This incomplete 1916 (F) Primus 96 was on offer here in Switzerland. The fount assembly was complete, burner tube and bell present. Burner plate, preheater cup, and legs were missing, nothing else included: Primus 96s are quite rare here, let alone early ones, although B. A. Hjorth had been exporting to Switzerland since at least 1907 ("Primus" trademark first registered here). The early version's tiny feet might not be ideal for big pots, but to me, they appear very elegant. So I tried to get this torso working again. Probably early in the stove's life, its burner might have been replaced. The bell is marked "Primus" and "Sweden" and looks like it has been with the stove for a long time. But it does have a protruding lip/flange at the bottom. To the best of my knowledge, this wasn't introduced until about 1921. In the gallery, earlier 96s do not yet show this flange, e.g. these from 1915, 1917, 1917: Primus 96 1915 time machine! 1917 Primus 96 1917 Primus 96 Pocket Outfit. The stove had a few more surprises in stock: On the pump rod, there were three superfluous washers, blocking any movement of the piston relative to the rod. A vastly oversized, torn leather patch was folded backwards, opening towards the pump handle. The lower part of the tube contained brass gauze. Out of the upper part emerged a plug of cotton gauze. Some neon-yellow, fluorescent stuff blocked the fuel pickup tube. I wonder if the stove ever worked in this condition. There was no lead washer under the NRV. But with oil and patience, out it came. The NRV spring broke in two as soon as I had it in my fingers. Unfortunately, the (presumably original) cork pip crumbled as well. There is now a Viton pip and washer in there (courtesy of The Fettlebox), and a replacement spring from a broken Optimus NRV. Thanks to @sefaudi , the pump was reassembled with a perfectly smooth leather cup: When searching for leaks in a dunk test, air streamed right out from under the filler cap. There wasn't just the leather washer sitting in the cap, which I had noticed. Below the leather emerged a (rather uneven) disc of lead: No wonder the cap went on for barely 1 full turn. Replacing the conglomerate with an 18mm viton washer, the cap is now leak-proof and reaches 2.5 turns again. The legs I made from 4mm stainless steel rod. Many thanks @Tony Press and @yonadav for inspiration: Making 1/2 pinter stove legs "freehand" Jig for bending steel rods They are 113mm high, about 2mm more than @Tony Press 's measurements, which to me looks correct for this stove. I intentionally made them about 5mm longer towards the burner, to better support small pots. On this stove, even 4mm rod can't readily be inserted in the lugs. With more flattening, 4.5mm stock might still have worked, but I could not find that. For the notches on top, (thanks @kerophile for the inspiration), I found that slightly marking the locations with a Proxxon/Dremel cutting wheel first helped to prevent the chisel from sliding (the stainless rod came polished). For the upper part of the burner tube, I rolled some Petromax lantern brass gauze (finer than the original, but works nicely in an Hipólito 2 of mine as well). Trimming away some stray wires, I was able to re-use the original brass gauze for the lower part: In the past, someone had started to polish the stove, aggressively beginning with the burner tube. This had removed so much material that the burner bell wobbeled back and forth on the tube. There's an instructive BernieDawg video on the importance of shimming loose burner bells for heat transfer: youtube.com/watch?v=F3JtLUH6Yhc So I first cut slices out of a thin aluminum yoghurt lid to find the proper thickness. Four of these shims helped, amounting to about .25mm total. So I sanded down a piece of .3mm brass sheet until the burner bell sat squarely on the tube again: The nozzle was rather worn (about .35mm diameter) and required peening. As I was lacking proper 96 prickers, a Petromax 500 lantern needle served as reference (.23mm). After my first try, the flame was mostly blue already, but lopsided. Controling with a 25x mini loupe (Emoskop, a very useful piece made by Seibert in Wetzlar/Germany) after every few, very soft, hammer strikes, I was able to get the somehow oval opening round again and then also carefully chamfered the orifice: For the burner plate, I had first bought a replica. But soon after, I luckily managed to get an original early 1920s Primus burner plate. This is of course a few years younger than the tank assembly, but so is the burner bell that came with the stove. So I consider the plate a good match for the bell. The 1920s one also sits evenly in the somehow narrow slots of the bell, whereas the replica doesn't perfectly fit even after filing down its legs a bit. The preheater cup is a new spare part (in which I use carbon felt). Finally, a working stove: I was also very happy to find a Primus 1600 windshield (NOS). Again, it is newer than the fount assembly (the 1600 appeared around 1930/1931, if I'm not mistaken). But its material and shape suit the stove well, I'd say. In the 1930s, probably nobody would have minded using a newly bought windshield on a 15 year old stove. It proved very useful when preparing coffee and tea outside on a gusty day: (The grinder is an almost period-correct GESTO [Gebrüder Stockert, Schwelm/Germany], presumably from the 1930s, with ball bearing on the spindle.) I came across an empty Primus 96 box, but it looked a bit too young for my liking. Also, I have a weakness for complete stove sets with pots. So for the time being, when not in use, my 96 lives disassembled in the smallest of my Sigg Inoxal pots (admittedly, not period-correct (-: I enjoy this stove a lot. (-: Best regards, Christina
@night_owl Firstly, great username! Secondly, wonderful restoration back to working order of this early stove. It's a great example of the repairs these stoves get in use, to keep them running, which are often less than ideal! Well done for putting everything right, it's a beautiful thing, may you have much use and enjoyment from it in years to come!
Hi @night_owl Excellent pictured post and brilliant restoration of a true vintage classic well done there
Thank you all for your encouraging words. I hope to contribute more in the future. There are already a few more stoves in my care than any sane person would really need. Best regards, Christina
Impressive work. Down to the smallest detail, and so beautifully described. Thank you for sharing. Magne
