Bryant, a stove collector for more than 40 years, deals mainly in stoves from the 1880's to 1930's. (Her company, Bryant Stoves/Music Inc., recently sent an old kitchen stove to Euro Disneyland outside Paris.) But her old stoves have been shipped all over the world. Back to Wood-Burnersīea Bryant rehabilitates antique stoves in the tiny town of Thorndike, Me. But he needs to look at a stove to know whether he can repair it. If the proper parts are hard to find, Mr. And for newer stoves, a stainless steel exterior must be fashioned if the old one cannot be saved.
Grates and burners are sandblasted, then painted. Grease is removed with a thick, non-abrasive solution. Stove rehabilitation entails several basic steps.
DAVE ERICKSON ANTIQUE STOVES CRACK
Burners can also crack and warp from heat. And often an entire stainless steel side rots away, particularly if water has leaked onto it. A lot of things can be wrong with an old stove. But his 12-year-old company also rehabilitates stoves from the 1930's through the 70's. "People have been putting commercial stoves into their homes for about 10 years," he said. Gus Elias, a partner in Artco Restaurant Equipment Company, sells and restores mostly new and used commercial stoves. He can pick up and deliver stoves for repair nearly anywhere in New England, New York and New Jersey. These days, the depot is his workshop and showroom, where he has about 200 stoves. A former industrial arts instructor, he bought an old Victorian train depot, then fixed up a Victorian stove to heat it. Erickson, who handles stoves from the 1870's to the 1950's, became a stove enthusiast - and restorer - by chance. If the original thermostat is still not reliable, he installs new components. Erickson, who completely dismantles each old stove, installs an automatic safety pilot in bygone times, owners struck a match to light the oven. They just need a good, solid tuneup every 40 to 50 years."Ī properly rehabilitated gas stove is essentially a new stove in an old body. "The old ones have a unique style and heavy-duty construction. "Many people are distressed by the quality of new stoves," said Mr. Even 60's stoves in harvest green and yellow are being restored by their owners and, occasionally, selling to collectors. But the stove rehabilitation business extends to recent restaurant models, which have sleek contemporary lines and are designed for durability. In recent years, old-fangled stoves have become increasingly popular in newfangled kitchens, notably in older houses and apartments where a retro kitchen looks comfortable. And boxy 40's stoves look more like today's models.
Stoves from the 30's are more streamlined and, with fewer surface details, easier to keep clean. Cast-iron gas ranges from the 1920's are particularly distinctive, with an exposed, nickel-plated gas pipe on the front and stately Queen Anne legs. The old stoves in question range from nickel-plated Victorian coal-burners to huge white 1950's models loaded with chrome. "These things are mechanical works of art," he said. But not to David Erickson, who restores and sells vintage cookers at Erickson's Antique Stoves in Littleton, Mass. TO some people, they are just old stoves, a prosaic kitchen accouterment at best.
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