Old Wood Stoves: Making a Comeback

By John Vivian
Published on December 1, 1993
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With the right tools and a bit of elbow grease (well OK, maybe a lot of elbow grease), you can give old wood stoves new life.
With the right tools and a bit of elbow grease (well OK, maybe a lot of elbow grease), you can give old wood stoves new life.
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Steel wool removes rust that, unfortunately, had formed on the stove top.
Steel wool removes rust that, unfortunately, had formed on the stove top.
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Pete next makes some minor adjustments.
Pete next makes some minor adjustments.
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After retrieving his old 1972 Upland cast-iron wood stove from the basement, Pete Schroeder begins the restoration by brushing out leftover wood ashes.
After retrieving his old 1972 Upland cast-iron wood stove from the basement, Pete Schroeder begins the restoration by brushing out leftover wood ashes.
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Black stove oil rubbed into the cast iron brings back the stove's original coloring
Black stove oil rubbed into the cast iron brings back the stove's original coloring
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After putting the stove in place and attaching the flue, Pete enjoys the fruits of his labor.
After putting the stove in place and attaching the flue, Pete enjoys the fruits of his labor.
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For safety's sake and to create a thermal mass, the restored stove will sit atop a base of firebricks.
For safety's sake and to create a thermal mass, the restored stove will sit atop a base of firebricks.

If you’ve been heating with a wood stove for as long as I have, your faithful Blaze King or Upland Elk may be getting long enough in the tooth that it needs refurbishing or maybe even a replacement. Since some of the best designed stoves ever made were operating before I was, it would be a crime to consign them to the rubbish heap in the backyard just because they lack a little polish and care. Here’s how to restore and operate those free-breathing good old wood stoves yourself.

Solid Fuels

While driving through central Vermont this fall, I was hit with déjà vu. I had glanced over at a country hardware store and was suddenly transported back to 1973. Not only was there a sign in the window reading CANNING JAR RUBBERS, but flanking it were two wood-burning stoves we used to see in the oil-crisis days: a long, low log burner and a “Fatso” (a narrow-waisted wood-and-coal-burning laundry stove). Both were designs that date from the mid-1800s, but they had the dusty gray look of new cast iron!

In last year’s “Guide to Wood and Coal Stoves,” though, didn’t we tell MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ readers that the Federal Clean Air Act and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlawed any serious new wood heater not equipped with a catalytic smoke combuster or designed with a high-tech firebox and draft system?

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