DIYbanter - View Single Post

writes:

Thank you, have only checked with neighbors who are collectors of old oak
furniture, they said it was both common and late and not to worry about
it.

Glad you checked it out, though I'm not surprised. :-)

Did you find a fireplace insert without electricity?

Actually, I did find one from one of the web pages that was kindly posted
here; thank you for asking. Then . . . I found the photos of the one
across the street. Decided to go see Al to see if he could find someone
to make one and get some sort of estimate. Sadly, the result of that was
finding that he died about two years ago which means it was right after we
had spoken about this. I had been by his shop a few times on a Saturday
but figured he finally started taking off Saturdays. :-( His passing is
definitely a loss to our community, both as a good person lost and as a
good welder lost. When he cut my fireplace screen/door frame for the
electric exchanger I have, he told me I would not longer be able to
operate the door vents because of placement of the intake/outtake on the
exchanger. However, when it was complete, not only could a person not see
the cuts when all was in place, but the vents worked perfectly. He was so
good he was able to fine-tune the cuts and placement to avoid the rods.
That is real talent and not too common in today's shops.

That led me to call the muffler shop he had originally recommended, but
had then just burned and had not started rebuilding yet. Verifying the
date of their fire means that it was, indeed, almost two years since Al's
death. The owner there is so much like Al (the old-timers, both in
attitude and skill) that it's like I already knew him. He knew exactly
what I wanted, as Al had told me, and will construct it for me. He
prefaced that with it being done as time is available. So, instead of a
one-size-fits-all exchanger, I'll have one to fit this fireplace
specifically which is what I was hoping for. Prepared to pay as much as
the commercial one ($250 approx.), the price quoted made it even better,
about $70. I figure even $100 is a really good deal. Best of all is
supporting a local business.

I had a couple of other little projects going on for which I was going to
post the results and a thank-you to those who answered questions and sent
information as soon as the exchanger was "home."

Glenna