Revamped Stove

[tmcd]

Hi all, i thougt i would like to show you a before and after on this old stove that i got from cartajima.
If you look at the before photo you can see the condition it was in, this little stove has a back boiler, more on that in a while.
The first job was to strip the stove down into its individual parts, these were cleaned with various types of wire brush and steel wool, this took a good few hours, then primmed with heat resistent primmer paint.
It was then time to check out the back boiler, this was done by using some fittings to seal the outlets, i filled the back boiler to about half full with water and then using a compressor i used air to bring the presure inside the back boiler to 3 bar, this is more than it would be in normal use, it leaked.

So out came the welder, this is a job that has to be done by a compotent welder, hot water under pressure can be very dangerous!! their was a leak from a seam which i cleaned and welded, i then ran the presure test again and all was ok.
I srayed the whole stove with wood stove paint from plasti-kote, this has to be left to dry and then baked on by bringing the stove up to working temp, i could not do this as i did not have the new glass, this was done instead in front of my open fire over a couse of six hours turning the stove every hour, this paint gives off a very strong smell which is said to be non toxic but i have my doubts, so all windows and doors open!
The seal for the door was next fitting new glassfibre rope fixed with thermocoll glue, i used slightly thinner rope to seal the new glass.

I set up a test for the stove in my back garden using a old hot water cylinder i got from a plumber friend as a gravity heat sink and some old radiators pulled from a skip with a feed and expansion tank. It worked pefectly 'HAPPY DAYS'.
Although as it turns out this would be to small to heat my house it has found a new home with an elderly couple near me that could not aford to buy one, and i have gained experience in how to referb stoves. So im on the look out for a slightly bigger stove in the future.
Thanks for reading and thanks to Cartajima ie Sandra, any question i can answer pm me.

[bb10]

Love how you brought the stove back to life - it looks amazing! Hope you find one big enough for your house soon

[melissabell]

Wow!!! I can't believe, did you have much experience before this? I wouldn't have a clue and to be honest I'd never heard of most of the parts and things you mentioned. Fair play to you and then to give it to someone who needed it!!!! Well Done!!!!!

[Purplerain]

Well Done Lovely Job.

[Gormal]

Fab job. What a load of work you put into it and well done on giving it to a deserving home.

[sparkwell]

Top marks to you what a great job I would say the elderly couple must be delighted, hope a stove that suits you comes your way!

[tmcd]

Thanks guys,
I think that the photo does not do it justice, i knew very little about solid fuel stoves before this, i seem to be getting a bit green as the years go by. i have solar panels, and a diy wind turbine, a veg garden, and more projects on the way.
I would of loved this stove to heat my home as wood is carbon neutral, and i have a good suply of wood with my job. But it would only heat a small bit of my house as well as the water, where as the home it has gone to it will heat up the entire house.
I belive in carma, or what goes around comes around.
When i had no job and needed some money, they wanted some work done on their kitchen and bathroom, i did not expect to be paid as they are neighbours, but they paid me regardless. so now its my turn to help them out.
I think that in the times that we are in, we should all help each other out..

[melissabell]

I completely agree!!! FAIR PLAY :)

[shonastar]

Wow! Well done, the restoration is impressive enough on it's own, but the story behind it is wonderful. Karma is a very powerful thing!

[cartajima]

Hi Tony im so delighted with the work you did on the stove and so happy it went to a good home. All the best Sandra

[tmcd]

Hi sandra,
Thanks i did say to you i would post a before and after of the stove you gave me. I get great pleasure in bringing things back to life where they could end up in a skip or dump, so thanks again sandra.

[MuddyWitch]

WOW!

Do you want to pop over here & clean mine? Please? lol

MW

[tmcd]

Hi mw,
sure ill come over and clean yours, but if its looking tired i would recommend the stove paint from plasti-coate. But like i said make sure their is plenty of windows open.

[MuddyWitch]

Luckily mine is not quite so bad, but I'll look into the product you mention. It would be nice to have it looking so good when we try to sell this place to come 'over the water'

MW