KINDLER WICKING FOR OIL BURNING STOVES & RANGES
Widths from 3/4'’ to 1 ½'’ are available in 5 ½ foot rolls.
The old "wickless" oil stoves from the 1920's through the 1950's did in fact use a wick - an asbestos, edge burning "kindler" wick. Different heights and lengths of asbestos wicking were used by various stoves depending upon the size of the burner. A person could walk into a hardware store anywhere, buy a box of asbestos roll wicking of the right height and 5 1/2 feet long, and cut the length of wick they needed off the roll. Product liability lawyers did away with asbestos wicking years ago and specially woven, wire-reinforced fiberglass wicks are standard
Burners using kindler wicking MUST HAVE the precise width of wick for which they were designed! If the wick is 1/8'' too narrow it will be too low in the wick slot and the flame will never adjust high enough for proper cooking. If the wick is 1/8'' too wide it will be 1/8'' too high in the slot and the flame will be so high that is cannot be controlled, producing a sooty, incomplete burn that is terrible. A wick of the correct height will be fed fuel via gravity flow through a needle valve controlling the precise rate of fuel flow: THAT is what establishes the height of flame and therefore the heat output of a burner.
Please do not guess the width of wick your stove requires - measure the depth of the slot with a thin ruler. The wick should protrude about 1/8'’ above the slot. Many kindler burners had a raised lip on the outside edge of the burner, beside the wick. That raised lip is the maximum height the wick should be (from the bottom of the slot to the top of the lip).
Kindler wicking is sold in the traditional 5 ½" rolls. Unroll enough wicking to complete the circle in the wick slot, mark the wick and trim to length with shears.
Widths from 3/4'’ to 1 ½'’ are available in 5 ½ foot rolls.
The old "wickless" oil stoves from the 1920's through the 1950's did in fact use a wick - an asbestos, edge burning "kindler" wick. Different heights and lengths of asbestos wicking were used by various stoves depending upon the size of the burner. A person could walk into a hardware store anywhere, buy a box of asbestos roll wicking of the right height and 5 1/2 feet long, and cut the length of wick they needed off the roll. Product liability lawyers did away with asbestos wicking years ago and specially woven, wire-reinforced fiberglass wicks are standard
Burners using kindler wicking MUST HAVE the precise width of wick for which they were designed! If the wick is 1/8'' too narrow it will be too low in the wick slot and the flame will never adjust high enough for proper cooking. If the wick is 1/8'' too wide it will be 1/8'' too high in the slot and the flame will be so high that is cannot be controlled, producing a sooty, incomplete burn that is terrible. A wick of the correct height will be fed fuel via gravity flow through a needle valve controlling the precise rate of fuel flow: THAT is what establishes the height of flame and therefore the heat output of a burner.
Please do not guess the width of wick your stove requires - measure the depth of the slot with a thin ruler. The wick should protrude about 1/8'’ above the slot. Many kindler burners had a raised lip on the outside edge of the burner, beside the wick. That raised lip is the maximum height the wick should be (from the bottom of the slot to the top of the lip).
Kindler wicking is sold in the traditional 5 ½" rolls. Unroll enough wicking to complete the circle in the wick slot, mark the wick and trim to length with shears.
