Antique Stove Wood-Burner Restoration

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Of course, if you're dead set against spending money, you can attack rust with a coarse rotary wire brush on your electric drill (be sure to protect your eyes!) but it'll be miserable work.

[b] Stoves with trim attached. The easiest way to remove rust—without damaging shiny alloy trim—is to have the stove dipped in a heated chemical bath by an antique-auto stripper. He'll return it to you spotlessly clean (unless it was rusted worse than you thought . . . in which case you'll get back something as full of holes as a politician's 1040 form). There might be a little new corrosion where the chemical didn't dry immediately, but you can get that off with the wire brush and electric drill. And—while you're at it—you might as well do the oven, too.

(Bill's cookstove needed to be dipped rather than blasted . .. the stripper charged $135.)

[c] Stoves with porcelain trim.. Assuming that the ceramic parts won't come off—and they usually won't—you'll have to go after rusted metal with that coarse rotary wire brush and electric drill. Porcelain won't tolerate dipping or sandblasting, but it will spruce up nicely with a basin-tub-and-tile cleaner and a wet sponge.

[5] POLISH THE REMAINING BRIGHTWORK with Brasso and a soft cloth. If there's any lingering crud, use another wad of 0-gauge steel wool for the first pass.

[6] PAINT THE OVEN of your cookstove with stainless steel paint (in a spray can from your paint shop or from Bill at Friendly Fire).

[7] PAINT OR POLISH EXTERIOR STOVE PARTS, but protect the trim! Any cast-iron cooking surfaces should only be polished. On other areas you may interchange paint and polish as you choose.

Bill generally prefers stove polish to paint. He makes his own, but recommends—for "one timers"—Presto Stove Polish (at hardware stores or from the manufacturer at Dept. TMEN, P.O. Box 57, Campbellsville, Kentucky 42718). Brush on the polish with a toothbrush, covering the entire surface thoroughly. Let the brightener dry for a whole day. Then give your heater a second coat, and let that dry for another 24 hours. After the second day, "buff" the stove—using a fine rotary wire brush on your electric drill—until all residue is removed. Finish up by rubbing the polish with a soft cloth.

Often—for contrast—Eckert will paint some or all of the sheet-metal parts with Thurmalox Stove Paint (as recommended in MOTHER NO. 53, page 108), but both sample stoves were polished.

[8] REPLACE ANY TRIM THAT WAS REMOVED.

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