smokeyja wrote:

nortcan wrote:Smokeyja, talking about nice looks, is the ""lady"" on you avatar your helper? That could explain why the parts you make are so nice

Haha that picture is such a great cartoon !

So I bought the second 414a up at the salvage yard and it has a perfect top and front frame so I'm using it for parts to make this one even better .

Nice. So your sticking with the WM414 then? I thought you had needed/wanted a larger stove?

SteveZee wrote:

Smokeyja wrote:

nortcan wrote:Smokeyja, talking about nice looks, is the ""lady"" on you avatar your helper? That could explain why the parts you make are so nice

Haha that picture is such a great cartoon !

So I bought the second 414a up at the salvage yard and it has a perfect top and front frame so I'm using it for parts to make this one even better .

Nice. So your sticking with the WM414 then? I thought you had needed/wanted a larger stove?

I still want and need a larger stove. I just came up with a lot of other expenses this past summer and never got around to buying something larger. We still want to get a base heater or an oak. I want to make the trip up north to one of the big stove dealers but that's going to have to wait a little bit. We just put a new roof on my garage so that was a good bit more than a restored glenwood 6 ...

I don't really like the looks of the fancy stoves but they have such a good reputation for heating efficiently that I can get past it. Btw I figured I would remove the finial and replace it with some wrought forge work and that would make it a lot more appeal to me and personal.

Once I swap the 414s top frame it will fit together even tighter and work better. I must say it is a work horse but in the future I want longer burn times. And of course I am going back to anthracite 100% . Bituminous can stick with the blacksmithing lol


I won't ever sell this WM it is a wonderful little stove. I am going to be pickin up a 523 sometime in the future as well.

The hardest part for me is settling for a stove considering I only have experience burning in the WM and the Pearl Cannon heater. So I must trust my coal family here on the forum. Ive heard enough about the base heaters, especially the glenwood to try then out. I just need to make the trip and get the ok from the Mrs.

Almost any of the New England made stoves (Glenwood, Wings Best, Crawford, Herald, Quaker etc.) and baseheaters are all good stuff. There are some good midwestern ones too like Germer, Florence, Round Oak etc. but the New England stoves were more popular and plentiful too. Like you I prefer the "plain" stoves of the day. My Glenwood was the Ford/Chevy of it's day in looks and performace. They just worked. I'm really partial to the Quaker if I'm honest about it. They were big honking heaters and plain jane's but real workhorses also.

So I pulled the top parts off the new WM 414a I bought and put them on my existing one for a better door fitment . I don't think these WMs could be considered "air tight" stoves . And to me that doesn't make it the best stove for bit because it still works better to burn ant in it. The door still doesn't seal perfectly tight and it never will unless I do some modifications which I don't feel like doing to it. It'll be fine again another year.
It doesn't look like I will be buying any more stoves or parts at the moment either. I've come to the breaking point mentally at my job so it's time to move on to another and fast! Massive amounts of stress and stupidity is not worth any amount of money.

So the WM does work better overall but it still not 100% heat I want there . One WM is going to be built into a smoker and the one in the house will most likely go into the garage.

I wish they could have made the top door like the bottom door and then the stove would be that much better!

Hmmm actually that gives me an idea ... What if I fabricated the other WM bottom door to work as the top... That is an idea.

Sorry to hear about the job stress, I don't blame you for looking for another if your unhappy working at the current one.

As for the top door, is it possible to seal it up better using gasket, ACE Hardware up here has a nice selection of different sizes and shapes I used throughout my No 6.

echos67 wrote:Sorry to hear about the job stress, I don't blame you for looking for another if your unhappy working at the current one.

As for the top door, is it possible to seal it up better using gasket, ACE Hardware up here has a nice selection of different sizes and shapes I used throughout my No 6.

I've tried that before but it doesn't work well the way its made and how the door latches. That's why I was thinking of making a bottom door work for a top. The stove is good enough to burn in and I know how to control it so I think I need to out my efforts into the zephyr from now on

So it has been warm out and I have just been burning hickory but I started to load up the stove with bit again and I think I can put another knotch in my belt now for bit coal. I finally have figured out the sweet spots for taking the beast. With the new top, frame and door I have been able to control it a little better. But based on all the replies and learning more about how bituminous burns vs. Anthracite I have been able to predict what air control I should use with the MPD, top & bottom doors. I have realised that with bituminous I can't close the MPD 100% until most of it has coked but I can close it 75% of the way and it's enough to choke down on the fire but still allow enough draft to remove the smoke from the stove. I am now get steady temperatures and predictable burns.

I still prefer anthracite but because, at the moment, I can only haul 2400lbs (a pallet) of Anthracite at a time and it's 4 hour round trip time, I treat the stuff like gold! So until Virginia is hunkered down for the real winter season I'm goin to burn this bit. Once we get some steady cold days I'll keep the fire going with anthracite.

I also spoke with my blacksmithing friend and I think he just got us hooked up with almost a lifetime supply of bit for free! We just have to haul it out of an old warehouse and store it on my property... I think we need to rent a dump truck and build a conveyor haha.

Smokeyja wrote:I still prefer anthracite but because, at the moment, I can only haul 2400lbs (a pallet) of Anthracite at a time and it's 4 hour round trip time, I treat the stuff like gold! So until Virginia is hunkered down for the real winter season I'm goin to burn this bit. Once we get some steady cold days I'll keep the fire going with anthracite.

I also spoke with my blacksmithing friend and I think he just got us hooked up with almost a lifetime supply of bit for free! We just have to haul it out of an old warehouse and store it on my property... I think we need to rent a dump truck and build a conveyor haha.

At that price "lifetime free" I think you best learn to burn bit coal safely. Good deal if it's good burning bit coal. Have you been able to a sample truckload for testing and good luck.

Dennis wrote:

Smokeyja wrote:I still prefer anthracite but because, at the moment, I can only haul 2400lbs (a pallet) of Anthracite at a time and it's 4 hour round trip time, I treat the stuff like gold! So until Virginia is hunkered down for the real winter season I'm goin to burn this bit. Once we get some steady cold days I'll keep the fire going with anthracite.

I also spoke with my blacksmithing friend and I think he just got us hooked up with almost a lifetime supply of bit for free! We just have to haul it out of an old warehouse and store it on my property... I think we need to rent a dump truck and build a conveyor haha.

At that price "lifetime free" I think you best learn to burn bit coal safely. Good deal if it's good burning bit coal. Have you been able to a sample truckload for testing and good luck.

I have no idea how good it is. It could possibly be but from the Richmond coal mines (mid-lothian) but I'm not sure. It is in an old tobacco warehouse so maybe too new for the Richmond coal but it is a very old tobacco building. My friend randomly told me about it the other day. I wonder what the tobacco company was doing with it. Maybe to run machinery ? I mainly want this stuff to run a coal forge at my house though. I guess if it's good enough to burn free is the best heating . But I need to keep on my friend to call this guy so we don't miss this opportunity . Supposedly the entire warehouse is full.
You know how those "too good to be true" things go though. It could just turn out to be a big disappointment .

Just thought I would share a warm morning photo of a fire in a warm morning stove !

It's keeping us warm

Now that's a Bit fire !!

That warehouse of bit coal will be interesting, Bit coal tends to get 'old' once it's exposed to the air, some of the volitiles evaporate.
And just like all the other variables with bit coal, it varies how much if any being in the air affects the coal..

You might find that the coal 'cokes' quicker, and is harder to get lit.. but again, you may not notice any differences at all .

Let us know what you discover.

I had once bit col available to me for $15/ton, but it was 50% fines, and the nastiest stuff you can imagine, huge swelling index, tons of volitiles and I had to sift the coal from the fines.. in the end, I never bought more than the original 7 tons.. it was too much work, waste and it froze solid from the moisture in the fines.. I had a 'cave' dug in the side of the pile, what memories..

So different from the huge reserve of UAE Pea anth coal I have, and a stoker boiler.

Greg L

LsFarm wrote:Now that's a Bit fire !!

That warehouse of bit coal will be interesting, Bit coal tends to get 'old' once it's exposed to the air, some of the volitiles evaporate.
And just like all the other variables with bit coal, it varies how much if any being in the air affects the coal..

You might find that the coal 'cokes' quicker, and is harder to get lit.. but again, you may not notice any differences at all .

Let us know what you discover.

I had onld bit col available to me for $15/ton, but it was 50% fines, and the nastiest stuff you can imagine, huge selling index, tons of volitiles and I had to sift the coal from the fines.. in the end, I never bought more than the original 7 tons.. it was too much work, waste and it froze solid from the moisture in the fines.. I had a 'cave' dug in the side of the pile, what memories..

So different from the huge reserve of UAE Pea anth coal I have, and a stoker boiler.

Greg L

Thanks Greg ! I'm actually really happy with the stuff and when it's cold outside and I want to crank some heat out I will put a scoop of ant on top to give it a little longer edge and then I can dump a load of bit on top and fire it back up. I am still learning but I actually really am enjoying it . I have no idea about the warehouse yet I'm stil waiting on my friend to call the guy. I still haven't come across a single clinker in the bit I bought yet!

Smokeyja wrote:

Dennis wrote:

Smokeyja wrote:I still prefer anthracite but because, at the moment, I can only haul 2400lbs (a pallet) of Anthracite at a time and it's 4 hour round trip time, I treat the stuff like gold! So until Virginia is hunkered down for the real winter season I'm goin to burn this bit. Once we get some steady cold days I'll keep the fire going with anthracite.

I also spoke with my blacksmithing friend and I think he just got us hooked up with almost a lifetime supply of bit for free! We just have to haul it out of an old warehouse and store it on my property... I think we need to rent a dump truck and build a conveyor haha.

At that price "lifetime free" I think you best learn to burn bit coal safely. Good deal if it's good burning bit coal. Have you been able to a sample truckload for testing and good luck.

I have no idea how good it is. It could possibly be but from the Richmond coal mines (mid-lothian) but I'm not sure. It is in an old tobacco warehouse so maybe too new for the Richmond coal but it is a very old tobacco building. My friend randomly told me about it the other day. I wonder what the tobacco company was doing with it. Maybe to run machinery ? I mainly want this stuff to run a coal forge at my house though. I guess if it's good enough to burn free is the best heating . But I need to keep on my friend to call this guy so we don't miss this opportunity . Supposedly the entire warehouse is full.
You know how those "too good to be true" things go though. It could just turn out to be a big disappointment .

Might have been used to help out with drying the baccie in winter? Who knows but I'd check it out. The fact that its been sitting there doesn't bode all that well though but nothing to lose to try it. The stuff in the pix looks like it burns just fine. Is that Kentucky Lump?