Some months ago I bought an old rusty and ugly Optimus 111 on the Swedish auction site.... The price was way to high, but as some of you might recognize sometimes you feel that this stove I got to have whatever.... Anyway, the stove arrived promptly, and was in an even worse condition than I imagined! I can only guess what had befallen this old stove... My guess is that it started leaking fuel copiously from the spindle and that the operator tried i vain to turn it off, and the twisted the control knob even harder. Since the shut of valve was already damaged fuel kept flowing and a big fire in the box was burning. The conflagration probably continued for some time, maybe until all fuel was consumed. The stove then got a severe kicking and stomping and was thrown in the back of a shed were it rested and rusted until found years later by someone going through the estate. As can be seen the spindle is a bit bent. Having read "prescall":s adventures with Rustbucket and many links and tips herein... After dismantling the stove I came to the conclusion that many (all?) parts was beyond salvage and repair. I bought a service kit from fogas and while waiting I started on general clean-up. The burner got a good soaking and a lot of brushing followed by heat and quench. The tank and spirit cup was cleaned and then got a acid bath ( I use acetic acid since I am cheap and have a PhD in chemistry and of course brass never turns pink in my custody). I decided early on in the process not to remove all traces of the burning, but to leave the tank as much as I bought it (albeit clean). The pump leather was so brittle that it disintegrated when lowered into the oil bath.... The case was washed and then I used electrolysis (with common salt as electrolyte, se above). After a thorough grinding and polishing I painted the case with heat resistant paint and baked at 200 C. The outside of the case then got a few coatings of clear paint and I made a bear can liner... When the parts from fogas arrived I inserted spindle graphite packing and brass washer, and new jet. The new pump leather (the first I have not made myself) was fitted and placed in oil bath until the next time I had five minutes to spare on my hobby (three days later). The leather was smooth and slid down into the pump tube with less fuss than my home made leathers usually do. I also fitted the new gasket for the filler lid. Putting it all together I happily pumped away ten strokes.... It didn't hold the pressure for more than a minute..... Since the service kit from fogas did not include a new NRV, I had fitted a homemade new pip (?) and lead washer...... I immersed the tank in water and found that the leak was by the soldering of the pump tube to the tank. Thanks to "Kerophile" Soldering 101 and many others, resoldering the joint was a piece of cake with my blowtorch. So after a lot of swearing in the shed and many hours of fun work this is the results (with flame shots at the end)! A comparison of the old spindle and the new. Well lots of thanks to everyone on the site for all the wonderful information. I am now looking for the next stove to fettle... Regards Lars
Howdy, Lars, You did a great job on that old nasty 111, Sir! Well done! Thanks, also, for all the photos, which led us down the path that you followed to resurrect this great old Optimus. Now you have a stove of which you can truly be proud, and even more so since your own efforts made it that way!! 8) Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Excellent job, well done . Another one saved from the scrap bin that will now run for many years . Regards, Terry
good job! another 111 and a classic camp stove saved from the dust heap! someone, somewhere will eventually be very happy that you have done this! willie on the bright and sunny Gulf of Mexico
Thank you all for the kind comments! My "problem" is that I have twin boys who are already at 7 developing into woodsmen! So most likely I'll be looking for two more of some my favorite stoves! The Primus 71d might be a problem but the Optimus 8r is plentiful at the market.... Next project is a quartette of unidentified discus stoves with silent burners.... If anyone wishes to send old cars my way, you'll have to OK that with my wife first! We are starting to look like rednecks already, with two cars, a BMW motorbike and a tractor... Anymore viehcles and they most likelly goes into the barn! And don't get started about uses for the garage. /Lars
Hi Bem brilliant restoration and pictorial of the 111,the 111 is one of my favourite stoves, a brilliantly engineered and thought out practical stove,that is capable for most uses well done there on saving it and brinning it back to life
Much as I like stoves in general, I have a genuine soft spot for the humble 111 kero. Tough, hot, easily worked out and very long lived. There have been some cracking rags to riches restos on this site, of which my crusty example is not among them. It's on the list tho.... Nice fix up!
The case was washed and then I used electrolysis (with common salt as electrolyte, se above). After a thorough grinding and polishing I painted the case with heat resistant paint and baked at 200 C. The outside of the case then got a few coatings of clear paint and I made a bear can liner... Lars, what a fantastic refurb. Could you possibly expand on your processes for restoring the outer case such as the electrolysys process, the baking of the paint system (did you use the domestic stove? and if so are you still married),and what pray tell me is a "bear can liner".Please excuse my ignorance as any advice would be much appreciated in order to improve future fettling projects. All the best, Brian.
Lars, please also ignore my request for further info re Electrolysis. I have read the entry by Rustbucket and I am now up to speed. I would still appreciate some details on the "cooking" process for the paint system. Regards, Brian.
Dear Brian, Oh, saw that you read through the Rustbucket saga! My only change to the common recipe is that since I have a large bag of salt for thawing ice in the shed/workshop I used that and water for electrolysis. I use a 250 mA 6V battery charger. I run the electrolysis for 1-2 days and change the electrolyte a couple of times (it gets nasty). I did a test run on a really rusted an ugly case to a Turm sport and was happy with the results. Heat resistant paint usually need curing at around 200 degrees C for an hour, I work at a Technical institute an used a small electric furnace in the workshop, a bit tricky since you have to set it to 150 degrees and watch it since it overshoots badly at low temps (below 800 - 900 degrees). When the furnace had reached 200 degrees I just turned it of and let it cool until next morning, My wife would be very (VERY!!!) angry if I baked stoves in the kitchen oven, trust me not something taken lightly! I do help with keeping the house and farm shipshape! /Lars
They do stink a bit when curing, best done somewhere else besides the home oven..... Unless you're a batchelor, that is...
Lars, many thanks for feedback with regard to the battery charger specification and the electrolyte..I might have to source an oven for future curing trials. Good for future projects, Regards, Brian
I bought an old toaster oven at a thrift shop for $7, and use it for curing paint, annealing steel, etc. Yonadav
