Repaint & Tune up Crane Model 404

Well most of you know Im redoing my fireplace & installing a model 404 so I thought id give a sneak peek of how I chose to paint it.

This method will work with any raised relief in the casting and can be done to match your homes style and colors scheme.

I chose a brown stove with inset black door screens and a gold leaf accent (It will have a parquet soapstone top that I am going to be refurbishing (I'll make a thread for that after onedollar sends me his secret oil)

Oooooooh! Tricky Thought you had used malleable gold leaf there for a minute. Looks good Doug! Is there a baffle part that hangs ofn the hooks in the inside of the stove?

Lookin real purty dc:) Lookin fwd to pix of the install

Scottscoaled wrote:Oooooooh! Tricky Thought you had used malleable gold leaf there for a minute. Looks good Doug! Is there a baffle part that hangs ofn the hooks in the inside of the stove?

I removed the baffle to have a couple made at my uncles shop (hope he dont kill me on the price), but it seems a few people need them and the design of the baffle was such that simply blocking the flu with a brick does not allow flow of air as intended.

Of course the one HUGE issue i have is this 404 was cranked to heat a cathedral 35x30 room (HUGE mansion in Wellsley, MA.). That was painfully clear as soon as i got to it The only real damage I cannot fix is the cast iron firepot (I need the friggin mold which I dont have... woodmans stole it! ) anyways... Im trying to find a solution as its the only thing that was flawed in my mind in the design (Chubbys have a circular firepot which holds up better, course the Grate was always the thing in a Chubby that took the "hit", though Larry came up with some great tactics to combat this long time issue) and a Chubby has the drawback of clearances (the stove HAS alot of depth which is why Larry made his own oval top flu to try and lesson that drawback, a 404 can go right into an existing fireplace with no need for hearth extensions, etc. anyways....back to my thoughts about fixing this firepot... I was thinking about jambing a 1 x1" steel barstock into the center of the pot to place outward pressure in the middle (where it warps) and maybe after heating it would either prevent it from getting worst or open it slightly? I was also thinking if i ever made this firepot again id somehow add a center gusset to the casting (Im not sure how it would hold up because it would essentially be a two chamber firebox but it would cost nothing to try since the center gusset could be removed from a mold easy enough to convert it back to its original design (wish dad was around to ask him why he never tried this). I'll ask Larry for some guidance about this issue if and when i ever have the money to go to a foundry. maybe i will make a post about this issue with some photo's to pick your brains also

This looks pretty good to me and better than the original.

Crane Stove 404

franco b wrote:This looks pretty good to me and better than the original.

Crane Stove 404

Beamerboy did a great job to get over the same hurdle im facing for sure, I went up to see him last week to replace his blower for his mom. The problem is that heat output is greatly diminished using this solution (as thick firebrick wont allow heat to radiate like cast iron would and the firebox size is greatly diminished doing this. He think he did allow for the secondary air feeds to be open and he did as good as could be done under the circumstances, If I cant do iron I will show how to do this in refractory cement against the exterior walls of the stove with channels built into the refractory for secondary air. when using firebrick it is critical for the firebrick to be quality and thin and against the exterior walls of the stove (If you have firebrick along with an inch of air between the firebrick and exterior walls of your stove your heat will gone up the chimney faster then you can radiate it into your home).

dcrane wrote:when using firebrick it is critical for the firebrick to be quality and thin and against the exterior walls of the stove (If you have firebrick along with an inch of air between the firebrick and exterior walls of your stove your heat will gone up the chimney faster then you can radiate it into your home).

Though I can see your point and can agree somewhat because of the limitations of space in a compact stove, the best combustion is still in a fire box that has the least heat loss. By treating the fire box as part of the heat exchange, efficiency will always be compromised.

The needs of good combustion dictate keeping as much heat as possible in the fire box with heat exchange being treated separately. This is why the Glenwood no. 6 with a one inch lining in the fire box works so well and even better William,s Glenwood no. 9 which almost totally insulates the fire box yet still manages to treat heat exchange separately and still remain compact. I suspect the Crane model 44 with the thick refractory fire box will be more efficient than the 404.

franco b wrote:

dcrane wrote:when using firebrick it is critical for the firebrick to be quality and thin and against the exterior walls of the stove (If you have firebrick along with an inch of air between the firebrick and exterior walls of your stove your heat will gone up the chimney faster then you can radiate it into your home).

Though I can see your point and can agree somewhat because of the limitations of space in a compact stove, the best combustion is still in a fire box that has the least heat loss. By treating the fire box as part of the heat exchange, efficiency will always be compromised.

The needs of good combustion dictate keeping as much heat as possible in the fire box with heat exchange being treated separately. This is why the Glenwood no. 6 with a one inch lining in the fire box works so well and even better William,s Glenwood no. 9 which almost totally insulates the fire box yet still manages to treat heat exchange separately and still remain compact. I suspect the Crane model 44 with the thick refractory fire box will be more efficient than the 404.

we actually spent a lot of time reducing the thickness of the 44 firebox as much as possible (its much thinner then typical "of the shelf" firebrick. You are absolutely correct about those glenwoods (but as you know... those engineering marvels are beyond simple radiant heat... that tall empty area above the fire is important for those parlor stoves they recirculate that heat reburn it, recirculate it and have all the time in the world to then radiate it out and using those wondrous decorative nickle round rings that people think are merely decoration but you and I both know they have a very important function with their beauty )

The Crane Stoves are a very simply machine so its far more important to get that heat out into the living area faster then a Glenwood.

New Pics of the completed model 404, repainted, new gaskets, new glass (OEM Ceramic because some knucklehead used tinted fireplace glass), New Cast firepot, New baffle, refinished soapstone top (special thanks to Beamerboy for the top), high temp grease at the stop shaft opening (part shaker handle connects to). I will be installing this into a newly refinished fireplace when I have it done (I'll make thread to show the fireplace re-do so you guys can watch how inexpensively im going to do this )

I did get a couple extra baffles if anyone needs (Next time im in Conn. Beamer i will drop one on your front step ) , The new firepot I have will be brought to a foundry before I use it in this stove to see how cost effective it is to reproduce.

That's turning into a nice looking stove there!

Nice job dc, real handsome stove!

The parquet sandstone on top looks (gee I wonder where you could have found it .
Did you put some gasket material under it to give a little air space to keep it from over heating?

beemerboy wrote:The parquet sandstone on top looks (gee I wonder where you could have found it .
Did you put some gasket material under it to give a little air space to keep it from over heating?

I just have it resting on top for photo for now (I have some more thin coats of oil to do on it), but I got some extra window gasket i will use (though back in the day we never put anything under these but this stove is going to be within an inch of the steel framing you can see in my thread about fireplace so im going to roll with your idea for sure )

Doug, great job. Where did you get the new firepot?

coalvet wrote:Doug, great job. Where did you get the new firepot?

well, I got lucky and found a used Crane 404 on GL in Maine and though the stove was an old version Crane (no cast, no decorative trim, etc)... It had a mint condition firepot (clearly it had only seen wood) so i immediately drove up and grabbed it as a parts stove (The Glass in a Crane 404 alone is worth $150.00) but that Firepot was priceless to me because I dont know if I could ever get one that nice or a foundry to use a template

here is a pic of it and though it looks like "Mung" its a beauty!!!