|
Post by mach12 on Mar 31, 2015 14:29:56 GMT -5
I just posted this on the other site and wanted to share it here as well.
Well yesterday was an amazing day! I was standing in Lowe's looking at rug pads when my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number so answered it with a bit of caution. Awhile back Marka sent me a note about a BZ for sale about 45 minutes south of me so I did a search on craigslist and up popped two BZ's, the one Marka had mentioned and another just a couple of miles from me. I sent an email to the guy Marka had told me about and didn't hear anything, then when I checked the ad again it was no longer active, so I figured he sold it. I called the other guy and that's the BZ that I brought home recently. When I answered the call while at Lowe's it was the guy with the other BZ. He said that a lady had made a cash offer that he accepted but she kept waffling and now was trying to get him to just give it to her. He told me that if I wanted it that it was mine for $75 so he could have the space back in his shop. I jumped in my car, drove down to check it out, and it comes home day after tomorrow. I pulled all of the burners and other loose parts, tossed them in the back of my van and headed home.
A few minutes into my drive my phone rang and it was another number I didn't recognize. I answered it and it was the guy who owned the A series with incinerator (just like the one I already have) that I posted info on awhile back. I had sent him a note telling him that I would be interested and told him what I'd be willing to pay considering the travel involved and so on. I hadn't heard a thing back and my offer was considerably lower than his asking price so wrote it off. Apparently he thought that he had it sold but the people who had been interested in it were waffling and trying to renegotiate and he wanted to get it out of there. They've just finished their kitchen remodel (the Chambers was in their kitchen and in regular use) and they are cleaning up the mess and want it gone, so he says to come and get it. We've coordinated that and I'll be heading down to get it next week.
When I looked at the BZ the guy said "Oh, here's some paperwork that came with it" and he handed me the BZ installation and maintenance pamphlet (basically the B version with a BZ insert), a Robertshaw adjustment sheet, a cooking chart (also commonly available) and a gas company cooking chart that's generic and doesn't really apply to a Chambers unless you're cooking with the gas turned on.
This is the Robertshaw sheet (single page). There's a version available with a website watermark across, so it's nothing new. Still kind of cool to have though.
This is the BZ insert to the B pamphlet (2 pages that were front and back of a single sheet). I hadn't seen this one before, though wouldn't be surprised if it's out there already.
|
|
|
Post by vaporvac on Mar 31, 2015 14:44:47 GMT -5
That is a crazy GREAT story. Yeah!
|
|
|
Post by jhmack on Mar 31, 2015 19:14:04 GMT -5
Congrats on a DOUBLE score! And I have to say that, come the Zombie Apocalypse, an incinerator would be a nice thing to have alongside the stove...
|
|
|
Post by chipperhiker on Mar 31, 2015 22:57:58 GMT -5
Congrats on the latest additions to yo0ur stable. How many stoves does this make now?
|
|
|
Post by mach12 on Apr 1, 2015 0:25:52 GMT -5
Thanks jhmack and chipperhiker.
That brings it to 2 A series, 2 BZ's, and 2 C's. The original A and one of the BZ's stay with me. The 61C was going in my son's house but he really likes the BZ, too, so the second BZ may end of there. The 90C was going to go in our kitchen until my wife saw a red BZ. Not sure now what the plan is for them.
|
|
|
Post by vaporvac on Apr 1, 2015 0:47:24 GMT -5
My head is spinning.
|
|
|
Post by pooka on Apr 1, 2015 1:14:54 GMT -5
If I had an unlimited budget, I'd like to have a Chambers museum of working stoves from all eras. I'd be like Jay Leno with all his cars & motorcycles. He can drive a different one whenever he wants. I could cook on a different one every day. I'd even try to recreate the first prototype from 1910. It's outer cabinet was made out of wood like old iceboxes & had a pressed asbestos board cook-top.
|
|
|
Post by chipperhiker on Apr 1, 2015 9:52:36 GMT -5
It's madness, I tell you. Madness.
The good kind.
|
|
|
Post by mach12 on Apr 1, 2015 13:35:43 GMT -5
It is madness but you're right, it's a good madness. Good thing, too, since it tends to be pretty contagious. Even my wife, who tends to be a bit skeptical of some of my vintage goodies, is really excited about getting a Chambers in the kitchen. I'm suspicious though. Since I'm retired and have always enjoyed cooking, and she still works, I suspect that she is just hoping the Chambers will lock me in as the "Chief Cook and Bottle washer' around here. Truth be known she cooks circles around me, even if she's half asleep. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Chambers was the catalyst to finally doing the kitchen remodel that I've been promising for way too long...
|
|
|
Post by mach12 on Apr 1, 2015 14:01:46 GMT -5
Pooka - I didn't know about the prototype. That's really fascinating. Does it still exist? Were they actually considering producing a stove with the pressed asbestos or was that just something they came up with for building the prototype? Knowing what we know now it's a good thing that it didn't take. I was working in Germany when the wall came down and started traveling in the East right away and saw a lot of stuff made from interesting materials. Even cars, like the Trabant with a little 2 cycle engine (where you have to mix oil into the gas) and a body made out of resin reinforced cardboard. Unlike the Trabant, some of the stuff was actually pretty good.
I like the idea of a Jay Leno stove collection. If I get one more I'll have 7 of them so could cook on a different one each day of the week. It's probably even possible to work up to a different one for each day of the year if you're careful to buy the less expensive ones that pop up. The expense would be a new building - and it probably should be on a solid, reinforced concrete pad...
|
|
|
Post by pooka on Apr 1, 2015 23:55:02 GMT -5
mach12, I've only seen an image of the prototype because they used it in a few of the sales documents where they speak of their different innovation over the years. In one segment from episode 1603 of "Across Indiana" a PBS program about people, places & things in Indiana, the local historian speaks of the original one being a wooden box insulated on all side. It says he originally move to Shelbyville, IN in 1904 to raise chickens. He set out to make an improved incubator & that led to developing the stove. I doubt it's still around. It was probably destroyed long ago, or rotted away somewhere, but who knows? Across Indiana episode 1603As you can see in this image of the 1910 prototype, the whole top is one piece of pressed asbestos. The first two series used the same material for the back half of the cook-top. The third series eliminated the asbestos, making the entire top of cast iron in the late teens until the series 5000 in 1930. That had a cook-top that was a grid like a barbeque grill. After that, they went back to cast iron until the BZ in 1948. This is an magazine ad from 1912 of one of the first series showing an insert of the same material in the back half of the top. This is an ad from the back of a cook book of the same time of another model showing the same thing. this is an illustration from the same book showing yet another model. These are the only pics I've seen of this first series. Very early catalog of the ranges produced before 1920This is one of the models from the late teens catalog that's posted on our literature page at the link above. It's the last series to use the pressed asbestos. These next two pics are the only actual photographs I have of models 131 & 141. The first one was on Craigslist somewhere. I don't remember where. The second one was on eBay at one time. Again, I don't remember where. In the first one, you can see where the asbestos board use to be. The second set of pics aren't great, but it's all I've got. At least it show the counter balance weight mechanism for the Thermodome, although the weight is missing. These are the two that I wish one of us could have gotten because they are so rare just to preserve them for posterity. I don't know if they could have been restored or not, but at least we could have saved them from the scrap yard. These are two that definitely belong in a museum. They would date to the mid teens.
|
|
|
Post by mach12 on Apr 18, 2015 12:00:58 GMT -5
Man Pooka - I've gone over the stuff in your last post a bunch of times and every time I end up digging and searching to see what other tidbits of info are on the sites or out on some other site. That's fantastic info! I'd love to find one of those to preserve too. That's how I feel about the A's with incinerators that I picked up. The first one was right about a year ago and I just got home last night with the second one. It's not in as good of shape as the first one was but it's still good and the important part is that the incinerator is 100% complete and the grates, liners, and cast incinerator top all look almost new. According to the guy I bought the stove from they're original. He says that he got the stove in 1976 from the original owner, a friend's mother, who had it in her house in Oakland, CA and that she had hardly used the incinerator. She replaced it with a D series and added cabinet space and gave him the stove with the promise that it go in his house. He said they used the incinerator just a few times and never used the t-well (or the pot that was sitting in it). I wondered whether I'd ever find the parts for the incinerator and never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd find another of these stoves. And 20 miles from the first one. I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to afford to have the parts cast but at least now have everything that I need. Including perfect sheet metal ducts and so on for the back of the stove, which had been butchered on my first one. Worth every bit of the 1500 mile round trip to me just to preserve one of these unique ranges.
|
|
|
Post by pooka on Apr 19, 2015 10:52:36 GMT -5
It's terrific you found the second incinerator model, or as they call it, the standard heater. On these older, more unusual model, you almost need a second parts stove in case there are any missing or broken pieces. Between the two, you can get one working stove, & have gained knowledge to replicate the parts for the other stove at some point.
It's neat that you got your parts stove from the second owner who had knowledge of the first owner. I love that continuity of knowing the history of the stove. It makes owning it that much richer. I'm glad my research is of so much help & interest to you. I collect this info to pass it on in what I hope is an endless chain of people who will continue make these stove live & be useful. So many of the things we use every day are a never ending series of disposable products that we use up & throw away. It's nice to have something like our stoves that when you get one, you good for the rest of your life. And even then, it can live on after us. We are preserving a legacy for future generations if they're smart enough to take our lead.
|
|
|
Post by mach12 on Apr 19, 2015 12:19:51 GMT -5
I honestly could not have tackled this without the info you've taken the time to gather and share, Pooka. I suppose I could have cobbled something together that was close but I want to restore the stove, not just make it work. I do the same on the vehicles that I restore and try to take them back to the day they came off the assembly line. To me it honors the people who designed and assembled it. A few years ago I drove my Model A pickup to the grocery store and waited in the parking lot while my wife went in and got the stuff we needed. There were a couple of nicely done 50's vintage hotrods sitting there waiting for a couple of friends in their car club and it was interesting how people who just looked over at the hotrods came over and started looking at my Model A and talking about cars they had or grandparents had. A couple of old-timers came over and had all kinds of tales and some really good info on tricks they'd learned as Model A owners. Even the guys with the hotrods were all over it, though they were blaspheming all over the place with stuff like "chop here", "lower" and so on. To me there's just something about an original and each one takes a lot of research. That's not to say that the hotrods aren't really nice and some of them start as rust buckets that may never be able to get back to original but I really enjoy the challenge of making it like new. And you're right, the prospect of these stoves continuing on for generations is a great one! My son just bought a house that was built in 1909 and the kitchen is perfectly set up for the 61C. It even has gas stubbed in for the stove, though it has an electric range in it right now. He made the mistake of giving me a key and will really be surprised when he comes home and the 61C is sitting in place of the old glass top electric that's in there now.
|
|
|
Post by vaporvac on Apr 19, 2015 22:26:38 GMT -5
He will be thrilled, especially if he knew how much time it takes to just set the burners and Tstat up!
|
|
|
Post by chipperhiker on Apr 20, 2015 12:33:39 GMT -5
Wow. That would be an awesome surprise, mach12.
|
|
|
Post by nana on Apr 20, 2015 18:21:26 GMT -5
:DThat is such a great surprise it makes me want to go throw rocks at my non-stove-installing relatives!
|
|
|
Post by chipperhiker on Apr 20, 2015 21:56:37 GMT -5
Yeah, nana. I had that feeling, too, but I was trying to behave.
|
|