How did Franklin cook?

May 5, 2006 11:34 AM

Does anyone know an online resource where I could get a layman drawing and parts of a Franklin stove? I'm interested in how it was built and how it works.

All I can find on the web appears to be word descriptions of them replacing open fires, brief summaries, or 'franklin-type stoves' for sale. But none of them seem to fully illustrate where the fire goes, how cooking on it worked, how it was built etc. Just a normal person's curiosity.

posted by eatdonuts to technology (6 comments total)

Here's an owners' manual
posted by buggzzee23 at 11:43 AM on May 5, 2006

It's not a cook stove, it's just a heating device.
Here's a good cutaway drawing.
And another one. (scroll down)
And a third.
posted by Floydd at 11:47 AM on May 5, 2006

And buggzzee23, that's a cast iron fireplace, not a true Franklin. A Franklin stove has a fresh air intake and baffles behind the combustion chamber to extract more heat.
posted by Floydd at 11:51 AM on May 5, 2006

I've actually seen a few of these and I'm still a bit confused. Where does the fire go? Just in the mouth of the third diagram (from Floydd). I think I may need simplier diagrams than this. I'm trying to explain the whole set up to a 9 year old.
posted by eatdonuts at 12:19 PM on May 5, 2006

The wood is placed on the flat surface above the cold air intake. The temperature differential causes the air to move through the intake and then through the various chambers (see Floydd's first link), heating up significantly along the way. The hot air then exits to the sides.
posted by pmbuko at 12:34 PM on May 5, 2006

Yup, if you look at Figure 2 in this diagram you build the fire right under the sun in that opening there. That's the firebox.
Here's Ben's explanation.
posted by Floydd at 12:45 PM on May 5, 2006