New Design Preview: Modified Designs

We are still working on our designs and changes to our beta designs. Thanks to everyone who responded to our Design Preview and Survey!

We had almost 600 surveys and over 1700 comments so far on our beta designs. The Tall Shaker design has elicited the most number of comments and questions. Based on those comments, we have new previews of a few potential design changes. The stoves have been digitally placed in a home setting to help give a better visual perspective.

Changing the art on your Ideal Steel Hybrid

Changing the art designs on your Ideal Steel Hybrid is quick and easy. If you would like to change the theme on your stove at any time, the video below will show you how simple the process is.

Keep in mind, if you order new designs you can also get them in different colors to give a different look.

New Hybrid Dimensions and Specifications

These are projected dimensions and specifications for our new steel hybrid.  They won’t change much, but as noted below don’t build a hearth or install a chimney thimble based on these specifications.  EPA testing is scheduled to begin in 3 weeks, with UL testing (clearances) following immediately thereafter.

"V-Dubbing" Proposed Test Protocols

The video below shows the “endpoint” of a high burn, according to a new draft protocol industry has suggested for cordwood testing.  This “endpoint” would also be the “start-point” for medium and low burn cordwood tests.

Cordwood High Burn Test Data

Below is data from 2 Cordwood High Burns (which followed the Cordwood Cold Starts on 11/24 and 11/27 – see previous posts).  These are R & D Tests.

Each load was about 25 lbs. (in a 2.5 cu. ft. firebox).  The fuel was all Hard Maple with average moisture content of 22%.

Answers to questions about cold starts

Here are answers to a few of the questions asked about our cold start post:

1. Are you using special kindling or fire-starter?

No, we generally use the same hemlock 1x4s that we use to crate stoves.  We get the same results if we split test wood (+ 22% moisture maple) into kindling and shavings, but the 1x4s are easier and faster.  The keys are surface area, and some elevation (i.e closer to the fireback is better).

Cordwood Cold Start Test Data

We have shared “beta” aesthetic designs for our new hybrid, and we also plan to share “beta” test results for those who are interested.  This is the first of what will be several posts about beta emissions/efficiency testing for our new (and still nameless) Model 211 Hybrid, which is scheduled for EPA emissions testing in January, 2016.

New Stove Design Preview

Form & Function! As a wood stove manufacturer it has always been important for us to produce stoves that will perform year after year to keep you warm, as well as compliment the home. The wood stove is often a central fixture and the majority of our customers want a design that will look good all year round. As part of our Beta testing process for our R2Z Stove, we are presenting a few designs with varying styles. Our goal is to offer a stove that is versatile; tall or short legs, ash pan or no ash pan, right or left loading door option, as well as top or back venting. Going one step further we would like to offer a basic version without the Franklin style wings for those who prefer a clean look, as well as several embellished options. 

Click here to look through our current designs, then we welcome you to fill out our design survey and let us know what you like and don't like about our proposed designs...and if you have other design suggestions, don't be shy, let us know!

New Stove Design Preview

2015 Owners Open House

Thank you to all of our stove owners, over 500 of you, who attended our 11/7/15 Owners Open House. We served over 450 lunches, had John & Ida Mae Specker performing live music, and had an all around wonderful time connecting with stove owners. We certainly hope everyone that joined us had a great time! Below is a sampling of images from the Open House.

We’re making our own furnace cement!

We recently started making our own furnace cement.  It has been interesting learning to mix a highly viscous material (almost 500,000 centipoise; water is 1 cps) and then fill caulking tubes, but Yankee Ingenuity has prevailed.  Our unique ingredients are soapstone powder, and very small strands of chopped fiberglass.

More Open House Notes

Open House 2015 (Saturday, November 7) is just over a week away, and we are really looking forward to getting together with owners and having a good time, and getting reactions to our newest stove design(s).   We have made all of the food and beverage arrangements, and the food will be excellent.

Table Scraps #4: Acorn and Oak Leaf Tools

For the October Steal of the Month we made tools with an Acorn & Oak Leaf handle, which you see below:

Keeping an Eye on Fuel Costs

In our area, pellet prices have drifted up from an average of $250/ton to about $300/ton, and the price for #2 fuel oil has dropped from about $3.25 to approximately $2.25 per gallon.

Inside the Race to Zero Stove- Part 1

Our Goal:  Flatline Emissions

The race to zero has begun.  Wood stove emissions are measured in grams per hour of particulates at different burn rates (low, medium, and high).  As a general rule, all stoves have higher emissions at higher burn rates.  The more BTUs per hour a stove produces, the more emissions per hour it produces.  We hope to overcome this “rule”.

Race to Zero T-Shirt

Every worthwhile mission deserves a T-Shirt. Our "Race to Zero" T-shirt is pictured below. For owners who attend our November 7th Open House and let us know by using the RSVP button below, there will be a free T-shirt waiting.

October STEAL of the Month!

 Every month we plan to feature select Ideal Steel Hybrid designs for a special "Steal of the Month".

Open House for Owners!

Dear Woodstock Owner,

We hope you will join us on November 7, 2015 to help us celebrate 37 years in business, to enjoy a pig roast and some local craft beer, and to take a look at our newest hybrid woodstove, which is our latest and, we hope, most successful attempt to produce an affordable Zero-Emissions Woodstove.  Please save the date!  More details will be posed shortly on our website.  We hope you will join us!

Please click here to RSVP so we know you're coming!

Warm regards,

Tom Morrissey
for Woodstock Soapstone

Click here to read more articles

Zero Woodstove Emissions... Is It Possible?

Our August Steal of the Month ends next Monday!

Time is running out on our August Steal of the Month. Order by next Monday, August 31, and get all this:

Table Scraps #3: Owl Tool Holder

Oops!  We almost forgot to mention that there is an Ideal Steel tool holder for the Owl tools.

The tool holder hooks into the side of the Ideal Steel Hybrid, and has three holes and two hooks.  It’s deep enough to put your coffee cup on for a few minutes while you rake the ashes.

Owl tool holder with tools and ANM035 Owl Medallion (painted Copper)

3 piece owl tool set shown hanging from the tool holder

Table Scraps #2: Fireplace Tools

When we cut sheets of steel, there is sometimes a strip of metal along the edge that we can’t fully utilize.  So, long and narrow fireplace tools fit perfectly!  With our Ideal Steel STEAL of the Month, we introduced our first fireplace tools - the Owl Poker, Shovel, and Rake.

We're going to the dogs...

“We’ve always been a dog-friendly business, and there have always been (quiet, well-behaved) dogs who come to work with their owners.  So we totally understand why some of our customers want to memorialize their dogs on their stoves.  Seems like a good idea to us, too.  In today’s mail, we got a picture of Allie McTrouble next to one of the burners on her stove (which, by the way, she is going to LOVE this winter because of the long burns and even heat).

Table Scraps #1: Beautiful Scrap

We are probably the only stove company with both a laser and a waterjet to cut metal, and staff artists to create designs for our customers.  Not every design creates beautiful scrap, but many do.

Company Profile: Johnny Laser & Big Orange

Ever driven a Ferrari? Johnny Laser drives one everyday...at least one that cuts metal.  Since October 2014, Woodstock’s factory floor has been graced by Big Orange, a metal-cutting laser, and it’s been performing its high-speed duties ever since. This machine can cut 4’x8’ sheets of steel in 15-60 minutes (depending on thickness) with five thousandths of an inch tolerance just as long as Johnny is there to program it, make sure the “beast ” is being fed, and unloaded. 

Veteran Profile: The Wonders of Willy Jane

We are not the Armed Forces here at Woodstock Soapstone, but we do have a Golden Arm “force” named Willy Jane Patry. If you’ve ever heard the saying “good things come in small packages”, you’d apply this directly to her and then say it’s an understatement. At 5’ 1” and just over 100lbs. this woman is a powerhouse of strength, both physically and mentally and has contributed hugely to the Gear Head Team.

Burning with Patriotic Pride: "Spirit of Fire" Through July 4th

A toaster... a lamp, hairbrush, a car...when was the last time you bought something that was all-American made? It’s a fact that manufacturing in the United States has waned over the past few decades BUT there are exciting stories of companies like Woodstock Soapstone who are firing-up the old Yankee spirit and still manufacturing products state-side that are cutting edge in design...highly affordable...AND supported after the sale by real people who work right here, and have built, owned and used our stoves and are readily available by phone.

How wood stove builders commute to work

Lots of snow this winter.  But some people really enjoy snowy commutes!

These machines have heated seats, heated handgrips...

...and we are told they are quite comfortable for a 25 mile commute through the hills of New Hampshire

Hybrid Sale Through April 10, 2015

If you are curious about becoming a Woodstock Soapstone owner, we are happy to announce that our Hybrid woodstove are on sale thru April 10, 2015. Visit our sale page for details of this special Hybrid sale.  FREE SHIPPING, up to $250.00, is just one part that we are pleased to offer.

MORE New Designs!

We’ve been so busy catching up with our backorder, that we haven’t had time to post new designs during the last few months.  Here are a few more designs we have worked out for different customers

Common Loon

Hybrid MANIA! Turning Woodstoves into Art

Our Geared 2U Design Team along with all the many imaginative Ideal Steel Hybrid owners are creating stoves that are far more than just steel boxes of heat.

We are ahead of the game!

Check out the EPA’s new 2015 woodstove regulations and see how Woodstock Soapstone Co. “measures-up”.  It’s great news!

New 2015 Changes in EPA Standards for Woodstoves

On February 3, 2015 the US EPA issued new regulations covering the emissions standards for wood burning stoves. In brief, the new rules require that:

Hybrid: Version 3

We are finally building beta stoves for our next (as yet un-named) steel hybrid. This will be our third hybrid:  first the Progress, then the Ideal Steel, and now a high performance woodstove with record-low emissions.  The combustion system in this version has some significant innovations to lower emissions.

Ivan welds the top on a new beta