Old stoves

[sudsmaster]

Well, it's been a while since I visited here, but I thought I'd share a new vintage pastime.

I've been acquiring old stoves... namely, Wedgewoods, which were made here locally in the SF Bay Area (Newark) until the 60's. The kind I like are the 40's and 50's, with rounded corners, center griddles.

So far I have three, in various stages of needed restoration: a smallish unit with single oven, small center griddle, and narrow storage cabinet. It has a lid that folds down over the burners, but no clock or light. Unfortunately this one was left outdoors for a year, so the chrome drip trays are badly corroded, as is the sheet metal under the burner area. But it's restorable.

Next up is a full-size model with a unique feature: a space heater is built into the left side "oven" compartment. There's a big grated area on the left side of the oven, to let the heat out. This unit also features a dual clock tower and a light. The clocks can be used to do timed baking, but of course they don't work any more. It also has a fold down cover that can be propped up to act as a shelf above the cooking area. Really nice unit, but it needs some replacement knobs, and the clocks need to be repaired for the oven to work. This one has a chrome top surround for an elegant look.

Last acquisition is a dual oven unit with enameled cooktop surround. The second oven is a broiler only, on the left. This one has a single clock, with matching salt and pepper shakers (quite a find), and a light. It also has a fold down top. The burner gratings have a cool arrowhead pattern. This one is perhaps in the best overall operating shape of the three, if you don't mind the chips in the porcelain that appear on just about every surface.

My biggest problem these days is that I've run out of storage room, so I'm probably going to be jettisoning some old drop-in gas ranges that I picked up to replace the drop-in vintage Frigidaire electric drop-in in my enclosed patio kitchen. The Frigidaire is a well made unit, I just don't like electric cooktops (although electric ovens are nice). Sadly, none of the vintage Wedgewoods will fit in the drop-in area of the patio kitchen, and the main house kitchen was remodeled in the 60's to eliminate the free-standing stove in favor of a built-in cooktop on a peninsula, and wall oven. From what I can tell, the area where the range used to sit is now taken up by the big SXS frdige and the wall oven cabinet. So while the home is of the right vintage (1941) for a vintage Wedgewood, it would take a complete kitchen remodel to accomodate a return to a more vintage decor. My next best option is to turn the workshop into a vintage stove restoration/display area... providing I can relocate the amazing collection of clutter!

 

[customline]

Stoves and ovens are a great hobby........

but they sure do take up a lot of room don't they? This is why I stuck to one brand and a model that I know can fit into my kitchen. Yes, I wish I had a gas hookup in my home. I had an apartment years ago with an old gas Tappan and it was the best unit I ever cooked with. Before that I had a gas oven (can't remember the brand) that I had to light manually. I loved it! I have been busy doing rewirings on Hotpoint units and the latest one is the '57 Hotpoint Customline economy model #RJ112 cooktop with color coded burners (pictures to come very soon). It's wall oven companion the RJ12 comes next. Good luck with your hobby and keep us posted on new discoveries.

 

[frontaloadotmy]

Hi sudsmaster

Do you ever check out Urban Ore in Berkeley? They usually have
a good supply of Ww's and others, and I think they snatch parts from the ones they think are too far gone.

 

[sudsmaster]

Yep, they sure do take up room. But less room than old cars, which is/was my other collecting hobby. I had to stop with those because I ran out of room.

I'll check out Urban Ore. Maybe they have some parts, like knobs or griddles or drip trays.

I have gas service to my workshop, which is a 1,000 sq ft separate building on the property. So I could hook up a few gas stoves back there. I would have to extend the gas line, however, as it only runs to a forced air space heater that hangs from the rafters. I've never turned it on... too cheap... lol...

I spent the entire weekend working on my pickup truck, which I used to transport the stove. It was having trouble starting for a while - intermittantly not even trying to turn over. On the way home, I barely made it, I had to stick it in neutral and coast to stops, otherwise it would die. I wound up buying about $200 in new parts - alternator, starter relay, voltage regulator, new battery. Turns out the main problem was that the ammeter in the instrument panel had gotten loose, which in turn mean that there was in intermittant open in that circuit, which powers everything but the hazard lights. Once I fixed that, the thing seems to run fine again. It's a 78 Dodge D100, long bed. 360 V8. Horrible on gas, but great for trips to dump, Home Depot, and scavenging for old appliances.

I also acquired a 1940's GE refrigerator. It's a real beauty, although there is surface rust on the exterior. The interior is cherry, though... no plastic! Really nice to look at something built that solid and durable. I got it from a neighbor who sold his house and moved up north. He says it works fine... so my next project is repainting the outside... and replacing the door gasket. That's about all it seems to need. It will look great next to an old Wedgewood.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, I've been doing a little work on the Wedgewoods.

I've decided to focus on two of the three... both are full size. One has a space heater where the left oven would normally be. It also has an impressive latching cover that doubles as a shelf, and a dual clock tower that can do timed baking (if it ever runs again). It has a nice chromed top that is in fairly good shape. And the griddle is in great shape.

The other one has a porcelain top, and where the left oven would go, is a separate broiler (no broiler setup under the right oven, either). I guess this means one could broil and bake a cake at the same time. Kind of cool. The griddle on this one is in fair condition. This is the one with a single clock tower, with matching salt and pepper shakers.

Both stoves show signs of abuse... the one with the space heater was manhandled by someone who tried to get it out of a small garage, and they chipped the porcelain pretty bad on one side, and lost two of the knobs. The one with the S&P shakers was sitting in the middle of a kitchen undergoing a remodel - and it looks like some workmen whacked it pretty good here and there with pipes, with chips in the porcelain on the control panel, the cover, and both sides.

I spent the past two days reinforcing the sheet metal below ith angle iron, so I could attack 2" casters. Without the reinforcement, the sheet metal bends after rolling around a bit. Now I'm fairly confident I can move these stoves in and out of the workshop, and around the workshop, without having to resort to the cumbersome furniture dolly. The workshop/carport needs a major cleanup and junk removal, so it's important that the things I keep are mobile enough to move out of the way of the "junk stream", lol.

I found my digital camera and will try to upload some photos of these projects. I also have a late 40's GE fridge that I intend to restore as well, it's a real beauty.

 

[goatfarmer]

How does one repair porcelain chips satifactorily? I have some touch up paint,that supposedly has some porcelain chips in it,but results are iffy at best.Any thoughts?

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, I think the only real fix for chipped porcelain enameled steel is to re-porcelainize it. I'm not certain, but I surmise this means taking the metal parts off the appliance, putting them in a big furnace to melt off the porcelain glaze/paint, and then re-applying new porcelain enamel. My guess is that some restorers might use powder coat instead, except of course on stove parts that get very hot.

Some older chips on these stoves have apparently been touched up with paint. You're right, the results aren't that great, but I suppose it's better than the blackened steel underneath peeking through.