This stove was rescued to Finland from island of Madeira, Portugal, 2016. It is unsure whether the cast iron trivet is original to this stove or not.
Hello Kalle I think the trivet is original. Have a look at this ad: https://olx.pt/anuncio/fogo-petrleo-sun-flower-n2-IDz1oMt.html# On the first picture there is a trivet of pressed steel with an interesting attachment for small pots. The other pictures show a similar cast iron trivet as yours. The sunflower stoves were made in different countries (also in Portugal) for the Vacuum Oil Company (USA). The name was changed into Socony Mobil Oil in 1955, in 1966 to Mobil Oil. So probably your stove was made before 1955. I like the look of this stoves, they are worth to be rescued! Best Regards Radler
Some corrections: 1931 the name Vacuum Oil Company changed to Socony Vacuum Corporation. 1934 Change to Socony-Vacuum Oil. 1955 Change to Socony-Mobil Oil Inc. 1966 Change to Mobil Oil Corporation. This would mean the stove is pre 1931, if the name Sunflower disappeared 1931 completely. But there was a German/Austrian branch at least until 1938 named Vacuum Oil AG in Vienna. Radler
Hello Radler, Based on the picture I too think the trivet is original! Thank you for the link and for shedding some light on the mfg. date and company, too. I aggree with you regarding the looks; immediately I saw it on flea-market I knew I got to have it. It ended up to be quite a task cleaning up the tank for air transport in hotel conditions, using cheapest booze and vinegar (with "do not disturb" sign hung on the handle through the whole day), but it was worth it. -K
The "do not disturb" sign at the door is the typical symptom of morbus stovie. Don't worry about, it's useless, there is no cure. Just take it like a man. Radler
I'm glad you like it, Funfundfunfzig. I aggree the whole situation - to barricade oneself through the whole sunny day inside and also to turn a lovely housemaid away when she calls on the phone about cleaning up the room - was downright hilarious. I told the maid "feeling a little sick today", for an excuse. Thanks to the vapours I was accompanied with, it actually wasn't wholly an excuse.
Dear fellow stovies, Otherwise the stove is perfect, but the trivet is broken in places. Has anyone of you ever succeeded at welding/brazing these? -K
Hello Kalle The trivet could be welded, but this would not solve the problem. The inner ring of the trivet gets much more heated than the outer ring, so it will expand more than the outer and colder ring and cause fractures at the "spokes". The designers of cast iron trivets tried to solve this problem by interrupting the inner ring three times, which helps to reduce the stress-strain, but not enough as we see often. Cast iron has not the necessary elasticity to withstand for the longer term. Welding may make things worse. Perhaps the trivet is more solid as it is now. The two fractures let the inner ring expand without much stress. Regards Radler
X2 with @Radler Cast iron can be welded, but if it is broken because of heat stresses it might break again. For DIY you can buy arc welding electrodes to use on an arc welder which should work. Small tacks would be needed until you build up a repair on a fine job like this... Maybe @kerophile has an answer as he is a metallurgist as well as a master stover? Steve
Hi, Both @Radler and @Funfundfunfzig have explained the situation correctly. I would just live with the cracks and use a generic presssed-steel pan ring for practical use of the stove for heating/cooking. Best Regards, Kerophile.
How about a cast iron pan ring that broke because it was dropped, and was then re-welded? I haven't been tempted to use it so far, but could I without risk of breaking it? ....Arch
Hard to say without looking at the item but If it was my stove and I was keen to use it, I would take a chance. Just weigh up whether you would be too bothered if it broke again or if breaking was going to be dangerous but this might be a risk with any cast iron trivet. If it was an old (and therefore hard to replace) part maybe have a replacement pressed ring for normal use and keep the cast iron one for looks...
Hi all, Thanks for your help. I now see that this type of trivets have an inherent property of self-destruction. It is a good point Radler, that the cracks are in fact necessary to allow the inner ring to expand. Even if I could make a decent weld then it might break elsewhere, so it is better to leave it as it is. Regards,-K
