Hello new member here. I have small collection of Coleman stoves and lanterns and adding this new stove to it. I found this Handy Chef at a garage sale yesterday. Never seen or heard of them. How should I clean the painted surfaces without damaging it? Thanks.
Beautiful old stove! Would appear to be a Prentiss Wabers re-badged for Sears. I would just scrub with soap and waters and a abrasive dish pad. You aren't going to damage much. Should end up with great patina. I'm in the very NW corner of the state, you nearby?
You should kill any deep rust spots. OsPho or some other phosphoric acid product is what I would use. OsPho will not hurt the existing paint, though it does leave a sticky residue (that can be wiped off) on existing paint. It will leave a protective coating over any metal where it has converted rust. This can be left as-is (it's kind of a blotchy black on large rusty areas) or can serve as a primer if you wish to paint (as I did with my rebadged PW). ....Arch
Got it working. The knob valve seal was some kind of string and it was leaking. I modified a Coleman graphite seal (dont know the correct term) and it worked great. Had to clean the generator and found the needle may be missing from the end. I found a video of a Pretiiss Waber being cleaned up on YouTube and there were also lighting instructions!
Looks good! FYI, a few of my stoves with the burner rings with holes (like yours), the holes were all just a bit corroded, and reaming them just a bit really brought them to life. Yours appears to be burning fine. I used a straightened fishhook. Kinda tedious, but worth it.
