Hi stovers! Today I found an optimus no1 at the dump,it has a split in it so it will just be restored as another ornamental piece. It has a stamp saying "model 1914" i will add a pic. The tank appears to be copper or copper plated brass. Would this be worth much? It will go in my collection which includes a phoebus no1,a Bowen British and a radius no1.S:or. Thanks in advance
Very interesting @Steven Whalley , the fact that your stove has the small, fixed 'pine cone' priming cup below the burner, feet on the legs and the distinctive all-through pump tube with the external NRV access cap on the outer end all fits with an Optimus No.1 of about that date. But Optimus did not normally mark a precise date on their stoves, and I have never seen or heard of one with 'Model 1914' stamped on to the tank! Even without that special marking it would be a stove worth preserving. Ian
Thanks for the good info mate im in the process of cleaning it up now. This is the first one I have with the straight through pump tube. Cheers
The discussion in this Optimus No.1S c.1915 or a little later? | Classic Camp Stoves thread might be useful and has more good links from it
@Steven Whalley I posted this in response to your other post on this stove. “I’ve not seen that type of marking an Optimus before, as far as I recall”. I see Ian has given you his wisdom on your stove. It is a great find and well worth preserving. Cheers Tony @igh371
Thanks for the feedback Tony, yes its definitely different I have no idea where to start looking for info on it. In the meantime I've started polishing it and soldered the legs back on. It has a much more copper/bronze look to it than any other stove I've done up
@Steven Whalley I see by your feet that it’s warm where you are... Can you show a photo of the crack in the tank? It could be fixable. The other components of the stove are straight forward, unless there’s a problem with the external NRV. This is the general principle for how the external NRV works: Tony
Yes mate im in Australia 28c and raining. Here's a pic of the crack I managed to get some of the dent out,there was a ton of solder on it and around the bottom seam.
@Steven Whalley Well, it’s a tropical 19C here in Howden, Tasmania. That is a bad crack! It would require a brass patch soldered over it, I reckon. Cheers Tony
Nice i like Tassie. Yea the fill nozzle was based in so it has cracked the tank. I might take it to work and braze it but the tank has a few chunks of solder in it so that may be an issue in getting the stove operating. Do you restore other brass items other than stoves @Tony Press
