At the Antique Stove Hospital we have been restoring antique wood/coal ranges for over 30 years and have handled over 3000 ranges and nothing besides stoves. I often hear folks offering answers to stove questions that are simply wrong and can lead to problems down the road. I hope to help clear up some of these.

1. All ranges need some sort of firebox liner. I often am told that if you burn wood you don’t need a liner. You may get away with this for awhile but sooner or later you will be calling for one. The oven wall or the end of the stove or both will crack and twist. Get a liner first—it’s cheaper.

2. ALL wood/coal ranges have vented ovens. Cooking causes foods to give off gases and steam. It has to go somewhere. At the back of the oven or at the right rear on the oven end there are 6-8 tiny holes. The holes are placed where the passing smoke will draw steam etc. up the flue. You can often smell what is cooking better outside than in the kitchen.

3. Painted ovens. I use a 1000 degree silver paint. It will give off any volitiles in the first hour or so of cooking and that goes up the flue. I use it in my kitchen and never smell anything from the paint after the first hour or so. Most folks prefer the paint option

4. The numbers on the stove. some examples are 8-18 or 8-20. The first refers to the approximate lid size. It is not exact because every manufacturer had a slightly different idea of an 8 inch lid. Also lids come in many thicknesses and usually do not interchange well with other brands. The other number is oven size , not firebox length. An 8-18 Fairmount and an 8-20 Fairmount share all firebox parts but the ovens are different. Again, every manufacturer had their own idea of a 20 inch oven. Usually they are measured diagonally

5. Stove sizes. Most stoves came in a variety of sizes. Crawfords usually came in four models, 7-18, 8-18, 8-20, 9-20. The first two are built on the small body and differ in lid size. The last two are built on the large body and differ in lid size. The 9 inch lids usually are found on stoves that were made for wood only and seem to be quite common in Vermont and New York. The 8-20 is the most common size

6. Grates. Everyone made a variety of fireboxes for most of their stoves. The Glenwood 508E for example, had a triangular, dockash, plain, magic,and duplex grates for coal plus a separate system for wood. With coal,a liner of refractory material surrounds the entire box to protect the metal and reflect heat back into the fire. Coal must be very hot to remain lit. With wood only the front of the firebox can be removed and the cast plug at tyhe back of the box removed . The result is that the firebox goes from about 17-18″ to a massive 24 inches for wood only. A liner of cast iron or refractory must be left on the long sides of the box.

7. Why different lid sizes? Look on old frying pans etc. Many have a rings that is designed to fit into the hole where the lid sits. Take a lid off and insert the pan. It did not slide around but sat where you put it. If you have 8 inch lids you wanted to have 8″ rings so they fit the stove top well. Also, some stoves are so small that larger lids would be a problem. Usually cast iron cookware was passed down through generations and people bought stovesthat fit the cook ware well. 9 inch lids are good if you feed wood from the top and are usually found on stove set up for burning wood only

Hope this helps clear up some misconceptions about wood/coal stoves.