Thermidor 2-pint, War Dept issue 1939

Embossed lettering stands out (definition of ‘embossed’ after all) - I mean, it’s distinctive.






War Dept broad arrow and the date, WWII issue.




The burner’s right for the period with a deep ‘shroud’. Judging by the age-related pitting, the inner and outer caps are original. There is an oval hole in the burner shroud for a lighting torch, which I added. Clever design, using the burner shroud as a register at one end, torch base tucking into the priming cup, so no need for a fixing clip. The torch is longer than the usual 2-pint stove burner type and I’d to silbraze an extension tube onto the one I had in my spares box.




A removable pump is a boon for servicing the non-return valve.




Fuel filler cap incorporates a safety release valve, though there really is no danger of overpressurising a stove of this type - I don’t know about you, but if I really want the burner to put out the heat around thirty pumps (tank 2/3 full of fuel) is about right and getting any more air in tends to be a case of diminishing returns as pumping becomes more difficult.




Nicely-formed foot.




Priming.




Priming torch doing its job.




Ignition.










The stove most probably dodged knocks and scrapes thanks to being used in this pickled cucumber tin. I’m guessing that was done post-war, since the label on the tin refers to the cucumbers being produced and packed by an Israeli company, which I assume was after the state of Israel was formed. Kibbutz produce, and judging by the size of the tin the contents would knock the spots off those dwarf varieties (gherkins) that pass as pickled cucumber these days.









@gieorgijewski
I relented and bought the stove.

John

 

John, that is a truly beautiful stove.
Such stoves are often very undervalued on eBay.
In fact they are very well manufactured and burn well.

 

I like that a lot

 

Hi John, great presentation of a lovely stove.

I have seen the neat trick of feeding an igniter through the shroud of a silent burner in 1950s Czech Meva stoves:

https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/czech-meva-value.10229/#post-98339

David pointed out the same feature on a much earlier Monitor 2 pint stove from WW II and provided a photo in the above thread.

Best Regards,
Kerophile.

 

I like the patina.
Wonderful looking stove and it looks like it runs great.
Thanks for sharing.

 

I agree @shagratork , and yes, @teckguy_58 it has a patina that is more to my personal taste than the de-patinated look of THIS Monitor that shares many of the characteristics of the Thermidor - burner type, embossed lettering, solid build.

 

So he did. I seem to remember Ian @igh371 posted about a burner with that feature not too long ago.

 

Ahhhh the long lost older brother to my 1940. Mine has a few more tiny dings and dents probably because it never had the fancy pickle tin protector. That removable pump tub feature is surely the cat's meow for NRV maintenance isn't it? One of my favorite brassies. Outstanding!

 

@presscall

Great stove, great presentation.

Cheers

Tony

 

But why only this one?

 

@presscall. John, is the colour more to do with the varnish/laquer used on British stoves do you think? Quite a number get that almost chocolate brown colour. Possibly a thin coating of electrical insulation varnish used in motor manufacture as protection possibly.

 

@Simes. I can’t see any residue of varnish, but I follow your reasoning.

John

 

Just a curiosity at this point then. Possibly the brass quality and other quantities of metals present, although the storage conditions probably affect the patina. Only.from memory, but old stoves (No 5's generally) kicking about in the back of antique yards in the wet can get pretty dark.

 

That’s true. The dust on this was dirty and ingrained. Warm soapy water got rid of the worst and then a gentle superficial polish with Autosol to ‘cut’ the ingrained dirt - I indulged in picking out the embossed lettering too. Finish with auto car wax.

 

Don"t You have pictures with initial conditions of this stove?

 

From the ebay listing - not any more.

 

So unique. The burner, embossing, pump and release valve hardware, date stamp and most of all that patina! That's a real beauty John and well presented as usual. Jerry

 

Turns out I was able to retrieve the auction photos. Pretty grubby!

 

thanks

 

You brought that one back from the dead.