Can anyone answer some questions about vintage stoves (e.g. O'Keefe, Wedgewood)

[francy]

Hi all,

Well, I have read just about every website devoted to vintage stoves. And I've looked at sooooo many stoves for sale in my local area. But those web sites are more about selling very pricey items, and I need some "technical" info. Can anyone help?

1. The griddle. Typically the chrome on the griddle is rather worn and/or pitted. the worn areas are brown. I thought the brown was rust, but then someone told me that the brown is actually the copper layer showing through. Is that true? The griddles were made of copper? Sounds too good to be true.

2. How well do the griddles work? Has anyone made pancakes on one? Do they require a lot of oil to prevent sticking?

3. Re: rust in the ovens (like on the sides, or the bottom--usually on the bottom). I've been told that after being "treated with an inhibitor" the rust shouldn't be a problem. I'm nervous about buying a stove with rust on the bottom of the oven. I mean, rust is eating away at something, right? So isn't the rusty surface compromised in some way?

4. Any other info about "life with a vintage stove" would be helpful. Or advice about what the red flags are when I'm looking at stoves that are for sale.

Many, many thanks!
francy

 

[lbcarguy]

Where do you live - Lots of restorers in LA area

Hi,

I have had my stove restored going on 5 years now. Mine is a 4 burner with griddle in the middle, and rotisserie Wedgewood Holly from about 1957 or so.

I honestly have never used the griddle. The copper you are seeing is part of the plating process. When you have it restored, they will replate everything as original. The griddle is most likely some type of cast iron, then plated. I am not a mettalurgist so there may be someone more qualified to answer this part.

On overall restorations, stoves are not exposed to water inside an indoor kitchen. The rust is most likely from sitting outside somewhere. There are so many places in Long Beach and Los Angeles with nice stoves restored and ready to go, all you really need to do is pick out the one you like.

On mine, I got lucky, it was for sale about a mile from my house for $20, sitting outside in the owner's driveway. They were delighted to get rid of it. You can see pix of it by going to my profile and clicking the link.

Happy hunting.

 

[sudsmaster]

1. The griddle. Typically the chrome on the griddle is rather worn and/or pitted. the worn areas are brown. I thought the brown was rust, but then someone told me that the brown is actually the copper layer showing through. Is that true? The griddles were made of copper? Sounds too good to be true.

The griddles were given relatively good chrome or nickel plating. The better plating involves laying down a copper plating first, then nickel, then chrome. Cheaper plating may omit the nickel or the copper. These griddles are all steel or iron underneath, though, not solid copper.

2. How well do the griddles work? Has anyone made pancakes on one? Do they require a lot of oil to prevent sticking?

I grew up with stoves like this, and the griddles generally worked quite well. Some of them even had little thermometers inserted in them, so you could get a better idea of how hot the griddle was getting. I used to like to make pancakes on them. Bacon was a bit of a mess, as there was nothing to keep the spatters from going all over the range top. But it also works well, and most of these griddles had a hole in front to direct grease to a collection tray below. Very practical. Of course, these are not non-stick teflon surfaces, so one would need to use a good vegetable oil (peanut oil works best) to help prevent sticking. And, of course, the condition of the griddle surface would affect sticking

3. Re: rust in the ovens (like on the sides, or the bottom--usually on the bottom). I've been told that after being "treated with an inhibitor" the rust shouldn't be a problem. I'm nervous about buying a stove with rust on the bottom of the oven. I mean, rust is eating away at something, right? So isn't the rusty surface compromised in some way?

I wouldn't be too worried about rust on non-porcelainized areas of the oven... as long as the metal still has its integrity, that is. If it's wafer-thin, it probably need to be repaired. As I recall, the bottom of the oven is removable, so it's possible ther might be replacment bottoms, or even possible to fabricate a replacement. Jasco sells a chromium phosphate rust converter that should work well on lightly rusted oven bottoms.

4. Any other info about "life with a vintage stove" would be helpful. Or advice about what the red flags are when I'm looking at stoves that are for sale.

<i>Normally the following things need attention/repair:

A) Oven thermostat may need replacement.
B) Springs holding the oven/broiler doors may need replacement.
C) Handles/knobs may need replacement
D) Gas valves may need dissassembly/lubrication.
E) Any electrical components should probably be re-wired with safer wiring (like clocks, lights, etc).
F) Some models' ovens might not work if the clock is not working.

Other than that, these are generally very good stoves to cook on. The open burners give good heating. The drip and crumb trays make cleaning up a lot easier. The ovens may be another matter, and may not cook as evenly as you've come to expect with a modern stove. I'm not sure, but this might be related to a need to adjust the door so that it closes properly, or maybe renew the fiberglass insulation that surrounds the oven.

Right now I have three old Wedgewoods, all in need of various stages of restoration. Mostly they have cosmetic damage, but you can tell the quality is still there. <i>

 

[sudsmaster]

I forgot to add: These stoves all rely upon standing pilot lights for the burners and oven/broiler. So that will consume gas 7x24, and add some heat to the kitchen. I have heard of some conversions to electronic ignition, but I suspect that is kind of pricey, as well. In a pinch, you might get by with disabling the burner pilots and using a match or sparker to light them as needed. The oven pilot might be more complicated, as these often have safety mechanisms that won't let the oven light until the pilot has warmed a safety device.

 

[francy]

Thanks so much for your speedy replies. Although there are many restorers in my area, they are all waaaaaay beyond my price range. So, the stove I buy is the stove I'm going to be living with.

I've found an O'Keefe with all the A-F items suggested above in good working order. And the outside looks very good (only one chip that I can see).

But there is rust on the bottom of the oven, and that just weirds me out. Not sure why. Vapors in the food? It feels odd to be spending a big chunk of money (for me anyway) on an appliance that has rust. The seller says he will treat all the rust with some sort of inhibitor.

The griddle is in decent shape, but is a bit worn and pitted. I'm pretty sure that some of the brown showing through is indeed rust (though some of it looks like copper). The seller (an "amateur" restorer--the kind working from his garage) says that he isn't wild about replated griddles. Says the new chrome doesn't seem to hold up as well as the old, and he'd rather have worn old, than new. Hmmm.

*sigh* I just found yet another fabulous stove on Craigslist today, and someone else got to it first.

Here's one more tricky question: I don't want a window on the oven door, and the stove I'm considering has a window. The seller said he might be able to replace it with a windowless door (either by replacing the entire door, or by replacing just the facade--so the window would still be there, but covered by a solid door front). Any ideas about how difficult this might be? He hasn't done it before, but he's willing to give it a try (for an additional price).

Thanks again for your help!
Francy

 

[sudsmaster]

Replacing the door should be a fairly simple task.

Creating a hybrid door with in window on the inside, but none on the outside, would be a little more difficult but I don't see why it couldn't also be done. Personally I'd rather have a door with a window - it helps to check on browning without disturbing the temperature.

The rust treatment should result in an inert metal-salt deposit on the metal that shouldn't release any vapors when heated - and if it did, you could just run the oven to full temp once and the vapors should be all dissipated after that.

 

[goatfarmer]

I've seen a lot of newer stoves(70's-80's vintage) that the bottom panel in the stove rust's out.Seems to mainly affect gas ranges.I believe it has something to do with the gas flame being in close proximity to the bottom,and also from the combustion process itself.Again,just an uneducated guess.
Any competent metal shop should be able to fabricate a replacement.

kennyGF