The Art of the Wood Cookstove

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Once you have determined the status of the parts, check that the cooking surface is level. Any sagging is evidence that the stove has been used hard for heating and may not have been maintained well. A sag in the top means that the supports for the cook plates are warped and in need of replacement, a bad sign that may condemn the stove to the scrap yard. On the other hand, a flat surface means the stove has been well used and maintained.

The structure of most cookstoves is sheet steel, to which cast-iron parts are bolted. This sheet-steel body can rust, which is how many stoves are ruined. Key areas to check for rust are the corners of the oven liner, oven-door hinge mounts and around the back where the cast iron firebox extension and flue boot (flue pipe attachment fitting) are mounted. Use your screwdriver to poke these areas. Poke hard, and if the metal gives way, the stove body is shot and so is the stove. You might be able to patch holes with furnace cement, temporarily putting off the inevitable, but chances are the stove would not be pleasant to live with or cook on.

Refurbishing antique cookstoves is an expensive proposition. Years ago, when I owned a woodstove store, we had a cookstove specialist on staff. We agreed to rebuild a stove that had been in the same family for generations. We took it completely apart and fabricated a new sheet-steel body to replace the original rusted-out one, fixed some parts and had others nickel plated. The result was eye-popping, but the invoice was a cool $5,500.

How much should you be prepared to pay? The value can only be determined by the seller and buyer at the time of the sale, but the spectrum ranges from cookstoves that are beyond repair and have no practical value to fully restored, like-new antiques that can be worth several thousand dollars. — John Gulland

Building a Better Multipurpose Woodstove

I wanted a wood cookstove for my house, but when I couldn’t find one that combined efficient whole-house heating with surface cooking, baking and water heating, I decided to build my own.

Starting with an EPA-certified wood heater as the basis, I fabricated an oven section and mounted it on top. A large stainless steel tank for water heating covers the back of the stove. After three years of tinkering and making extensive modifications, I have a stove that meets all of my needs.

The design resolves the problems that had prevented me from opting for a traditional cookstove. It has a small footprint, taking up no more floor space than a regular heater. The cook surface is solid so it has no leakage sites, and the oven bypass doesn’t force the exhaust to go downward. The result is smoke-free operation under all conditions. A full-sized, advanced-technology firebox produces enough heat for my 1,500-square-foot home, no matter how cold the weather. The fire burns so cleanly that a single mid-winter sweeping of the oven passages yields only a cup of soot.

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