Pump leather stuck in barrel

A couple of quick searches for ‘pump leather stuck’ turned up no obvious match, but I can’t be the only person this has happened to…

Having given a new to me stove a quick clean today I was all set to fire it up. The pump leather looked good but I soaked it in oil for a few hours nonetheless whilst cleaning the other parts.

When I went to fire up the stove I got 4 or 5 proper stokes on the pump and then it went ‘slack’. On pulling it out I found the leather had sheered off and was stuck at the bottom of the pump barrel.

Various long pointy things have failed to dislodge it. Is there a tried and trusted technique for fishing it out, or will I be spending the weekend scraping it out bit by bit?


-R

 

If nothing else, making a short hook on a piece of wire might allow the cup to be caught.
Duane

 

Alligator forceps

 

I encountered THESE recently, the tool @snwcmpr mentioned.




That said, as @hikerduane suggested, a length of stiff wire with a hook formed on one end does the trick too.

 

I was thinking of something readily available. Something about necessity mother of invention.
Duane

 

And I just didn't want to copy your fine idea. I would use a wire hook.

Someone else might think....
I need to get gator jaws

 

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Some time this morning picking away at the leather eventually yielded a result. Once I had broken the circle the rest of the leather easily came away from the side of the pump barrel and was fished out with some long tweezers.


-R

 

So often I read that others 'managed to revive the original pump leather'- I reckon I have been lucky in 1% of cases, and then probably the leather was replaced recently by a former owner.

I always try and tear a leather to bits. If it resists, it's good to go again. 99% can be ripped apart, so they would fail soon enough in real use and potentially block the pump valve or end up stuck down the pump tube.