Insulation--- Rock wool vs Fiberglass

Which do you choose?

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ June 09, 2006 07:22 AM: Message edited by: 1953 Chambers ]</font>

You will get an onslaught of answers from folks more in the know, but here is what I think you will hear - replace the pieces of insulation under the panels on either side (top side) with regular fiberglass (my '53 has what looks like pinkish fiberglass about 1 inch thick along the top sides) and the rest is rock wool. Stoveman has a source and I believe Lowracer was able to obtain a bulk amount of it once - used what he needed and sold the rest. (It is apparently used in greenhouse or hydroponics or the like). Most people change out the oven door rock wool - and you basicly have to if you open the panel cover to the oven door. Most often the oven insulation is OK. I was considering changing the wool in the large baffle that was within the backsplash - I haven't taken it apart to check it though.

You have probably accessed some of the photo blogs - these are the most helpful. Lowracers very detailed fabulous blog has apparently been removed - but if that can be recovered I sure recommend it - although he did not remove the oven (in my memory, anyway).

I would like to see a collection of links to blogs somewhere (organized - like). Perhaps this is here already and I just haven't seen it lately...

You seem like a person on a mission - you go! And take pictures and share the knowledge! I have yet to really take the plunge but I did get a second stove as I feel a little better about taking it apart as I now have the other to refer to.

The problem with this stove is the more I tear it down the dirtier it gets! I am down to oven box durachrome top and magazine. Took off the cast Iron piece around oven door last night. OH MY!!!
Yuck, yuck, and double yuck. I make a lot of home bread and I just can't bring my self to put fresh bread dough in something this dirty! I only had two small pieces of pink insulation on each side of stove. Right and left. It seems insulation around box is rock wool. Hard, dirty and nasty. More to continue I am sure.....

Hard, dirty rockwool is not going to insulate. I am impressed with the guts you must have to tackle this. Do you have a camera? once you start posting photos everyones else will often show you what they have in the same place - especially helpful if you are trying to do something hard to describe. I am surprised that you stove is dirty - mine is also a 1953 and it is relatively clean (very clean compared to some) I thought it was due to the fact that it is more recent than many.