New Stove Question

Well, I brought home the new to me stove today. It is the Gem Dockask, made my the Scranton Stove Works in Scranton, PA. It is in pretty good shape but does need some TLC. The door pins on the ash door need replacing, the mica glass all need replacing, he did not have the grate shaker handle. There were no cracks, the steel was in good shape, and it had the prismatic grates that I wanted. It is not a base heater but looks like it was a nice stove in its day. I will take some pictures to post soon. I do have a question though, where do you find the stove pipe to fit the oval opening on the stove. It looks to be an 8" pipe but when you measure across, it is about 8.25". Is the some kind of adapter I need to buy for it or do they make the stove pipe to fit it?

Photog200 wrote: I do have a question though, where do you find the stove pipe to fit the oval opening on the stove. It looks to be an 8" pipe but when you measure across, it is about 8.25". Is the some kind of adapter I need to buy for it or do they make the stove pipe to fit it?

Using a tape measure, measure the circumference of the outlet. Calculate the circumference of standard pipe (diameter x 3.1416) to see if standard pipe is the same. usually can be squeezed oval to fit.

photog

Congrats on your new stove!! I am picking up a baseheater on Tuesday myself.

This link might help you with your oval to round question.

New Stove Question

Congrats again! This stove will serve you well.

Photog200 wrote:Well, I brought home the new to me stove today. It is the Gem Dockask, made my the Scranton Stove Works in Scranton, PA. It is in pretty good shape but does need some TLC. The door pins on the ash door need replacing, the mica glass all need replacing, he did not have the grate shaker handle. There were no cracks, the steel was in good shape, and it had the prismatic grates that I wanted. It is not a base heater but looks like it was a nice stove in its day. I will take some pictures to post soon. I do have a question though, where do you find the stove pipe to fit the oval opening on the stove. It looks to be an 8" pipe but when you measure across, it is about 8.25". Is the some kind of adapter I need to buy for it or do they make the stove pipe to fit it?

It's probably just 6" pipe. Take a 2' section of 6" and push the smooth end oval as you put it on. I'd be surprised if it's an 8"....

Send photos soon.... We love photos...

dj

ONEDOLLAR wrote:photog

Congrats on your new stove!! I am picking up a baseheater on Tuesday myself.

This link might help you with your oval to round question.

New Stove Question

Congrats again! This stove will serve you well.

Thanks Onedollar! Congrats on yours as well. I was looking for a base heater but I have been told since I want to burn wood in spring and fall, this stove would probably be better anyway. I am sure it will more that heat my home! It has an 18" pot!

dlj wrote:

Photog200 wrote:Well, I brought home the new to me stove today. It is the Gem Dockask, made my the Scranton Stove Works in Scranton, PA. It is in pretty good shape but does need some TLC. The door pins on the ash door need replacing, the mica glass all need replacing, he did not have the grate shaker handle. There were no cracks, the steel was in good shape, and it had the prismatic grates that I wanted. It is not a base heater but looks like it was a nice stove in its day. I will take some pictures to post soon. I do have a question though, where do you find the stove pipe to fit the oval opening on the stove. It looks to be an 8" pipe but when you measure across, it is about 8.25". Is the some kind of adapter I need to buy for it or do they make the stove pipe to fit it?

It's probably just 6" pipe. Take a 2' section of 6" and push the smooth end oval as you put it on. I'd be surprised if it's an 8"....

Send photos soon.... We love photos...

dj

I will try that with the pipe but it sure looks like it will take 8". I have a section of 8" pipe in the garage and will measure the circumference and the circumference of the vent. Just remembered, the other thing missing from the stove is a wood grate that sits on top of the prismatic ones. Ordered the mica glass for it today.

Have to go to work tonight at midnight so I am not going back out in the garage to work on it. It really is not much to look at right now...pile of steel in the middle of the floor. When I get it somewhat back together, I will take some photos.
Randy

You mean a pile of cast iron with a steel jacket! . 18" pot is a pretty good sized stove. Did you measure the pot itself? Usually if the jacket is 18", the pot is 16". Never the less, still a substantial heater that will heat a large space. If you use coal allot you should line the pot. It's much more efficient coal burner with refractory liner. Saves the pot too. You are going to find that it performs lightyears better on coal than wood. Just saying. You can use wood during the spring and fall, but dead of winter, coal is the only way to fly. These are mediocre wood burners and superstar coal burners.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=les ... 40&bih=512

SteveZee wrote:You mean a pile of cast iron with a steel jacket! . 18" pot is a pretty good sized stove. Did you measure the pot itself? Usually if the jacket is 18", the pot is 16". Never the less, still a substantial heater that will heat a large space. If you use coal allot you should line the pot. It's much more efficient coal burner with refractory liner. Saves the pot too. You are going to find that it performs lightyears better on coal than wood. Just saying. You can use wood during the spring and fall, but dead of winter, coal is the only way to fly. These are mediocre wood burners and superstar coal burners.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=les ... 40&bih=512

Thanks for the link...already found it and ordered one. I measured the pot at the top where it meets the barrel, should I have measured it down by the grates? I already bought the refractory stuff to line the pot, my hardware store had it in stock. I plan on burning coal during the late fall, & winter...absolutely. That is exactly why I was looking for one of these stoves. I already have a beautiful wood stove I just bought 4 years ago. Just could not get long enough burn time out of it...at least not getting any heat. The only thing I need to find for it now is the grate shaker handle and a wood grate, it just has the prismatic ones

Photog200 wrote:

dlj wrote:

Photog200 wrote:Well, I brought home the new to me stove today. It is the Gem Dockask, made my the Scranton Stove Works in Scranton, PA. It is in pretty good shape but does need some TLC. The door pins on the ash door need replacing, the mica glass all need replacing, he did not have the grate shaker handle. There were no cracks, the steel was in good shape, and it had the prismatic grates that I wanted. It is not a base heater but looks like it was a nice stove in its day. I will take some pictures to post soon. I do have a question though, where do you find the stove pipe to fit the oval opening on the stove. It looks to be an 8" pipe but when you measure across, it is about 8.25". Is the some kind of adapter I need to buy for it or do they make the stove pipe to fit it?

It's probably just 6" pipe. Take a 2' section of 6" and push the smooth end oval as you put it on. I'd be surprised if it's an 8"....

Send photos soon.... We love photos...

dj

I will try that with the pipe but it sure looks like it will take 8". I have a section of 8" pipe in the garage and will measure the circumference and the circumference of the vent. Just remembered, the other thing missing from the stove is a wood grate that sits on top of the prismatic ones. Ordered the mica glass for it today.

Have to go to work tonight at midnight so I am not going back out in the garage to work on it. It really is not much to look at right now...pile of steel in the middle of the floor. When I get it somewhat back together, I will take some photos.
Randy

I tried the 6" pipe and there is no way that is big enough, it has to be 8" pipe.

Photog200 wrote:

SteveZee wrote:You mean a pile of cast iron with a steel jacket! . 18" pot is a pretty good sized stove. Did you measure the pot itself? Usually if the jacket is 18", the pot is 16". Never the less, still a substantial heater that will heat a large space. If you use coal allot you should line the pot. It's much more efficient coal burner with refractory liner. Saves the pot too. You are going to find that it performs lightyears better on coal than wood. Just saying. You can use wood during the spring and fall, but dead of winter, coal is the only way to fly. These are mediocre wood burners and superstar coal burners.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=les ... 40&bih=512

Thanks for the link...already found it and ordered one. I measured the pot at the top where it meets the barrel, should I have measured it down by the grates? I already bought the refractory stuff to line the pot, my hardware store had it in stock. I plan on burning coal during the late fall, & winter...absolutely. That is exactly why I was looking for one of these stoves. I already have a beautiful wood stove I just bought 4 years ago. Just could not get long enough burn time out of it...at least not getting any heat. The only thing I need to find for it now is the grate shaker handle and a wood grate, it just has the prismatic ones

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Cast-Ir ... 460ca1c2db
That might work or put in grate shaker in antique stoves on e-bay.

Woodsmanspartsplus.com has the wood grate but it's pricy. I would just get a piece of steel cut round and put a couple slots in it. All is does is stop the wood getting tangled in the prismatics and block off a bit of the air.

Photog200 wrote:I will try that with the pipe but it sure looks like it will take 8". I have a section of 8" pipe in the garage and will measure the circumference and the circumference of the vent. Just remembered, the other thing missing from the stove is a wood grate that sits on top of the prismatic ones. Ordered the mica glass for it today.

Have to go to work tonight at midnight so I am not going back out in the garage to work on it. It really is not much to look at right now...pile of steel in the middle of the floor. When I get it somewhat back together, I will take some photos.
Randy
I tried the 6" pipe and there is no way that is big enough, it has to be 8" pipe.

Did you try the 8"? The ovals are usually one of the rounds just ovalized (is that a word?). Whichever size it is, it will be a very tight fit... I've put pipes on the ovals lots of times, they can be hard to fit... You might have an odd size, I have seen that too, but very rare... I've had to use persuasion. Think block of wood on the top of the round pipe hammering it onto the oval .... Like Franco B said - measure it and see what it comes out to...

dj

The pipe in the old days were riveted and did not have the folded seam. That seam takes up room. Hammer it flat on the inside end to gain a little.

Congratulations on you getting a very good stove. Your Gem Dockash is an upscale, fine quality oak stove. Gems were very well made and certain models of Dock Ash Base Burners are very desirable. They are hard to find as this was a localized Foundry in Scranton, PA. They turn up around this area quite a bit.
I can assure you that your stove does not take an 8 inch pipe. It is most likely a 6 inch pipe, I'm almost certain 99.9%.

The shaking crank will be easy to find. You can also make do with a socket wrench.
I know you want to burn wood during the Spring and Fall.
Once you find out how much easier and more reliable coal is as fuel, then let's see how much wood you end up actually burning.
This stove will be more than adequate to heat your home. Take your time during its overhaul. Don't break anything due to impatience.

wsherrick wrote:Congratulations on you getting a very good stove. Your Gem Dockash is an upscale, fine quality oak stove. Gems were very well made and certain models of Dock Ash Base Burners are very desirable. They are hard to find as this was a localized Foundry in Scranton, PA. They turn up around this area quite a bit.
I can assure you that your stove does not take an 8 inch pipe. It is most likely a 6 inch pipe, I'm almost certain 99.9%.

The shaking crank will be easy to find. You can also make do with a socket wrench.
I know you want to burn wood during the Spring and Fall.
Once you find out how much easier and more reliable coal is as fuel, then let's see how much wood you end up actually burning.
This stove will be more than adequate to heat your home. Take your time during its overhaul. Don't break anything due to impatience.

Thank you William for your response. I would like to let you know that it was your videos that turned me on to these old stoves. If I had not seen them, I certainly would have been stuck with one of those newfangled ones.

I knew when I saw the stove in person that it was a very well made stove and I knew it would work well for me. I am not in the position to be able to do a complete 100% restoration right now but hopefully this summer I will be able to send the nickel out for re-plating. I have some house construction projects coming up this spring which will require time and money. BTW, I someone sent me a link to one of the shaker handles on e-bay, I just have to measure the end of the shaker to make sure it will fit.

I had a small section of 6" pipe in the garage and it was a good 2" shy of even coming close to fitting. I did not have a section of 8" to try...I guess I have an odd one my friend! I am sure you are right about probably wanting to burn just coal when I find out how easy it is! I am already finding how contagious it is just getting this stove ready for its first firing.

One question I do have for you, the fire pot sits on a base and that base was all nickel originally. In my opinion or my taste that would be way too much "bling" for me. I was intending to paint it black. Down the road if I decided that I wanted it as original and wanted it plated, would painting it cause any damage? I am assuming they would sand blast it anyway before plating.

Some older stoves required 7 inch pipe but I would be very surprised if it required 8 inch.

I just went and measured the circumference of 6, 7 and 8 inch pipe...

6 is approx 19 1/4"
7............22 1/4"
8............25 1/4"