I'll confess I've no idea what this started life as and I'm not at all sure what whoever made the conversion intended it to be. I'm open to ideas and would welcome any thoughts as to what it was and/or became. It measures 24 centimetres long, 12 centimetres diameter, so has a capacity of around 2.7 litres (4 3/4 UK pints). It's made of a heavy gauge of brass and - alongside a Canadian Coleman 530 here - weighs about the same as the Coleman The tap's pretty robust and there's no need for sealing washers with that closely-matched taper fit between spindle barrel and housing With the Optimus stamp horizontal when the cylinder's upright, I'm supposing that's how Optimus intended it to be The base is slightly dished ... ... and the top slightly domed Filler cap is a handsome shape, but resembles nothing I recall seeing in the Optimus catalogues and isn't stamped with the maker's name, or country of origin In this location (pen indicates where) ... ... this residue of an outlet pipe is just visible. Looks to me as though it was cut and shut I've not been able to find anything resembling this (as it might have been, much less as it is now) in any of the vintage Optimus catalogues in the Stove Reference Library. I'd be grateful if someone would prove me wrong. John
Can't help you at all as to what it was intended to be, either by Optimus or the chap who modified it later. However, I look forward to seeing what becomes of it in your frankenstove-shed.
I've nothing drastic in mind for it Tetley! I'll probably dispense paraffin out of it, though it needs to be secured/clamped to a shelf to make using the tap a one-handed operation - other hand holding the stove to be filled. I've confirmed it's leak-free, but as you'd expect, the filler cap has to be loosened to give a glug-free flow out of the tap. Heck, some would be tempted to dispense a dram of whisky out of it ... John
Two ideas come into my mind, closely related. 1. Kerosene storage and dispensing for the kitchen, where there was probably one pressure stove and a couple of wick stoves. (In my childhood we had a similar contraption, except it was rectangular and made of galvanized / tinned steel.) 2. Kerosene drip dispenser for a water heater. Instead of the conical tap it had a finely tunable drip valve, which was dripping the fuel into a funnel at the top of a copper tube going to the burner. We also had similar drip tanks for fueling tent heating stoves in the army. The plugged hole you see is probably where the drip valve was. Yonadav
makes me think about those odd remote tank jobs you see sometimes. http://www.jaederfeldt.com/klas/FOV1-00019AFC/?OpenItemURL=S000E876A This tank differs too much from yours to be of the same model. Are there any more possible cut and shut places on yours? I haven't a clue as to what their designation is.
Hello John, my 2 pence worth is that the hole that was shut would have been attached to a glass measuring thing to show how much fuel is in the tank and which broke so the bloke just closed it up. No idea as to where that tank belongs, I don't have any clue. Does that sound logical?
Hi John two guesses from me, first guess is the same as Yonadavs a paraffin container dispenser. If there is no smell from the tank it could be possible as a water boiler IE a tea urn, but this would be highly dangerous if boiled with the filler cap in place. And you do not mention any sign of lime scale build up on the inside, so the second guess has only a minute chance it was made as a boiler of sorts. I am baffled at what the tank was originally made for, looking at the way the lettering is across the tank and where the filler cap is mounted, i agree it was a vertical tank. I guess it could have been for a spirit stove
I knew you guys wouldn't disappoint! Willie's bathtub gin dispenser gets my vote for what it is (or ought to become) now ... but what was it? Pysen's suggestion got me digging out my old faithful 'big job' brazing torch This pipe on the brazing torch corresponds to where there was an inlet pipe of a similar gauge (and substantial wall thickness to take the pressure) The brazing torch has a pre-heater and pressure gauge, so is quite complicated up top, but here's the outlet pipe to the burner I know ... it just doesn't quite come together as a possibility (gigantic brazing torch) but the substantial construction and thick material of the tank suggests it was a pressure vessel rather than a holding tank for fuel at atmospheric pressure ... I think. John
Hi John I have a similar Sievert heavy duty lamp, i cant believe I did not think of it. I have seen a couple of brazing lamps with tall tanks like this and bigger, if memory serves me correctly this style of lamp, the tank sat in a metal base with out stretched support feet
Hi John, Would you be prepared to post up a pic of the label on the blowtorch? I have a couple but had no idea what breed they were till I saw this identical one!! Do you use petrol or kero in this chap? Alec.
Of course, Alec. It's a paraffin (kero) blowlamp, 'fotogen' in Swedish, as specified on the label. Apart from 'Made in Sweden' engraved on the top of the fuel tank and embossed in the burner shroud there's just this metallised stick-on label to identify it I think I'm right in saying the three crowns on the label signify a Swedish government contract purchase - 'Optus'= Optimus in military shorthand presumably. Excellent tool to get larger stuff such as a leaky stove burner for a silbrazed repair up to red heat, then a zap with a MAPP torch at the area to be repaired and the silbraze flows perfectly. A favourite fettling tool I regard as indispensable. John
Hi John. I thought about a couple of days. Handle connection portion? Truncated part. Straight handle like a blow torch. The upper part, it is felt into strips, wrapped around the tank. and i think it more easy portable(in car)oil container. Gunsoo
Hi all A really interesting discussion and many ideas about this item. My opinion is that this is a fount from a big blow torch. But it has been modified quite a lot. For example the top of it has been cut of and replaced. You can see that it not fits exactly and the soldering is not perfect. And the plugged hole at the bottom is probably from the pump as you say, John. It might have been fitted with a steel rim at the bottom, some marks there shows something or is it just oxided? The stamping on the side and the style of the filler cap, that for sure is original, tells this is a very old piece. Maybe 1910-1920 or so. But what is has been used for, that's another question. Why not Whisky? See attached scan from a 1924 year catalogue. Bo
Thank you indeed, Bo. I believe you've got it exactly right and your close observation of the photos has picked out the rough nature of the top joint, which lends itself to the proposition that the original top was equipped with the brazing torch essentials of filler cap, outlet and anchor-points for the upper part of the handle/pump. What's interesting is that the joint is brazed and not lead soldered, which perhaps supports my proposition that it was intended to cope with some pressure (and heat). Brian (Mr Optimus) has rightly said that as a water boiler that screw-down top (and I might add the absence of a pressure release valve) creates something of a hazard. I wonder if the screw cap is more in the nature of a keeper-cap as we'd have on a Primus 210 or similar and that when the tank is put to use it's removed and another connector is screwed onto it I'm thinking that it would work rather well as a component in a home-made alcohol 'pot' still - perhaps the boiling vessel at one end of the line, having the tap to drain the residual 'wash' (for whisky) or wine (for brandy) and for sluicing out after use. Incidentally, thanks to Ray123 for PT-ing me this link to a stove in our Stove Reference Gallery that had a not too dissimilar type of fuel tank Ray's find in the SRG Double thanks to Ray, since I'd not discovered that SRG gem before and I honestly thought I'd browsed every inch of Spiritburner's magnificent site! Just goes to show how rich a resource we've got here! John
Holy necropost...but I thought I would dive in to identify at least your brazing torch. What I know that to be (because I have one) is a Heating Torch for the amphibious tracked vehicle (also made in Sweden) Hagglunds BV206. The torch is used in cold weather to heat up a tube at the rear of the front cabin to pre heat the Mercedes in-line OM603 turbo diesel engine. Coolant lines are connected to this tube to create a 'poor mans' block heater. I just got the torch and it is unused-I'm excited to try it out.
I'd say it is designed to heat and dispense a non-volatile substance. It's made of all metal parts so heating would not damage the container. It wouldn't have a small sealed opening if it were for heating something like water that would create significant internal pressure. It's not to large so it would be something you didn't need a lot of. My guess is it's for heating wax or oil. Why you'd need heated wax or oil I don't have a clue. Maybe run your cross country skis under the open spigot? Ben
you got a lot of peoples brains churning on that one Maestro! three litres of oil would get you from london to brighton in a car with an early engine using a total loss lubrication system clean oil drips in at the top - dirty burnt oil drips out onto the road - no sump and no oil pump! i am guessing of course but i have seen similar arrangments at classic car rallies the extended lugs on the cap suggest it might be used to regulate the oil flow it might even be off an aircraft with a rotory engine like a sopwith camel in which case it would have been castor oil pure speculation of course but i am sure you will astound us all when you find the true origin.
