What should be in the bottom of my stove?

[carlj75]

I have an Orley wood stove that I am guessing was built in the '80s. Is there supposed to be a grate or something in the bottom of the stove to burn on, or should I be burning directly on the stove surface? I have seen some stoves that have fire brick in the bottom. Am I going to ruin the stove If I burn on the metal? Thanks for your help.

 

[Mike Van]

Most have split firebrick Carl - Can you post a pic. of yours?

 

[Moss Man]

I would believe it should have a grate or firebrick, the warpage factor would kick in if it didn't have one or the other.

Firebrick is relatively inexpensive, I would put a layer in there.

 

[Jredsjeep]

i used to have an old wood stove, cant remember the brand now, but it stated in the manual that you did not need firebrick on the bottom of the stove.

it stated to leave about an 1" of ash at the bottom between clean outs if you decided to go that route. burned that way for several years until i upgraded.

 

[carlj75]

Here is a picture of the stove. The bottom is not flat, so I'm not sure how I would put fire brick in there. I would probably be able to put a grate in it though if I need to.

 

[Moss Man]

Yeah, I could see where putting brick in there might be difficult. That is a factory built stove you said? It appears to be a limited production line......maybe?

 

[Rookie1]

That thing looks pretty cool. My sierra has brick on the bottom and I leave a bed of ash to help insulate the floor. Got any pics of the inside?

 

[Wife'nHubby]

If you know the manufacturer, sometimes you can find the owner's manual here: http://homeappliance.manualsonline.com/manuals/device/wood_stove.html

or, there are a lot of old-time retail stove sellers who hang out at ********** and you could pose your question to them at this link: http://www.**********/econtent/index.php/forums/viewforum/2/

Shari

 

[ericjeeper]

Can always toss a bit of play sand in there

That is a neat looking unit..

 

[jerry wayne]

How old?/

That a home made/added onto stove or something.Thats so cool.Is the bottom cast or steel.....where is the ashpan.......the air intake.....cmon new guy...details ,details. WELCOME TO A.S.

 

[Mike Van]

A google search comes up with 1020 hits - One of these for sale too, near Boise- Idaho? 250.00 on CL http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...+wood+stove+&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi= craigslist link http://boise.craigslist.org/hsh/956850025.html

 

[chowdozer]

I have an Orley wood stove that I am guessing was built in the '80s. Is there supposed to be a grate or something in the bottom of the stove to burn on, or should I be burning directly on the stove surface? I have seen some stoves that have fire brick in the bottom. Am I going to ruin the stove If I burn on the metal? Thanks for your help.

I have one just like it. Mine isn't quite as fancy though. Very sturdy stove but it lacks a few things. The draft is hard to control and it doesn't have a long burn time. I modified mine. It will hold a fire at least 8 hours now and coals for 16 hours.

Anyway, in the bottom I leave a couple inches of ash. You could put gravel or sand in there too. I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's made of a piece of pipe and it will withstand abuse much better than a square stove. I have had mine up to where the magnetic thermometer on the top is pegged at 900 with no ill effects. I don't do that often, sometimes I forget and leave the draft open.

There's actually quite a few Orley's around. They came with top and rear exit flues. Mine is a rear exit.

 

[fourfivefour]

I've been burning on the floor of my stove for over 10 years. The stove had fire bricks in it but they fell apart over time and got shoveled out with the ash.

What is the purpose of fire brick?

 

[laynes69]

Firebrick serve 2 purposes. One is to insulate the steel in the firebox from warpage and burnout. And two is to insulate the firebox for higher temperatures for better combustion.

 

[bing]

I just came into a rear exhaust Orley. I gave it a cleanup, paint job and plugged her into the chimney. Quite impressive heat output. Not the best looking stove, but works well for my purposes (uninsulated 25x25 shop). I think I may end up leaving it there permananent, I was only planning to use it temporarily until I get a cat for my other stove.
I have a couple of friends that burn these stoves. One burns with nothing in the bottom and the other has an 80lb bag of sand in the bottom.
I decided to use 1" fire brick. I layed one course on the bottom flat, and a course going up either side. Shrinks the burn area a bit, but still has plenty of btu's. I was maintaining 70 degrees for hours last night with a stack temp of no more than 400. Pretty impressive goofy looking stove. I might take the plasma and cut off all the goofy details.

 

[svk]

I keep about an inch of sand in the bottom as this will insulate the metal. Burning directly on metal will eventually cause damage.

 

[ole yukon]

.

 

[drumbum]

No bricks in an Orley. High carbon steel pipe. I've got an '83 baby jane 20" burning in the basement now.

 

[bing]

No bricks in an Orley. High carbon steel pipe. I've got an '83 baby jane 18" burning in the basement now.

Any chance you could post a pic of your baby Jane? I'm not sure which model I have

 

[drumbum]

Quick description is 20" wide, 22" tall , rear exhaust, 2 octagonal cook pads on top, double pane viewing glass in front extension (actually ceramic inner-tempered outer), typical side load and dual side air controls. Basic good looks without all the wrought iron filigree gobledegook that so many of the early models had. Did not buy it new, only going by what the nephew of Orley Millagan (sp.) relayed to me. He actually ran the dealership in Nashville back in the '80s .

rated 50,000-70,000 btu per hr.

never tried to load pics from cam to comp. need to learn