Help with old wood stove.

Can anyone tell me about this wood stove? We bought some property with a cabin on it and the stove was in it. What's the best way to get the rust off? I know nothing about wood stoves and would love to use this.

That's a dandy old stove! I like it!

If it was me, I'd use some fine or medium steel wool. There's stove black in cans available.

I'm not sure, but is that a section of galvanized fluepipe? Heating galvanized metal makes it give off harmful stuff... In any case, you'd be very smart to remove the fluepipe and inspect the chimney... You want some sort of lined chimney, whether it's clay tile or something else, especially if you'll be staying in there at night, sleeping... You'll want a safe heater and flue arrangement.

I use regular black stovepipe. Include a damper. Buy some furnace cement and sheetmetal screws. On a wood burning stove you want the male, crimped flange down. Use furnace cement on joints, sheetmetal screws too, 3/8 or 1/2". In case there's ever a chimney fire, you want the burning, molten creosote to flow down the inside of the stovepipe and back into the firebox, NOT out of it, onto the super-heated pipe!

Just my 2 cents, mind you... Good luck!

On a second look, yes that ninety is galvanized, I'd sure change that out. Looks like 8" pipe, which means that's probably a real good-sized stove that'll heat quite a lot.

Thanks Tim! I will pass the info on to my husband!

This stove looks like it might have a grate, with a door or a drawer at the bottom for removing ashes that fall through the grate. If this is the case, it may be amenable to burning coal as well as wood. This has it's own learning curve associated with it, but if that is an abundant resource where you are it might be worth keeping in mind.....

Well IDK Mr. Burns... I don't think the line between wood-fired and coal-fired is whether or not the stove has a grate. There are coal stoves with grates, there are wood stoves with grates. The real difference would be in the firebox. If the firebox is thick cast iron, it's undoubtedly a coal stove. If the firebox is very thin cast iron, or a thin steel, similar to stovepipe, then you have a woodstove.
In either case, it's wise to operate the stove with about 2" of ashes on the grate. The ashes will insulate the grate from the intense heat of the fire, help keep it from warping and/or burning out.

Dawn White : Lots of good information shared here ! The scale is hard to judge, but Because the Stove appears to be less than 5 Cinder blocks tall I
think that it is smaller than it otherwise looks in the picture !

The 1st piece of stove pipe just above the stove is a Specialty Piece of Stove pipe with an oval shape where it sets down onto or over the stoves oval
shaped exit hole. These pieces usually come in two different lengths- Yours is the shorter one

90 % ( Best guess ) of the time this means that this pipe is a 7 '' oval reducing down to 6'', These are a specialty item and often are not changed out
until they are in poor condition, You will be lucky to find a replacement easily. When you do please post the When and Where !

My Experience with Stoves built to be Coal Stoves is a part or full lining with a Monolithic Fire brick core - most wood stoves can burn coal, and even glow
a dull red and still last a long time, it is when they are over fired to a Bright Cherry Red that damage occurs ! Y.M.M.V.

The Galvanized Elbow at the top of your stove pipe stack has already been heated above the temperature that causes the ''Outgassing of Zinc Vapors''
and the remaining Galvanizing is mechanically bound to the stove pipe in a safe manner ! Only a close inspection will tell you if it needs replacement now,
when it is time to replace the elbow do go with Black Stove Pipe that is not Galvanized and is of a heavier gauge metal !

I posted a link to another thread where the condition of the grates are mentioned ! See link below :

https://permies.com/t/48317/wood-burning-stoves/Heartland-Sweetheart-Woodburning-Cookstove


For the Good of the Crafts ! Big AL

Late note The piece of bright shinny sheet metal behind your stove should be fastened to the wall with an air gap at the bottom top and behind it !

This would be mandatory with a wall of wood, or sheetrock over wood, but is highly recommended here, also the air gap helps radiate most of the heat back
into the room warming you not the wall ! Important when building that 1st fire with each visit to your property ! A.L.

If you have an Amish community near you, ask around for the stove expert.

The Amish community near me uses stainless stove pipe, they have a source that is not much more than black pipe and it lasts forever.

I agree that it looks like a combination coal or wood stove. Usually awesome heaters, remarkably efficient once you understand how to build the fire and run them.