Fuller & Warren Champion Oak 16

Hello
I'm new here so ..... kindly bear w/ me.
A week ago I purchased a stove from the 82 yr old grandson of the stoves original purchaser. Please see the attached photo's.
I'd like to find out all about it, especially a couple of things:
1. is it dual fuel?
2. did it originally have nickel plating?
3. what should the grate (system) look like & with a little bit of prayer, are there any plans or parts out there?
4. it's age, etc?
According to the seller, it's all original except for the fire box grate(system).

Markings: The fineal (sp?) has the word "Stewart" on it; the fire box door, "Champion Oak"; the ash door, "16"; top front of the ash box, "Fuller Warren, Troy, NY".

The reason I say grate system ....
The seller still has 2 screw like objects, approx 10" long x 1.5in diameter. He kept them because he wasn't sure if they were apart of the wood burning kitchen stove he's selling.... but he'd give them to me if I find out they're needed, along w/ a handle or 2. I only thought it might be a duel fuel because of these screws .... as my memory serves me, they look like they could be apart of grate system.

He said they'd used the stove last, as a heater for a "tent cabin" in the Adirondacks, before the state decided not to allow that semi-permanent structures & it's been sitting in his garage since (+ 3 decades).
I plan on using it in my new barn on the main floor, as the primary heat source on those rare occasions when I'll need it. It doesn't need to be pretty, as few will see it, except next January when my lady & I get married in the barn.

I plan on dis-assembling it, cleaning it up, fix the grate system (if possible), getting it nickel plated (if $ practical) and using it.
The photos are of the front (obvious), the side, the firebox w/ replacement grate & inside the ash door looking at the bottom of the replacement grate w/ what looks like brackets that hold the "screws", I mentioned earlier.

Thank you in advance, for ANY & ALL clues & info. Good Health & Happy Holidays.

The stove has a cobbled up grate system that might work for awhile with wood before warping.

The expense and hassle of fitting a new grate if you can find something suitable would lead me to not get this stove regardless of price. The grate is so important for ease of use in a coal stove that any makeshift solution will be a constant annoyance. The stove is worth ten cents a pound in my view.

Two to three hundred dollars should buy something in far better condition.

Richard is right on. It's set up for wood only and actually not all that well for that either. You could not burn coal in it as is without finding a grate set up that can work with with the existing mount tab's and shaker opening.

Merry Christmas
Thank you for the feedback......
We'll I guess I spent $175 for junk, for what you're telling me.
Unless I find/make a shaker grate system.
Do you have a photo of a grate system?
I think I can engineer something, if I know what it should look like & I'm open to advice.
Thanks again.

Don't lose heart just yet. Fuller & Warren was a top quality stove maker. Your champion oak is a very high quality stove, but; whoever butchered it like this was an idiot, sorry. This stove originally had prismatic, triangular grates. The two holes that have bolts in them down in the ash pit is where the grate shafts come out so they can be shaken with a crank.
Except for the grate system, the rest of the stove seems pretty sound. This stove restored is worth around $1,500 dollars. It is worth most as an efficient heater with coal as fuel.
You may be able to substitute a round, center dump grate in place of the whatever the heck that thing is at the bottom of the fire pot.
Call or email Emery at Antique Stove Hospital to discuss options for the stove.
I will try to put up a few pictures of what the stove originally had.

Here is how your stove was originally. This is a Splendid Oak. This is an earlier made stove, but; the grate set up is still the same.

harding_eng wrote:We'll I guess I spent $175 for junk, for what you're telling me.

Junk? Looks pretty to me! The history alone makes it a treasure in my book -- purchased from an 82-year-old grandson of the original owner! My first thought was, what a shame you're going to hide it in the barn and use it only occasionally!
wsherrick is our resident expert in these oldies, he and others often recommend the Antique Stove Hospital. It sounds like you have the know-how and are asking the right questions, so you can restore it. Only, please, no wood burning, we folks here like COAL!

I've sent an e/m to Emery.
Any clues, what should I expect to pay to "restore" it?
Thank you for the "positive" feedback.
J

If I were you I would phone Emory if you are serious. He's a really busy guy and it's best to speak with him personally. Also he will be able to tell you if he's got the stuff to replace those missing grate parts you need.

Happy New Year
Will call Emery after I see what the seller still has at his place.
Thanks so much for the photo's .... now I know what I'm looking for.
Nickel .... did they ever sell 1 w/o nickel. I cant seem to find any evidence of it anywhere?
As for the stove living in a barn ... the plans for the barn are to use the main floor as an Adirondack style guest house for friends & as a bunk house for a duck hunting guide service for wounded warriors & handicapped folks (my friends newly developed condition).
Thank you again, good health.

Looks like someone painted the nickel trim black. Those skirts upper and lower and the finial top.