Another of yesterday’s efforts… I picked this one up in Albury for $40 it looked “interesting” and had an old style silent burner with “special” features: The ingenuity of replacement silent burner cap especially caught my eye! The plunger assembly of the pump was also remarkable - and it worked (in a fashion): Ready for firing (yesterday) - I installed a Companion inner cap, but retained the outer cap: It certainly put out impressive heat, so I put the kettle on: A lot of sooting: This morning I replaced the nipple/jet (I suspect the one in it might have been from a blow torch): Graphics: I think the Companion inner will not be coming out easily: Much better flame today: and no “sooting”… Another pre-1911 Primus No: 5 back on duty! Thanks! Rodger
Agreed, that is one fabulous make do. With something so simple it survives whilst untold numbers of those older type burners must have been scrapped in the past only because the top caps were lost ...
I have a penchant for stoves with Brandt Bros. cartouches, possibly acquired from @Tony Press. I now have three! Today I managed to fettle two to contribute to this thread. This first pre-1911 Primus No: 5 was purchased in Young, NSW and has served a useful life for someone: Graphics: It would appear that it was originally an “Autolight” with flattening of the tank top at the base of the riser. I’m surmising that the spirit cup was removed for the soldering: It was replaced by a Companion spirit cup on top of the riser. It has a relatively large knob (possibly from a No: 2) on the pump rod (and an ancillary piece of wire - which I retained for originality): Fettling was relatively straightforward until re-fitting the burner. I was unable to get the thread to catch into the riser with the new gasket. I ended up replacing it with another in order to function. It was almost as if the burner thread was too small. Firing up: Kettle on: Minimal “sooting”: As it was: Thanks! Now onto the next:
This stove was acquired in Wamberal, NSW as part of a box full of stoves, blow torch and lantern bits (which went on to @Tony Press): The gent from whom I purchased it said that he’d bought the box complete with a padlocked chain around it from a deceased estate sale not knowing what was inside. He’d made an attempt to polish some of them. This stove when I got it out of the box: It has been fitted with a Sievert 1815 regulated silent burner - which has obviously had a significant bump at some point: It threw me a little to find the pricker rack engaged with the nipple in the fully closed position rather than fully open: “E” - 1915: Two panels of script on the side of the tank: Firing up: Kettle on: There’s a some “sooting” there: Thanks!
These brass dealers plates give an extra touch of class! They are much less common but occasionally seen in the UK, and of course Condrop plates adorned the boxes of travelling sets over here.
Another one “out-of-the-box”: It is very well adorned with past repairs: A HASAG burner: and “J 30” on the base: The storage tin has faint remnants of graphics on one side and end: “Dunk test” revealed a leaking pump tube, but I decided to fire it up with minimal fuel: A little powerhouse despite its known problems: Thanks!
Repairs to just about every soldered joint! A bad case of overheating perhaps? Anyway, going well now!
A further addition: A Primus “Patent” No. 5 which now has a roarer burner - and other acquisitions too: My first encounter with this old style of pump assembly: Now that’s a “knob”!! Arrived at Stumpy’s No. 3 campground yesterday and started a “boil up”: Finished fettling and fired up this morning amidst the Bracken an Banksia’s - it is quite breezy here: It works - well! Time for a walk on the beach:
Nice one @Rodger Willows I love the modifications to the legs performed sometime long ago in this stoves by the looks, very busy life. Well done! Ps I must work on getting some of my rusties up and running.... Scott B
Absolutely cracker Roger! Must date from close to 1900. I wonder if the original legs were cut short, or even if it was supplied that way, for use in one of those old cast range frames where the legs were superfluous? (e.g. the Australian 'Sunshine' ranges show in the Foy & Gibson advert here) @Rodger Willows
@Scott B, @igh371 Thanks for your comments! The legs have all been intentionally severed at some stage possibly as you suggest… The current legs appear to be home manufactured, are inconsistent and not aligned very well when re-soldered. I think the mass of soldering at the base of the riser is where there once was an auto light spirit cup too.
Fabulous stove, especially the major leg U-turn! As I've said before, you certainly live in a part of the world rich in interesting early stoves which have led equally interesting lives! My Kenrick Aurora is similar- extensive riser soldering, and the spirit cup moved up in the world at the same time. Me to- I've contributed embarrassingly little to this thread. I do feel it has backfired (or maybe lit back? ) somewhat, I was hoping it would be something of a celebration of repairs, modification, damage and decay, (which it is, and brilliant too) but as an addition to stoves going into the reference gallery of which they are all worthy. It wasn't the intention to create somewhere for stoves which might be seen as 'unfit' for the gallery!
@Blackdog I politely disagree... I think it was a sound concept created to showcase the working lives of stoves well used and needed by the folk that have come up with many a solution to keep them alive and functional to suit the task at hand. Resulting in the multitude of modifications and sometimes quite ingenious additions or subtractions from the stoves original design. I to have neglected this thread due to time constraints and the lack of hunting and stove time of late. The rusties are there and waiting when the time comes tho. In the meantime @Rodger Willows and others have contributed many a historical piece well worthy of the gallery be they not original, or shiny, that was the whole reasoning for the thread. In conclusion of this impromptu rant.... A bit of time and attention and these beauties can be as satisfying as any as new/restored stoves around. Kind Regards and let's bring out the rusties. Scott B
Well said @Scott B. It's been great to see a procession of wonderful old stalwarts, I just worry they will be 'lost' in this thread while all are fit for the reference gallery, one or two have had noteworthy features in addition to the 'history' they have acquired! Nor is that a criticism of Rodger or a nag at him to create two posts for every stove. They are recorded here and look brilliant. What is it about a perfectly blue and powerful flame from a heavily oxidesed and battered stove?
@Blackdog Remiss of me, but I tend to delete all of my stove photos after posting… I’d end up with a phone full of them rather than family and travels! Perhaps there is a way of copying my “Rust but Running” posts to the relevant Reference Galleries?
You click on the photo on CCS, then download it to your photo library. You then need to convert it to jpg or jpeg format (which on a iPhone you do easily by doing a simple edit such as pressing the brightness button and saving). Tony
Here's my junker $5 dollar Coleman 400 that I previously stripped for the generator. I do not have a previous photo of it but it looked like someone stood on it and crushed the pot stand and bent the generator. Took a look at it again when I had some spare time on a rainy day and straightening out the pot stand and rebuilding the pump and cleaning out the nrv it runs actually really well. Used some Kurust on the legs and I'm calling it a day. Might end up selling it as I have a lot of stoves but it does run really well!
@Remus1956 That appears to be going “great guns”. Good work! Are you really sure that you want to get rid of it - now?!!!
