I have finally fettled the pre-1911 Primus that I am giving to the Mawson's Huts replica museum in Hobart (Australia). It is the same model stove that (Sir) Douglas Mawson took to Antarctica in 1911. It's a bit shiny, because I had to do some re-soldering. I will let it gain a bit of patina before I hand it over. The bits: NOTE: The filler cap on the left in the above photo is the one that came with the stove. I replaced it with the one in the middle. Note also the round end on the NRV: The NRV was stamped with a "1" or an "I" (it is not a scratch): The burner is stamped with a "4" and an "L": The cast iron trivet: Note: It is not stamped "Primus"; and its internal extensions are smaller than the "Primus"-stamped ones to accommodate the bell of the silent burner (see separate post). Up and running after I fettled the burner (see separate post) to get rid of the old ruined burner ring, and replaced it with a standard Primus outer cap (boiled 1 litre of very cold water in 4min:20sec). It's good to get these old stoves going. This one will last for another century. By the way, I'm still looking for a complete pre-1911 Primus silent burner Cheers Tony
Great piece of work Tony . And I wouldn't be worried about the shiny finish going to the replica hut - after all the stoves that originally went with Mawson would have been more or less new when they set off Ian.
Hi Tony. Inspirational piece of work. A real labour of love. I hope you have made up a file, with photos, describing your work and observations of the features, marks etc.on this stove. Some comments on the proper way to operate and maintain the stove would also be valuable to future custodians and researchers. The things we take for granted are sometimes a mystery to the uninitiated. It would also be worthwhile recording the capability of such a stove, in terms of power output, fuel consumption, maintainability and reliability etc. as it is clear that we have not moved on significantly in the past 100 or so years when it comes to Arctic/Antarctic stoves. Best Regards, Keophile.
@kerophile Yes. I have been putting together a little file on this stove (electronic and, eventually, printed). I am in contact with the museums, and the Australian Antarctic Division, so that I can some relevant historic printed material and photos to put with it. Cheers Tony
Hi Tony, I went through the Mawson's Huts display about a year ago - good museum, but was disappointed to see the lack of historically accurate stoves. "Good on ya" for putting it right. Norm
What an excellent, thorough job you made of it Tony. Outstanding contribution to an important collection. John
Hi Tony This stove is a real credit to you! Having read a few of the recent histories on Mawson and the Australian Antartic explorations one understands just what a critical piece of kit this was. It must have been devastating for them to find that their precious fuel had run out or evaporated away in their storage dumps during the many field trips. A great piece of living history!
