A Radius 42, brass, with SRV on top of her fount and a winged fuel cap. She comes with a colorful orange tin, which was missing her pot supports. Stove was missing her key, chain and pricker(s). No box, instructions or burner accessories (lamp/torch). Based on the image in the Library , the tin is circa 1932-ish and I'm assuming the stove is as well. I recycled both pot supports off a 'spare' Radius green-labelled tin and used them here, however the originals appeared to be parallel or diagonal (images bottom of page) sets. Burner bell and burner plate on stove stamped with 'MADE IN SWEDEN'. The tin lid with a colorful orange blazing star/stove logo. No stamping on fuel control stem. On fount: 'MADE IN SWEDEN' and 'RADIUS No 42'. On side of tank is the RADIUS shooting star logo and Patent information: 'PATENT SOKT', 'GENUINE ONLY WHEN PROVIDED WITH THE NAME: "RADIUS" ' repeated in 5 other languages. SRV labelled 'A-B. RADIUS PATENT' Winged fuel cap on her bottom labelled 'RADIUS' on one side, 'MADE IN SWEDEN' on the other. Back of case with 'RADIUS FOR CAMPING MOTORING' Inside was rusty, cleaned up with WD40/00-wool then rinsed/dried. She came with 2 loop handles/carriers for the accessories affixed to inside of front panel. Tin's side, showing more wear but has nice pattern on her lid rim. Bottom of tin. To get her going she needed a new gasket/washer in her SRV, the original appeared to be some form of fiber material. So a new one was cut from viton (1/16th"), SRV cleaned out (heavy spring was in great condition) and screwed back together. More details in Trojandog's post . Her fuel cap gasket needed replacing, original hard. New one cut from 1/16th" viton. She also need a new wick and carrier. Original wick was partially rotted/ripped while the carrier's 'grip' was twisted 180 degrees from her correct position. I derusted the carrier, then using heat was able to bend the handle part back in position. However the metal was fatigued and thin, so cut a new one from wire to size (4 cm length) and shape. New wicking material cut from a mop. Thanks to Murph for some useful measurements and tips as well. This was my 2nd attempt at a carrier, the first one was pretty poor (too wide of a top) and the stove suffered from not burning properly (limited flame - carrier not deep enough in fuel tube). The cotton mop thread was cut lengthwise into strips somewhat equivalent to the size of the original. The wick on the left is from the overpressurized- Radius 42 , which had been burnt and discolored. The new wick is threaded over top, and each of the two ends threaded through the bottom handle loop and knotted before flaring them out. This is then inserted back into the stove from the bottom and while holding the metal loop push the narrow end up into the fuel tube/vaporizer entrance. Carefully push the wick extends into the fount and you're done. Priming the stove with alcohol Stove running well, nice thrumming sound and she gets hot in a hurry. I used a spare Optimus 8 key on the fuel control, fits perfectly. No yellow in flame and I did not run her inside the orange case to prevent further damage to the colorful tin/paint job. I really like the Radius 42 stoves, and from an earlier thread I hope to pickup an Army (British) No. 7 case for her, as this one will be a user stove. Like that previous thread her limitations/benefits are noted, however this one has an SRV. This particular 42 was not as loud as the nickel-plated one but she 'thrummed' well, taking breaths and exhaling like a Svea 123. For size, this one with the winged cap, will not fit in a 'standard' tin designed to hold the later 42's with the top-hat fuel cap/SRV combination.
Your Radius 42 tin is unusual and neat! I like it. It is definitely a departure from the other paint jobs on them. I wonder if it is a later idea that was near the end of Radius' production. Thanks for sharing, sam
Really sweet example of a great stove. Nice job on the wick too! The tin is in remarkable shape for it's age. Jerry
HI Sam - I think the case is one of the first style, from the early 1930's if the photo in the link is of orange color/pattern. The drawing in the 1932 catalogue ( page 37 of 42 ) is black and white, but you can make out the semi-circles on the top lid, like this one's. The bloated brother of this one, which was overpressurized, is the same style of stove but comes in the standard green tin. They could both be from the same time period. Radius also made the embossed on top basic grey-painted tins with stickers for these Radius 42's, and they appear to be from the late 40's to 1950's, a latter style.
Hi SMolson, a very nice example of a Radius 42, and a superb documented fettle. I also use cotton strands from mop heads, but I have not seen or used the type, you use I have only used the original type cotton strands, never the less the 42 is working superbly on the cotton strands you have used.
Hi Mr. Optimus - thanks, that type of cotton mop piece I used and cut are commonly found at most hardware and some grocery stores. It absorbs liquids like a sponge but can be torn easily when too taught. It's just pressed cotton fiber, not stranded like stronger cotton string so you have to be careful. Also, I have to correct the length of the carrier: it's ~4.4cm long, not 4.0 cm as mentioned in my original post.
Hi Stephen . Great post and fettle. I picked up a 42 in an orange tin a couple of weeks ago but been too busy to document it. Interestingly my orange case does not have the accessory loops on the inside front of the tin. Also the stove is the version without the SRV. When I was at the Newark gathering I compared my three 42s with Trevor's. We noticed that the versions without the SRV have a letter stamped into the side of the bottom edge of the tank: The version version with the SRV does not have the vertical side to the bottom edge of the tank. But we could see that there was a '0' and what looks like an 'E' stamped into the side of the SRV 'stub': In your 3rd image I think I can see a '0' in the same place. As part of my ongoing (slow) research into the 42s, I'm aiming do a post asking people to check their 42s for stamps. I don't think it will ever be like Primus stamps where we can date stoves, but it may be a start. They must mean something, or they wouldn't have stamped them . Best wishes, Terry
Hi Terry, I checked the non-SRV'ed (nickel-plated) 42 and she has no letter stamping and no vertical flat side along her bottom (just a rim, assuming I'm looking correctly). The SRV'ed one above DOES have the 'O' and the 'E' on the SRV stub, like yours. I checked this one's sister, the bloated/pregnant one (SRV/winged fuel cap) and although blackened up, I can make out 'O' and the 'E'. I do not think it's a date code, but I have no idea what purpose the letters served. All my other 42's have the high-top fuel cap/SRV combo, indicative of a later model version. If I obtain any other 42's I'll let you know what, if any, letter-markings they have.
Hi Stephen, Nice restoration!! I will try to hunt a Radius 42 too, in the next couple of months Best regards Adrian (from Santa M)
Hi Terry, Just finished my first radius 42. On this only mark is "0" on the vertical pipe/tube between tank and burner. /Klasse
