Does any one happen to know what the typical thread size and pitch of a filler cap neck is on a autique camping stove? I may have to redo mine. It's for a 1879 Tom Thumb stove. Thanks!
Adam - the easiest and surest way is to check the thread with a set of thread gauges, like these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Starrett-No...842819?hash=item282fee5ec3:g:KGEAAOSwXYtY3bfv I'd be wary of anything marked 'made in China'; particularly with fine threads, the gauge has to be made accurately, or it can lead you well astray. But the entry I've linked to on E-bay shows you can pick up a set of well cared for gauges made by Starrett (good stuff!) at a very reasonable price. (I'm working on the assumption that your stove was built in the US, and was not imported from Britain or Europe) Once you've checked the thread pitch, in threads per inch, and measured the outside diameter of the male thread (on the cap, not the threaded hole in the tank), then refer to the table shown on this page; look down the left hand side of the table to find the 'Major Diameter' which matches what you've measured on the filler cap, then read across to the 'TPI' (threads per inch), and the number that matches will tell you whether it's Coarse, Fine or Extra Fine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Thread_Standard The thread standard formulated by William Sellers (which was later adopted as a US standard) was adopted by US companies around the late 1860s to early 1870s, so - with luck - you should find that the thread on your stove will be a standard ANSI thread. If the stove was imported from Europe in 1879, it's probably a metric threadform - in which case, it could be very awkward. Metric threadforms varied from one European country to another until a pan-European standard was drawn up in 1898. If it's a British stove, it's going to be a Whitworth threadform, designed by Sir Joseph Whitworth in 1841. There are several variants - BSW (coarse), BSF (fine) and BSP (British Standard Pipe, extra fine), but all can be sorted out by reference to the number of threads per inch and their major diameter, as described above: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Standard_Whitworth You'd need a set of thread gauges to cover the Whitworth threadform, though - 55 degrees included angle, rather than 60 degrees as with the US and Metric threads. HTH, and best regards, Jack
Hi Adam Please be aware that not ALL threads used on our lovely stoves are listed as recognised threads ! As many of us have learnt over the years, some threads are particular to their own make of stove, and won't, necessarily, be found in any thread tables. I can't vouch for your Tom Thumb stove, but you may wish to keep this in mind ! Jack has given you some good guidance, just don't fret if you can't find the thread listed, if it's not listed then it's very probably, what some of us here, call a 'Special', Hence, made 'Specially' for that make of stove. Happy stoving
Oh, boy . . . another potential minefield to watch out for! Thank you for the warning, Longilily - and best regards, Jack
Thanks man.. im starting to think this is a specialty thread.. Could it be possible that it's a pipe thread? I did buy some locitite form a thread and that worked some what.
May we'll be a special Adam, was you able to measure the O/D and TPI as suggested earlier ? If so what were they ? Can you take a close up pic of the male thread, from what little I can see, they look like the threads may well be rolled
Do you have the complete stove? If you light that up the way it is you'll get a black smoky flame. You need a chimney to set up the proper draft and the top trivet to hold a pot. Complete it should look like this: These are not pressurized so you can use a cork to seal the filler or even leave it open to test fire until you can get a proper cap. Ray
