I've Terry (CCS's 'Trojandog') to thank for posting details of this stove in the Auction Watch forum. Seller got it off someone he worked with who'd used it on the Home Front in World War Two. I'd say that's plausible, judging by period touches like the fibre regulator control wheel and the stove-enamelled steel frame. Since they're primarily boat stoves, sure enough it had a pot retaining rail in place but that's detached in this photo while I decide how to deal with the rust and flaking chrome No such indecision with the fuel tank, which went straight under a layer of paint stripper. Finished in white paint, most had flaked off and was still shedding bits. Original finish? If it was, it was poorly keyed with no primer. Brass suits me fine With the stove frame having some rust pitting dealt with I took stock of the rest of the components and required 'perishable' goods to get the stove going 'Perishable' goods were: burner heatproof washers; pump cup leather washer; nitrile 'pips' for non-return valve and safety release valve; tank filler cap seal; replacements for the rusty spring washers used on the assembly nuts and bolts and ... a tiny spring washer to act as a retainer on ... ... the safety release 'plunger' Taylors bought in Primus parts Burner's not got manufacturer's marks but is Swedish I could live with the wear between pump rod and pump cap ... ... but decided I'd be happier fixing it, silbrazing in an insert to take up the slop Flux cleaned off, insert trimmed, polished up The pressure gauge needed adjustment, the needle resting too hard on the stop pin, so that it wouldn't indicate when the tank was pressurised. Dismantled, it was simply a case of manipulating the air sac 'loop' to relieve the pressure on the needle linkage, the needle now just barely touching the stop pin Test assembly. Some may notice a burner swap. I fancied a more powerful burner to suit the use I had in mind for the stove (more of that in a minute) so this one's off a Primus No.10. The assembly is secured to the frame at three points using knurled brass knobs - two on the fuel tank and one on the burner bracing strut The regulator valve is fixed to the stove frame using a couple of countersunk headed set screw and cup washers I sat back and enjoyed seeing it in action. I chose a size of kettle appropriate to the size of the stove and that No.10 burner output MORE TO FOLLOW John
Pressure gauge function test, assured that at maximum pressure there's a wide margin of safety and the fuel tank's not like Das Boot at depth with bursting seams on the U-boat hull At 10 psi (just touching on the red zone) and with regulator valve opened up a hot flame results Massive (2 inches/50 millimetres diameter) regulator control wheel Doing this offers a quick reduction in pressure from 10 to 5 psi for simmering Cast iron pot stand Regulator valve with hefty chromed brass spindle nut Quite a robust mounting for the burner I mentioned earlier, I had a particular use for this stove. I start by heating up some oil Frying lardons then popping in some chopped onions Here's what I had in mind. The burner power, the size of the stove makes a Coleman oven a perfect accompaniment The burner soon got the oven up to heat Lardons and onion mix cooled off, I've folded them into a cornbread mix. Bit of an experiment. I'd usually use polenta but hadn't any in and reasoned that couscous is corn, but chunkier, so ... ... it made for an interesting texture John
Night fell. Some flame shots. Simmer A useful max, something short of crazy heat (+10 psi is crazy) Nice cone of flame compliments the pot stand configuration Crazy again John
G,,day John , a lovely single burner bench top stove . a nice useful size. and bloody good job on it as is usual for you . cheers, kerry
Hi John . Interesting stove and great presentation of its fettle. You now have a powerful, practical cooker. The regulator appears to be some distance from the burner head so I guess there must be a lag in flame control. Is this noticeable.? Thanks for posting another great fettle Best Regards, Kerophile.
Kerophile said, Very astute, George. I meant to mention that. The feed pipe to the regulator valve from the tank is of smaller bore than the one from the regulator to the burner, so there's some hydraulic leverage at work to ease the problem. That said, there's nowhere near as much control over the flame as with a regulator at the burner as on Ian's more recent example in the Stove Reference Library . That dodge I photographed of raising the safety release valve plunger to drop the pressure works very well though, without throttling down at all on the regulator wheel, combined with the pressure gauge to get the pressure down to a figure where I know it'll simmer reliably (around 3 psi). So in a sense, it's best to operate it as a traditional Primus stove with an un-regulated burner by adjusting the pressure in the tank with air release and pump. The bonus is being able to pre-pressurise the tank before priming, ready to release fuel when primed and having the facility to transport the stove without fuel seepage, valve shut. It's possible to regulate the flame on the wheel, but tricky. John
A version of Taylor's Para-Fin double cooker with warming oven. Has been refurbished and fitted in boat galley - added brass fiddle rail and gimball arrangement - based on Taylor's newer marine version 029.
another impressive addition to the Presscall canon - keep up the good work - your efforts are much appreciated, most of all by those of us who lack your technical expertise
What a lovely stove. You have done it proud. I found one Ebay some years ago that was a double burner variant, with much better paintwork -- baked enamel. A friend was outfitting an old bread van to travel down to Mexico, and fell in love with it. I gave it to him as a gift. He, like me, was leery of propane and insisted on kerosene. He never got to Mexico. There was this blonde woman that he ended up marrying instead. I wonder if he still has it?
Found the stove on eBay a couple of years back - seems a good source for old stoves and lamps. I was looking for an old Taylor's stove because these were the original for the boat - 1960 Fairey Atalanta - Also found a nice Tilley heater and Bialaddin pressure lamp (photos attached), which have been useful during the extended boat rebuild over the last couple of years. I love these old paraffin / Kerosene appliances - perfect for boat use. Had a couple of new version ( Ideal-K) Taylor's stoves previously, but I prefer the simpler (bullet proof) single jet and indirect burner control of the old Para-Fin model for ease of maintenance. When you get used to it, heat control is not too difficult. Another plus - it takes standard Primus burners which cost a fraction of the new Taylor's version and which are less efficient in my opinion.
I am restoring one of this myself right now. But unfortunately is the pan stand missing. Do you think your one is original? It seems to have the right size but the ends are a bit rounded while the stove has straigh corners. I believe it is hard to find an original one so I am planning to make a replica in flat iron or something like that.
I found the answer myself and of course on this forum. In this post a similar Taylor stove is listed and it has the same pan support. I take this as an evidence it is the original. Not easy to copy though: Bo
@optipri Indeed, Bo. Current example of a two-burner version on ebay further confirms that the grid is original to the stove, as is a white-painted fuel tank. John
