Anybody Else Mark Their Rods??

First I figured out where the stove kinda likes to run and put the marks accordingly .
I took a 3 sided file and filed in fine lines in the rod on one side and then filled in the grooves with a fine line white paint stick It's been a year now and they don't ware off.
The first mark by the stove is the half way point ,the last one toward the end of the rod is fully closed.

 

Just once.

 

mine has 4 grooves cut in it from the factory, use them all the time for various stages of running stove

 

Thought of it, but don't feel like sticking my head under the ash lip to keep track of it.

 

Sorry, but I laughed and sprayed some nasal iced tea on my keyboard when I read the title of this post!!!

I gauge mine by the position of the "spring" handle thing to the edge of the ash lip. May do what you've done though.

 

Mine isn't to hard to see , My hearth is a foot high ,so the rod is like 20" up from the floor

 

Yeah, they are already marked but they're black on black and too hard for me to see.

 

This is the marker I used I bought it at Harbor Freight
SUPER MET-AL #1295 SQUEEZE ACTION METAL TIP PERM PRO GRD WHITE PAINT MARKER

 

Yep I did mine last year before I ever fired it the first time. I just took fineline tape and put it on where it needed to be then spaced another piece about an 1/8" away and used high temp silver that I had brushed on with a paper match (paper end).

 

I thought that title might get some attention

 

Ya, my rod is marked, I used a white paint marker to paint some lines on it.

 

Anybody else?

 

I thought about it but it didn't seem like it would be of much help to me, besides, my hearth is only about 5" high and it would be a pita looking at it. The only setting I'm really concerned about is the last one, when it's almost closed. When I get to that point, I push it all the way in and then pull it out to where it needs to be.

 

Don't the lines and their corresponding performance levels change as the outside temps go from 50 to 5 degrees?

 

Yes they sure do, from experience with the reference lines I know where it needs to be for the differences in the draft.
Yeah I don't use my marks on there as settings just as reference points

 

Translation: if you owned a BK, the t-stat would take care of this automatically.

 

Sorry HMan, not what I was thinking about. The BK does not need this but I also own an NC30 and the temperature swings and even wood load drive me nuts with regards to throttle settings. I need more throttle than most folks and end up with the spring tip even with the ash lip. Seems like a fine line between smoldering and runaway hot.

 

That's why I put the marks on there, because moving it a little bit makes a big difference, for me it is simply easier to tell how far I am moving it.

 

I used to mark the rod on my Quadra fire. It made me really appreciate the Ideal Steel and it's gauge on the ashlip. Doesn't get much better than that.