How to rebuild a wood stove

maxim_2009

14 years ago

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and new to a 250 yr old house with 6 fireplaces! I recently attempted to rebuild a Vermont Castings Intrepid II model 1308 with a catalytic converter- I believe this was the model before the 1990. As I took this apart I realized I was dealing with something I probably should have left alone. I called several shops and none of them seem excited to rebuild it for me. Now though, with the stove in 50 different pieces, I am trying to put this back together. I am looking for some advise/help. Questions: Can I use 2000 deg fire mortar to seal the stove? How much/where should I use mortar and how do you fire the mortar? Does any one know where I can get a manual on the stove? (I tried the web site- it only has the 1990 model available-I don't know if they are the same?) Does any one have a set of procedures that I should follow to make sure the stove is rebuilt correctly? Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Comments (3)

nhyankee
14 years ago
You should try to call VC and see if they still have information for that. You will definitely use furnace cement to reassemble and seal the stove. Most newer cast iron designs use gaskets and less cement. I am including a link below to a rebuild manual for a Defiant which is the Intrepid's big brother in a similar design and body style. I think it will be helpful for you to see and will answer some of your other questions. For the Defiant rebuild one of the things you need to make yourself is a notched wooden bridge. I am sure it would be a different size for the Intrepid so for that you should also contact Vermont Castings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Defiant rebuild
mainegrower
14 years ago
Rebuilding this stove (or any other) is not a particularly easy task. Definitely get a rebuild manual before proceeding.

You will need to use stove cement (Rutland is one good brand) in all the joints. These joints must be very clean - most rebuilders sand blasted them - or the cement will fail pretty quickly.

The other thing that usually happens is that you will have to use a grinder on some or all of the castings to get them to fit back together properly - a lot of heat over time tends to warp the castings just enough so that they do not quite fit the way they need to.

The old Vermont Castings company used to have rebuild kits for all of its stoves. After several bankruptcies and numerous ownership changes, I doubt if they can supply them. There are, however, a few online suppliers of old stove parts. One of them may have rebuild kit and be able to supply you with a rebuild manual.
Related Professionals
Caledonia Interior Designers & Decorators · Athens General Contractors · Browns Mills General Contractors · Country Club Hills General Contractors · Erie General Contractors · Euclid General Contractors · Hillsborough General Contractors · Los Alamitos General Contractors · Markham General Contractors · Medway General Contractors · Nashua General Contractors · Rolla General Contractors · Roseburg General Contractors · Rossmoor General Contractors · Waianae General Contractors
nhyankee
14 years ago
MG had a good point. I was just over at Woodmans in Wakefield, NH getting some accessories for my stove and a big part of their business is stove parts. I have included a link to their page for stove parts. Select Vermont Castings on the left and then the 1308 Intrepid on the right. You'll find a lot going on there. From the looks of the parts list, it looks like that rebuild could get very expensive quickly if you need to replace the cat and also any of the cast refractory pieces.

Here is a link that might be useful: Woodmans stove parts