American Fireplace Company

[AT sawyer]

Back in the early 70s I worked for the American Fireplace Company in Walled Lake Michigan; anybody ever heard of it? They went out of business a long time ago, but made a lot conical and zero-clearance fireplaces in the day. Their product line was more decorative than functional, but it was a steady paycheck with OT while it lasted. Good old days when you could walk into just about any factory in the Detroit area and get a job on the spot.

 

[mga]

those days are long gone.

worked for GM for 30 years.....they gave us a 30 and out package.....not bad.

american fireplace....did they make the ones with the heavy steel wall liners inside?

 

[AT sawyer]

Their products were mostly bent and welded heavy-gauge sheet metal. If they ever made a true woodstove, it was after I left in '74.

 

[BillsAutomotive]

Any ino for links to how to build and parts for a home built wood stove

I'm Looking for any help with my homemade fire box. I'm building for my auto repair shop.
Also I just may not be searching good enough, but I cannot seem to find any sites that offer parts ,even replacement for wood burning stoves . Things like doors , vents , fire brick , grates Thanks all , lots of good people here I can see in your responses to others . OH I almost forgot . And anthing that is secondary combustion related .
Will

 

[mga]

Their products were mostly bent and welded heavy-gauge sheet metal. If they ever made a true woodstove, it was after I left in '74.

reason i'm asking is because my fireplace has a very thick steel liner inside. the only bricks visible are on the bottom. every thing else up to the flue is heavy gauge steel then it meeets the clay tiles.

the outside is brick. when the steel gets warm, there are convection vents on the sides which throw plenty of heat, plus the bricks become warm and remain warm for hours...even after the fire has gone out.

this was made back in 1958 and i always wondered who designed this frieplace.

i'm able to heat my 2000 sq ft home very well with it and when i added glass doors, which i sealed my self, the damn thing works too damn well. when it's 5 degrees out, i still wear a t shirt inside and wife complains it's too hot. some times i have to open a window just to keep things cooler.

 

[AT sawyer]

I don't remember fire bricks of any kind in the AFC units unless the company started including those after I left. Their biggest seller was a sheet metal cone fireplace that was popular in small cabins and ski chalets in the day. Not very efficient, but if you wanted to LOOK at your fire, they had a big wide opening. No door, just a screen.

Don't think I ever had another job that ate so many pairs of gloves. Handling burred sheet metal all day long would just rip them up.

 

[mga]

ok...now i understand what they built.

lol..believe it or not, i had one of those cone shaped fire places in another house. you're right...they weren't very efficient, but, nice to watch.

back then, you didn't have to worry about expensive heat.

 

[AT sawyer]

Ha. I probably made it. Often wonder where some of the stuff I made ended up. I thought more about that when I worked at Pontiac Truck and Coach.