Picked this up today at a car boot sale. The seller thought he bought it new in the 60's and had hardly used it. Came in it's box so hardly any rust and the mica window is in very good condition. Still has it's original Beatrice branded wick. The price on the box is 35/9 which is 35 shillings and 9 pence in pre-decimal money. Converts to £1.79 ($2.77) in modern money. Didn't need to do anything other than add fuel paraffin (kerosene) and prime the wick. Regards, Terry
Nice one Terry, it is nice finding one in almost perfect condition with little use. I am very impressed with the flame on these harper wick stoves, how did it get with the boil test
Hi Terry A Very nice find with the box & put to good use already 8) I do like these wick fed boiling/sad iron stoves & have four of them , two singles like this & two twins , one with the boiling table extensions/wings which give a bit more space to pop your pots on ( still in bits almost ready to put back together ) . Would be great in a narrow boat or road workers caravan behind a steam road roller 8) Enjoy it Best regards Stu
Very nice Terry. The glow inside looks like a wood fire burned to hot coals, very attractive. Is it 2 pieces or one? Is the stove anchored to the base plate with bolts/rivets or does it just stand on it with no fixed points? I can't tell from the photos (plus my screen is dark). I have a two-wick one similar, likely US or Canadian made (from the family cottage). I turned my back on it for a few minutes and what had been a cleanly burning wick turned mean and output sooty, oily carbon as a misfiring wick lantern and coated everything black. Luckily it was outside so no harm done other than on the pot sitting atop. What 'niche' would these wick-stoves fill? What was their target market? I'd have to say it's quite the art form to cook with these without a black mess on your hands (and pots).
This is my first 'wickie' so I was on a bit of a learning curve. As Stephen said above, it is important to have the wick set correctly to avoid smoke and soot. My first attempt was pretty poor and I was soon banished from the kitchen to the garage. I got the adjustment right but left the garage door open. Whilst unattended, gusts of wind into the garage had been causing the stove to flare. The mica window and kettle were soon covered in soot. I let it sit overnight to think about what it had done and then stripped it down for a good clean this morning. There are two halves to the stove. Broken down into it's parts, in the image below the upper assembly is on the left and the lower assembly on the right: For the upper assembly, the mica sheet is held in place by a frame and two bolts: The top and bottom of the assembly are then added and secured with two long bolts - one down each side: The parts for the lower assembly (there is also a thin gasket around the rectangular slot in the base but it looked very fragile so I have not removed it): The wick assembly just drops into the slot in the top of the base which is also the tank: The two 'wings' are then bolted into place at front and rear. The front wing also secures a sprung steel clip. The wings serve no purpose apart from lifting points/decoration: The rear of the upper assembly has two hooks, which hook into the rear of the lower assembly to form a hinge point: The upper assembly can then be hinged forwards to engage the sprung steel clip: The tank cap is vented to prevent pressure build up in the tank: The stove along side a Primus 71 for size comparison: To light, the upper assembly is hinged back and a match applied to the wick. The assembly is then swung forward and locked in place: Once the correct height for the wick is found there is no smoke and no further adjustment is needed. The stove is very fuel efficient. It ran for 5 hours today in the kitchen with no smoke and no soot on the base of the kettle, on half a tank and there was still fuel left - I had to lower the wick and blow it out. It is not fast. A one litre kettle took about 25 minutes to boil, but I don't believe that speed was a selling point. These were mainly aimed at rural homes where hot water was supplied by a kitchen range. In the summer, one of these stoves could sit in the kitchen and provide a slow but steady supply of hot or boiling water, thus removing the need for the range to be lit. They could also be used to heat an iron, but I would assume that the iron would have been placed on some sort of plate rather than directly above the flame in case of soot. Regards, Terry
Great explanation Terry, thank you very much for the breakdown and excellent photos. The way you describe its purpose/utility makes a lot of sense. The design, look and those pair of 'wings' are all quite attractive. Well done.
