Looking for Used Harman Magnafire Insert Grate

I just picked up a Magnafire insert to fix up/sell to a friend. The stove is in pretty good shape, just needs a good refreshing. There is no damage to any of the interior steel, but one of the grates is sagged bad. I'm not sure if the stove was overfired, or if somewhere along the way somebody swapped out a bad grate for a good one, because the other two are fine. The guy said he only ever burned wood in it (had it set up as a freestanding in his garage), but his in-laws who had it before him used coal. Anyway, what I'm looking for is if anybody has a source for used parts. New grates are like $120-140 apiece. I checked Craigslist and Ebay, but no luck. I'm going to sell the stove for what I put into it, so I'm not looking out for a margin, just trying to save her some money and I hate paying retail or labor for anything.

Kinda off-topic, but I picked the stove up for $100, my best bargain yet. I got an SF-250 a couple years back for $400, a Mark 2 for $300, and found another friend the same insert with 2 blowers and the trim kit for $300. I tell my wife I'm trying to convert people to coal 1 person at a time. If anybody happens to have a grate laying around that they'd like some cash for, my email is ant hra cit er7 @ gmail . com (no spaces of course.) If you know contact info for anybody who deals with used stove parts, please post up. Thanks!

Grates are not easy to come by that's for sure.

Just an idea but maybe you could find the next project stove where you would have some $$ room for the expense of a new grate and can swipe one of the grates for this one.

That might not be a bad idea. I'm going to see what she thinks about the total price. If she doesn't want to put out that much money, maybe I'll just hang onto it or part it out. If it wasn't so bad I'd try using it, but it jams up against the other grates or the back wall so you can't really shake it.

I put an ad on craigslist and got a reply yesterday. I talked to the guy and he has 3 in various states of warp. I'm getting the best one for $50. He sent me a picture and it doesn't look bad at all.

The grate worked out, and I finished the stove a few weeks ago. I figured I post an after pic to go along with the before pic.

pineyguy wrote:The grate worked out, and I finished the stove a few weeks ago. I figured I post an after pic to go along with the before pic.

N . . .. I'm I I I I. I I.jpeg

That was quick ... ready for this winter ! brrrr....aaaaahhhh

Amazing save. I love to see a rusty looking piece of junk as others see it come back to life. You gal friend will be happy with that stove. Not only works but nice to look at also.

Really good work there!!

Just in time to pump out the heat.

Thanks a lot. Here's the Mark II I picked up last year. We burn it in the shoulder months when we don't need the big boy.

Great job on that one too. What do you use to get rid of the surface rust?

I just use a heavy cup brush on a grinder, a wire brush, and some sandpaper or scotch brite pads. The other insert I helped my buddy with, we used a sandblaster, but I think the cup brush works just as well with a lot less mess. For the brass, I fill a plastic tub with warm water, then add muriatic acid. Put the parts in, let them soak a while, then (wearing gloves) take them out, wipe off the yuck, and repeat until shiny. Another trick- anybody with a Harman Mark knows that the retainer for the front bricks get eaten away pretty quick. I've been either welding plate or angle on them (depending how bad they are) or making new ones, then coating them entirely with furnace cement. They seem to hold up pretty well so far.

pineyguy wrote:Thanks and thanks for the link. I just use a heavy cup brush on a grinder, a wire brush, and some sandpaper or scotch brite pads. The other insert I helped my buddy with, we used a sandblaster, but I think the cup brush works just as well with a lot less mess. For the brass, I fill a plastic tub with warm water, then add muriatic acid. Put the parts in, let them soak a while, then (wearing gloves) take them out, wipe off the yuck, and repeat until shiny. Another trick- anybody with a Harman Mark knows that the retainer for the front bricks get eaten away pretty quick. I've been either welding plate or angle on them (depending how bad they are) or making new ones, then coating them entirely with furnace cement. They seem to hold up pretty well so far.

I had to remove the brick 0.125" by 1" steel plate myself this season ... ground the old stuff down and welded (with my MIG welder) new pieces on .. I did not add furnace cement but I need to slide the bricks around to fit nicely, something the cement would likely make a pain.

$79 MIG welder from Harbor Freight (on sale .. a 90 amp model) -- used it on quite a few things. Nice to be able to make specialty parts with the welder and small mill ($300 on sale, Harbor Freight). Useful in my gun manufacturing and general use.

All I need now is something that can make gun barrels and I'd be making a gun a week. That would be sweet.