I got the case when they was a regular source for them but it took until recently to combine the appropriate No.7 stove with it, which has seen a lot more use than the case and shows it. The control key is borrowed from a Russian Ogonek. Some work to do on the stove. Pricker was missing but hadn't left a broken-off stub in the rack and I was able to get a blob of silbraze molten on the tip and poke a piece of guitar string of suitable gauge into the silbraze and hole. It held. Getting the pricker wire in the torch flame directly would have burned it up instantly, hence the rather tricky procedure. A couple of false starts and it worked the third time. The wick was shot. Not scorched but rotten, the fibres pulling apart, which would hinder the capillary action needed for proper fuel flow to the burner. Ready to assemble. No stamped lettering on the fuel tank like the Optimus 80 on the left, just an illegible label remaining. Case details. The date stamp. The ventilation louvres. Fuelled up, max to simmer. John
@presscall Hi John, just found one of those myself, really nice little stove. I still think on the whole I prefer the 123R set up with the wind shield, plus I don't know if you did but I found it a real faff getting the number 7 in and out of the tin. However it is growing on me. It also reminds me of Steve (Shedman) who told me all about how he had to order all the fuel for them when he was co-lead on a expedition to Antarctica. Miss him and his tales. Still got the knife he gave me when he was stationed in America. One of the things in my treasured memories box. Si
Hi John Beautifull restoration, especially with the in-built pricker needle. I really have to resist the temptation ..... The military case looks like brand new. Wonder if its possible to obtain one and push the Svea123R into that for enhanced durability? Congrats again Zoltan
I agree Si, it is. The tank's got to be orientated just so and the burner bell tucked into the pot rest opening to get it over the 'step' at the front fold-down flap. It reminds me too, that and the No.6 type stove that didn't serve Steve and his companions at all well on that expedition. Steve's write-ups on the expedition appear HERE and HERE. This photo tells it all, one of the dozen No.7 stoves doing the job of heating up a pressure cooker no less and an out-of-action No.6 at the back of the galley top. Your comments about Steve (Shed-Man) do you credit Si. I miss him and his tales too. His enthusiasm was infectious and his sloe gin was fiendishly addictive. Not possible Zoltan. The 123 tank is wider than that of the Optimus 80 that this stove's based on. As Big Si has rightly pointed out, it's a tight fit in the case even for that. John
@presscall Hi John, thanks for that made, made me smile, do miss him. I've just had one of my rear teeth out, so it's taken my mind off things. Si
Nice work John, Yep, it was Steve's story's that convinced me get a case and put together a No. 7 a while back.
Hi, getting a suitable stove into a No7 case can be a bit of a struggle. This thread is well worth a read, and Ian shows how a cut out from the case can make stove loading easier: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/army-no-7-cases-what-fits.14938/#post-149415 Best Regards, Kerophile.
Interesting that the British Army refers to the common automotive fuel as "Gasoline" rather than "Petrol". Another point I read from the instructions on the folding panel is the recommendation to use a half a hexamine tab for priming. I hit on that same method many years ago, when I bought a Korean War surplus tube of hexamine tabs. The original tabs are long gone, but Coghlan's sells hexie discs in the same diameter, so it's easy to reload the khaki tube. Advantages to solid tabs is they are safer than sloshing white gas around for priming; you can blow out the chunk once the main gas burner is engaged and relight it later. Disadvantages are: Harder to light; take longer to get to priming temperature; they leave a smudge on the top of stove and bottom of pan; and a residue of hexamine is left on the upper surface of the fuel tank and in the priming trough. [Not sure what dissolves hexamine, just abrasives and elbow grease, I guess.] Now that I'm more educated in Advanced Stovism thru this Site, I see the classic method is to prime with alcohol. Since I also like to bring a Trangia burner and its fuel along with my Svea 123, that's now a possibility. I understang the logistics need for burning unleaded gas, but what does this do to the jet and regulator burner ['vapourising tube' in UK Dialect]?
I have wrapped a piece of black soldering felt around the lower part of the burner tube into the primer tub of my No7 held by thin wire twisted around it. You don't nee but a tiny squirt of alcohol on it and fire it up, I love this little stove. All my 123's have this same rig, no more sacrifice by fire for priming.
Cool, thanks. I might try that if I could find the stuff. I've seen that gag on u tube. Looks like it would be a lot better in a rising wind than doing nothing.
Good point you make. A British military No.2 stove - an earlier production than the No.7 (logically enough, given the number) - refers to 'petrol' in the instructions. I suppose the later stoves took account of the possibility of confusion with 'petroleum' if shared on joint exercises and the gasoline term removed any doubt. The additives clog them, coke them up. On his expedition, which I mentioned earlier, Steve wisely used naptha and ensured that wouldn't afflict his stock of stoves. The No.6 stoves malfunctioned in another way - I believe the nut/olive at the burner to tank joint failed. I've discovered there's a knack. Getting the stove out of the case from this position ... ... doesn't work with the regulator spindle pointing forward. Turning the regulator 90 degrees to the left the stove can be easily removed and replaced.
@SveaSizzler Like @Ramseybella I now use carbon felt in many stoves and lanterns: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/some-more-on-carbon-felt.35379/#post-364125 Cheers Tony
Pm me your address I will send you a piece your next door to NM no big deal I have more than I need. Or you can get it at I think it was Lowes or Home Depot. Pete Works like this>>
@presscall: Does the stove have to be primed and lighted inside the windscreen tin? Looks like it could all get too hot to handle if you have to remove the key to fit it in when lit. Enjoyed your pix of Mr Shedman. I've just begun reading ''South'' by Earnest Shackleton. I have an Arara37 that I think had either gasoline [leaded or un-?] or even kerosdene it it when mailed to me from the UK. I drained it out before a dunk test and yeilded about 2-3 Oz of a yellowish tinged dirty oily fluid. A small amount of it in a tuna can went POOF! when hit with a lighter. It sort of smelled like Regular. I wonder if it's from 1945. Probably a lot later, '50s, '60s, who knows? Coleman "Gas" is really Naptha, IIRC. I was camping last summer and ran out of Zippo lighter fluid, and tried some Coleman white gas in an Imco lighter. Worked fine. I've seen Imco Lighter ads calling them "Gasoline Lighters''. I wouldn't use auto fuel an a lighter, though -- too many additives. [Including methyl alcohol, at times, in the USA.]
