Primus 1892-3

This old Primus shares almost all of the features seen on the examples from "1892 or earlier '', and on the 1891 illustration in Primus' official history published in 1929. On the other hand it is clearly marked B.A.Hjorth on the filler, the trivet and tank base and so cannot have been produced any earlier than May 1892 when Hjorth took over the marketing of the stoves. The tank base has been spun with a flat central area and has a folded over seam at the sides. The only markings on the base are the Hjorth company mark and a tiny single letter 'Z'. The only markings anywhere else on the stove are the words 'PRIMUS' and 'PATENT ' on the tank top. The removable pump is of the peg spanner installation form which was later replaced by a hexagon fitting type either at the same time, or just before(c/f), the adoption of model numbering sometime in 1894 or '5.



The burner has no hex at the base for fitting and removal as one would expect from this early date:
but as can be seen it does have a gallery ring to hold a flame spreader. This seems to raise questions about whether or not the special trivet really was intended to be used without a flame spreader, especially given how loose a fit the drop ring integral to the trivet actually is:

A further comment on the trivet is to note that the casting is of notably lighter construction than later cast trivets:


For comparison here is this stove beside one dating from 1894/5:


No flame shots yet while attempts are made to revive and retain the original cork NRV block and original pump leather.




Many thanks are due to @gieorgijewski for putting me on the trail of this stove, and an even greater debt of gratitude is owed to @Radler for his invaluable role in its acquisition and transportation.
Ian

 

https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/victoria-1894.33025/
nybergs pot stand

 

@igh371

What a find! Excellent indeed. !

Cheers

Tony

 

Congratulations Ian! That just oozes history!

 

Incredible find, congrats! Jerry

 

@igh371 What is your address? If I'm ever in England I'd like to stop by and steal visit your stove.

Ben

 

Ah, Ian! What a delight to see

I have wondered a bit about that myself.
It started when I saw how large the recessed hole on the supposed flamespreader was on my Victoria with a similar trivet (As you can see in Gieorgijewskis post above).
And checking those few illustrations from the time show a similar look as yours, giving it all a bit too much space between the burner/vapouriser and the part from the trivet.
It is hard to tell, but in the dark part between burner and trivet, it has what might look like a regular loose flamespreader too.

 

Congratulations Ian, a stunning stove of the earliest models. And with original burner, that is unusual.

Bo

 

Way nice, thank you for sharing.
Duane

 

WOW! That's all.

Alex

 

What a rare beauty Ian!
Shows that some might still be out there.

I wonder about the trivet and how it fits around the burner. It may be possible that this stove did have a flame ring and the trivet design is there to help shelter the hottest part of the burner from wind.
John

 

There are a few out there :-)

 

Excellent @Northern Light
... and interesting to see that you are running yours with a flame spreader nestled very comfortably inside the trivet centre drop ring.
Ian

 

Another possibility is that it has a practical function out of manufacturing needs. Casting iron is a process of its own. As you know many old flywheels have curved spokes, and it was not primarily made like that to make them look good. It was to prevent breaking during the contraction phase.
This shape of the trivet could have a similar origin. Perhaps combined with aesthetics.
Not that I really believe it...Just tossed in to confuse further
...but it is a possibility.

 

Will it or won't it? After a week or so of careful treatment to the original pump leather and special NRV cork block, and pricking out the burner too of course ... will it or won't it?

The first priming and 3 strokes of the pump:


Ok; so now gently does it, and the real moment of truth:


So far so good, the trivet center drop ring is shielded from the flame by the spreader And the flame is then directed up just inside the open cone left clear by the clever shape of the trivet spokes. So now for a kettle and a bit more welly:




Disclaimer: in deference to age and irreplaceability, there are no plans to make this a regular user (but the odd fire-up, sure, after all these stoves were made to be used).


@OMC @Christer Carlsson

 

Perfect Nice job

 

looks good.

 

Excellent!!! That’s a good flame.

Cheers

Tony

 

3rd day of cautious use. Only using the coil base kettles as these are much kinder on cast trivets than flat bottom pans: