There's been some recent discussion in the fettling forum on attaching legs to stoves. This has been covered in the forum before but as I was doing performing this surgery at the weekend I thought I'd try to do a step by step picture guide. The stove in question is a 1939 Primus No.5 that I'm renovating for my brother in law. The stove has had a hard life and one of the legs had been off previously and badly soldered back. The reason the legs need replacing is due to the wearing away from being used for many years with a pan rest. This can be seen in the picture below: The next picture shows the stove sans legs. In this picture I've already partly tidied up the bad soldering by heating until the solder melts and wiping the excess away with a damp rag. Also shown are the old legs and the replacements. The replacement legs came from a full doner card carrying Primus No.5 I dug out from the back of my shed. They are not perfect but will match the age of the stove and be servicable for many years to come. I further tidied up the previous botched soldering using 1200 grit emery paper wrapped around a needle file and then finished off with OOOO grade wire wool, to leave a clean surface, with no excess solder spread ready for tinning. So now we get onto the process of properly preparing the joint ready for soldering. Tinning, for the uninitiated, is the process of applying a thin coat of solder to the surfaces to be soldered together. In this next picture I've ensured the surface is clean and shiny, with no grease present (I wipe it down with meths). At this point take your favourite nail varnish (if you don't want to use yours, steal some from your wife) and carefully apply for some way outside of the area you want to tin - on reflection for photographic purposes perhaps I shouldn't have used clear! The varnish prevents the solder from running where you don't want it and can be removed simply later. Now apply a small amount of flux (an agent that prevents oxidisation of the metal surface and allows the solder to flow rather than "globulate" - is that a word?). The flux should be applied just to where you want the solder to go (belt and braces with the nail varnish). So after all this preparation we get round to soldering. To my mind if you work on the basis that 98% of your time is spent on preparation rather than soldering you'll have success - preparation is absolutely key. Skip the prep and you won't be happy with the end result. In this stage we'll perform the actual tinning of the stove. Heat the area trying to avoid playing the flames over adjacent solder joints. The flux will start to bubble and shortly afterwards the solder remaining from the previous tidying up will take on a liquid sheen. Avoid the temptation to apply your stick of solder in the flame. You need to heat a bit more as whilst you can see the existing solder melting from the flame we need the underlying brass to be hot enough to melt solder. There's no hard and fast rule I can offer here - this bit is experience so maybe some practice on scrap is advised. When the brass is hot enough take the flame away and apply your new solder. I happened to be using electrical with integral multicore flux as that was what was first out the drawer - note using solder with integral flux is not an excuse to skip any of the prep and not coat the surface with flux first. If the brass is hot enough, and you've done your prep right, the solder will melt as you apply it and flow across the pre-fluxed area. Heat gently - you want the brass to be hot enough but you don't want to burn the flux away by overheating otherwise the brass will oxidise and the solder won't flow. If you apply too much solder then gently heat again until it melts and gently wipe the excess away with a damp rag. If all goes well you should end up with something like this: Now repeat the process with the leg itself (including all the prep and varnishing). In the two pictures below you'll see the prepped leg complete with flux waiting to be heated and in the second the tinned leg. Same principles as above apply but beware due to the different metal and density of the leg it might take longer to get to temperature. Patience and don't rush and over apply the heat! So now you have two nicely tinned surfaces that can be simply sweated together taking all the stress out of the actual joining process. The picture below shows the particular set-up I use. I have left the varnish in place as again it will prevent the solder from running to where you don't want it. I have applied flux to one surface and mated the dry joint and then secured with the large jubilee clip. The rag is damp (mainly to prevent the rag burning if I happen to catch it with the torch) and is used to both prevent the tank getting scratched and also to take up any slight slack when the jubilee clip slightly expands during heating. Once secure position the leg precisely - I have used an engineer's square against the flat part of the tank to properly align the leg. Wipe off any excess flux that may have spread whilst the leg is being positioned. I find the set-up here removes the need for three hands and also removes the need to clamp the stove eliminating the chance of accidently making it out of shape - the stove is only resting in the workmate, it's not actually secured. When you are ready and fully prepared gently heat the joint. Following the same procedure as previously you'll see the solder start to melt and "sweat" together. If you have tinned well enough this may give a very good secure joint. However, I personally heat a little bit more and introduce a touch more solder into the joint when it is hot enough as the joint needs to be stronger than perhaps just tinning may deliver. Others may disagree with the need to add additional solder but it works for me. Let the joint fully cool. Avoid the temptation to start pulling it around to see if it's a good joint. When it's cool enough to touch with you bare hands you can then dismantle and check. Assuming all is well (should be fine if you've done your prep) then you can take your OOOO grade wire wool and clean up the varnish and surrounding oxidation. The end result should look something like this: If you've only got one leg to deal with you're done and can have a deserved brew. I had another two legs to do to get to this result: So in summary, just one word, PREPARATION. Hope this helps someone. Cheers, Graham
Hi graham really good post and really well done intresting good technique too. Years ago when i left school i was a apprentice coppersmith the firm made copper boilers often seen in cafes at the time and we used to tin the copper with a paste tinning paste this had flux and the solder in it. You just painted it on warmed with a torch and wiped while hot with a rag be ok for stuff like this dont know if they still make it tho cheers pete
Very good tutorial , nice detail and the finish work looks clean. I learned how to tin in Metal Arts class in high school it has come in handy a few times doing electrical and repairs. The nail polish is an excellent idea that I will use for sure.
Thanks for the tutorial. Would never have thought of nail polish. What colour goes best with brass?? Ian
Hi All, Thanks for the kind comments. Perhaps I should have mentioned that the technique I showed is a culmination of stuff I learnt at school and afterwards making model steam engines, but also tips I picked up from here. Kerophile suggested the jubilee clip originally I believe, and I think it was Sefa who shared the use of nail varnish, so credit should go to them as well. Cheers, Graham.
To complete the story, here's the fully fettled stove (note the flame shot is in full daylight). Cheers, Graham.
Great fettle; thanks ; have the same issue with an unknown picked up at a yard sale, it is a "Tarzan # 1 no idea or info on it is except it is labeled "made in Sweden" and can barely make out a "Tarzan # 1 as is incredibly dirty; have tested it with leg safety wired in place; I know, couldn't resist "firing her up" as when put a bit of clean kero in the tank to wash her out, the plunger held pressure not a "hi-jack" but going to apply what have learned from this "tutorial", best flattery is imitation, guess might be better to place it in "stove reference gallery or maybe fettling probably best to differ to our moderators, awaiting their recommendations HTH Lou
