When walking through an army dump in a neighboring town and stumbled upon this beast: I was still packed in it's sea shipping package. It's date of shipping i guess: Still in it's box: Writings on the box: A fun detail is the date on a newspaper that a part of the furnace was packed in: The furnace in it's full glory. Out of the box for the 1st time in almost 60 years.: Into the belly of the beast: A handy hatch for lighting the furnace: The burner exposed: The burner up close: Control knob: The pump assembly: Apparently it's a Wall Dreadnaught It even comes with a nice instruction 'tag': It's pricker with not 1 but 4 wires, so I can break a few: And last but not least there are also 2 spare washers and I thought, also a spare nipple, but as i read the instructions, I found out that the 'spare' nipple, wasn't a spare nipple. It's in fact a Kero nipple. The brass nipple has a 'G' stamped on it and the steel one has a 'K' on it. 1 For Kerosene and 1 for Gasoline : The furnace has some storage damage and it seems the paint back then was not as we know it now a days as it has come off here and there. But other then that it seems like it is in good condition. I haven't lit it yet. Maybe I will, maybe I won't I did find it interesting to find something new, but almost 60 years old, double my age. And a pressurized apparatus to boot . Wall Products... I am interested if any of our over seas friends know this brand and if it still exists.
Arjan: A Dreadnought indeed! Very impressive, and rescued from the dump. You could cook for a platoon with that. Paul
Hello Arjan Think title of topic is misleading. I would say the opposite, this is really a real big Stove. Very impressing, and I like that all seems to be quite heavy built. The control knob looks like something you really could grab without destroying. Joakim
Hi Arjan I'm not familiar with the Wall company, but I'm guessing that a fellow Yank will be along with information soon. What I would suggest to you is that the device you have here is a "plumber's furnace" originally used to heat a crucible of lead solder for use by plumbers in fitting and soldering pipes. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will let us know. I base my thoughts about this on the similarity of design to my Clayton & Lambert plumbers furnace that I posted here: Link It's a fine item you have there in minty condition. I know I couldn't resist firing it up, but I'm a bit of a pyro that way. Follow your heart and be careful! Thanks for sharing it. Cheers, Gary
Wow that looks tough. American built tough for sure. Looks like they made it to fall off a cliff and still work. I think Gary is on the right track with being a plumbers furnace. Why would the army need one? who knows. Looks like they never need it. Great find!
Yes! A wonderful find! Plumber's "furnace" is my guess too. I have seen one made for the Montgomery Wards Co, (now defunct). best, Randy
.. welcome to thunderdome! Light it!!! It'll make the hairs on yer arm stand straight up! very nice find ...
Thank you guys, for your replies. I probably will light it this week, I'll make and post pictures of it when I do. heh, I showed it to my dad and he wants one to and my good friend Bart, owner of BBL, wants one to. I'm looking forward to the reaction of the man. He hasn't sold this item in many many years and now he will sell 3 of them in less then a week. I'll keep you guys posted.
That is a really nice old Wall Dreadnought. Did you ever get it working ? I have a Wall Dreadnought blow torch that is in pretty good condition that I use quite often. What I know about the torch I have is the check valve in the pump can be a bit sticky. Even after a good cleaning, inspection, and a few drops of oil I still keep an eye on it. I will have to post a few pictures of it sometime. Thank you for sharing.