Thread: A Wood Stove Fire Screen

Every so often one of my friends likes to open the doors of his wood stove to view the fire. His big stove has double doors and is about the same size as a Fisher Grandpa Bear or equivalent. It has about a 5" deep ash tray in front of it and the opening dimensions are about 16" high by 20" wide. The flimsy fire screen he had fell apart, so I decided to make a replacement. Here is the result of my work:


I used 1/8" x 1" angle iron for the top and bottom rails and 1/8" x 3/4" angle iron for the vertical stiles and the two feet that are 4-1/2" long. All the joinery is with #8 machine screws. Here is a shot of the back side:


The screen is sandwiched between the angle iron and 1/8" x 1/2" bar stock. Two more pieces of bar stock were required at the top and bottom to serve as a filler. I threaded all the holes in the angle iron pieces to make studs. Then the bar stock was bolted to the studs with nuts, pressing the screen to the frame. I figured a couple of 2" long walnut handles would make it more convenient to lift the screen away from a warm fire, so I turned these on the lathe in somewhat of a tear drop shape:


Before attaching the handles and the brass nameplate, I painted the whole screen with two coats of high-temperature Rustoleum satin black enamel. The final overall dimensions were 18" x 21-1/2".

Thanks for looking. Think he will like it?

Won't those handles scorch sitting right in front of the fire? Other than that, it looks great!

Ian

Originally Posted by Haywire Haywood

Won't those handles scorch sitting right in front of the fire? Other than that, it looks great!

Ian

Not sure, Ian. The ones on my stove get warm but never have scorched. I suppose time will tell. I can replace them with steel ones, but then they would conduct heat. My idea was to use wood, an insulator, similar to pot handle. The screen will have an air gap of about 2" from the front panel of the stove.

Nice job. That thing looks really professional. You do excellent fabbing.

Originally Posted by Rookie1

Nice job. That thing looks really professional. You do excellent fabbing.

... thanks, and without a welder. I elected not to use small welder for two reasons. First, I thought the screen might have to be replaced later or my friend might want high-temp glass instead. By using machine screws, I could replace the screen with glass and fireproof braid surrounding it. Is that what you and others would have preferred? Please advise.

Second, it seemed like the machine screws made it possible for me to make a perfectly square frame. I have seen many steel frames welded out of square and that would have been too easy for me to replicate. So, I used threads and screws that allowed adjustments.

Seem reasonable?

Originally Posted by Wood Doctor

I have seen many steel frames welded out of square and that would have been too easy for me to replicate.

So............................ you've seen my work.

Originally Posted by Wood Doctor

Not sure, Ian. The ones on my stove get warm but never have scorched. I suppose time will tell. I can replace them with steel ones, but then they would conduct heat. My idea was to use wood, an insulator, similar to pot handle. The screen will have an air gap of about 2" from the front panel of the stove.

My guess is that you are good on the handles. As you say, though, time will tell. Radiant heat from the fire just might bite you on this. If it does, think coils for a replacement!


That aside, that is one nice piece of work! A thing of beauty!



What kind of screen is that? It looks too nice to be 1/4" hardware cloth.

Thank you, Mark. When Fisher and All-Nighter were going strong, one has to wonder if an accessory like this could have been offered, but remember, you only use them once on awhile. The stove's doors are closed most of the time and should always be for stove efficiency.

I promise that I will take Pics after my friend has it working. And, I will report back if the handles get too hot and have to be replaced. I suppose a ceramic of some sort is another option. LOML thinks tempered glass or Pyrex instead of steel screening would have been the cat's meow, but that would have added more weight to the structure.

looks great and as far as those wood handles go i bet they hold up for many yrs... My great grandma had a wood burning stove in her house since before I was born and by the time I was in my early twenties is when I first started noticing the wood cracking or a chip out of them here or there...I never asked if they had been replaced but she was not the type of woman to worry of such a thing if they broke and fell off from heat cracking them wich one did from getting hit with piece of wood by accident she used a pot holder mit to adjust her damper slides.. it had two under the front door area of the stove..jm2c... nice work..

accessories like that were offered. I still have one. I had to add a piece of sheet metal about 4" wide and the full length right at the top. This helped with the draw, otherwise smoke kept rolling out the top.

Originally Posted by Wood Doctor

Thank you, Mark. When Fisher and All-Nighter were going strong, one has to wonder if an accessory like this could have been offered,

I have a screen with mine. (Grandpa Bear) It sits in the opening, and has metal handles. We use it every few days, when we want a small fire and want to watch the flames.


It ain't nearly as purty as yours, though!

Originally Posted by johncinco

I had to add a piece of sheet metal about 4" wide and the full length right at the top. This helped with the draw, otherwise smoke kept rolling out the top.

My dad had to do that to the fireplace he had built into his cabin to keep it from smoking. He also put a vent in the ceiling right in front of the fireplace that opened into the attic for "outside combustion air" as we call it now. He eventually put a propane insert into it and stopped burning wood altogether.

Ian

Originally Posted by Wood Doctor

Not sure, Ian. The ones on my stove get warm but never have scorched. I suppose time will tell. I can replace them with steel ones, but then they would conduct heat. My idea was to use wood, an insulator, similar to pot handle. The screen will have an air gap of about 2" from the front panel of the stove.

I'd go ceramic on them knobs. Cool screen, nice work. thx for sharing.



Or an insulator...

I think the screws look fine. If the screen was used for hours on end, maybe the handles would not hold up. As you say he occasionally opens the doors to watch the flames. Doubt you'll have a problem. Nice job!

Originally Posted by 1harlowr

I think the screws look fine. If the screen was used for hours on end, maybe the handles would not hold up. As you say he occasionally opens the doors to watch the flames. Doubt you'll have a problem. Nice job!

Thank you all for the complements and advice. I will watch the performance of this fire screen carefully as it is used. Required changes to the design will be reported back to this forum immediately.

Also, I confess that I have no idea what the stove MFG is. I will post Pics of it and ask your opinion. It is a whopper, and the biggest stove that I could think of when I originally posted was the classic Fisher Grandpa. Lord knows what my friend's stove is or who made it, but I assure you that it is also a classic. Otherwise, I doubt that I would never have built this fire screen for it.