OK fellow kitchen stove addicts,I guess I let the the cat out of the bag on the bb thread. Yes Paulie bought a kitchen stove. Not a fancy dancey stove, but sometimes in life, a chain of events can alter ones priorities.
Although I have more than enough stoves to keep me busy for the upcoming year, my long term plan was to eventually find a kitchen stove for my current "Man Cave" project. What started out last winter as a 23' × 27' well lighted stove workshop is turning into a major renovation, or as my wife calls it the turn of the century stove museum.
A few months ago my son in law asked to borrow my truck to pick up a new gas stove for his aunt and uncle the following day. I volunteered to give him a hand, and later that evening he left a phone message asking me to bring along some tools including a sledgehammer. Hmmmmm .....I installed a lot of gas stoves but never needed a sledgehammer.
The following morning when I picked him up he explained that they were getting up there in age, on a fixed income and asked him if he could scrap the old stove and they would put the money towards the new one. He didn't think it was anything I would be interested in and when he measured it it was too big to fit out the door.
We opened the door and there it was....... an old tan and green porcelain Bengal range, born in Royersburg, Pa. and built by Floyd Wells Co. the same manufacturer as my little Fame Rosemont. And it was still warm. They bought it new when they were first married and used it every day to cook and heat their tiny home. It just got to be too much for them to tend, and it was time for them to upgrade. They let the fire go out the day before, and cleaned out the ash for the last time.
I'm sure you can guess what happened next. In came the tools, sledgehammer never left the truck, and four hours later the new stove was in, and the Bengal was safely stored in my shipping container.
I gave my son in law an envelope the following day. He reported back that his aunt and uncle were in tears, they never realized how much scrap cast iron was worth.
Life is good. I probably won't get at it this year, but I can't wait to see the look on their faces when it's done and we invite them over for a Holliday meal.
This of course created a new series of problems, and a few weeks ago I installed an I beam over the small basement window, dug a hole down 3 feet deep outside, saw cut the wall, and installed a 36" wide outside entrance door to the "Man Cave" so that I can get the kitchen range down there. Now of course I can't just put a Bilco type door in ..... I drove to New Jersey and removed a 13' x 22' curved glass sunroom, I found free for the taking on Craigslist. Yep Free..... Hmmmm Almost the same thing as getting a free kid. Now this summer I have to put in a foundation for it. On the bright side ....... I probably should put a stove in it.
OK enough..... I am well aware of the rules and I promise in the next few weeks to climb back into the container and post the mandatory proof of purchase pics.
Until then the best I can do is this link to a similar stove.
http://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d-634963/antique-floyd-wells-bengal-cook-stove-royersford-pa.html
Paulie
