Kerosene-fuelled Superforézien No.1 of 1928. Catalogue illustration, the twin burner No.2 also listed, a surviving example of which features HERE in the Stove Reference Gallery. Burner/fuel tank assembly … … bolts to a sub-frame, which in turn bolts to the main frame. It’s no compact featherweight, posing here alongside a British Army No.12, which at 5.5 kilos (12lbs 2oz) fuelled up is 1.8 kilos (nearly 4lbs) lighter than the Superforézien. In a post in the Stove Forum HERE I referred to the stove’s unique feature of an alternative mechanism to make the use of a stuffing box (graphite seal) on the pricker control spindle unnecessary. This schematic illustrates how it’s done. This photo shows the bend in the control spindle … … that conveys the eccentric movement to the pricker linkage, seen in this video clip Here’s the mechanism coupled up to the pricker linkage. This is how it looks in place. The burner riser tube is slid over the pricker linkage and screws into the mounting block. A roll of wire gauze guides the pricker and contributes to fuel vapourisation. The jet nipple. Nipple installed in the burner bell. Inner and outer burner caps. I’d to fabricate the inner one, the original being absent. The pump tube was in theory removable. That hexagon nut was however seized on the threads and I’d to unsolder the pump tube. the hexagon component even then wouldn’t budge however, so I resorted to installing a non-return valve removable via the pump tube and made a ‘dummy’ hexagon to resemble the original appearance. This was the priming device … … dipped in alcohol and applied like this Messy, and I wanted to avoid exposure to crumbling asbestos! Accordingly, I constructed a priming cup. Fuelled up, priming commences Ignition. John
Here’s the remnants of the seized pump hexagon and tank boss! The original non-return valve and pump base cap, replaced with a NRV removable via the pump tube and a replacement end cap to screw it into. A final touch, there was no indication on the pricker control wheel of whereabouts in its rotation the pricker has engaged with the jet. I added a brass indicator arrow.
Some additional research items, acknowledging the invaluable resources of Espacenet for patents and the Ultimheat online resource for printed ephemera. I must also thank of course CCS contributor @Christopher Carter for his post on the Superforézien and his provision of a pdf of the catalogue that survived with his stove and spares treasure trove! Francisque Vulin founded the company in Feurs, South-East France, around the beginning of the 20th century. Feurs belonged to the former province of Foréz and its residents were known as Forézien, hence the origin of the stove’s name, though the primary company brand was that of Azuréa. Heaters and stoves in the early days were kerosene wick products, this 1906 patent illustration showing a typical example. Here’s a photo of the Feurs establishment, with a large factory and distribution centre in Paris also. By 1917 the founder had died but his widow took over the thriving company. This letter heading from 1917 is perhaps a measure of her business acumen in leaving no doubt about the worthy provenance of her company but overstamped with ‘Vve’ (Veuve - widow) and ‘successor’ of F. Vulin. A 1920 flyer for the company under her leadership. At some point Madame Vulin acquired a business partner that the literature and patents name solely by the surname of Magnet. By 1927 the company’s letter heading recognises the partnership. Interestingly, though later literature acknowledge the involvement of ‘Magnet’, a 1925 patent for a key component of the Superforézien (the heat-shielding of their fuel tanks) does not. On the Superforézien No.1 the heat-shielding takes the form of this complex and elegant enamelled iron casting. By 1928 the patent for the ‘no stuffing box’ jet pricker mechanism credits the invention to Veuve F. Vulin and Magnet An extract from a 1935 retailer catalogue illustrates the wick stove Azurea going back three decades, a Forézien No. 0 (a conventional camp stove design) and Forézien nos. 1 and 2 (the cheaper version of the Superforézien with no pricker mechanism). The 1928 catalogue page for the Superforézien I reproduced at the beginning of this post contains this coverage of the Forézien Nos. 1 and 2 models. Christopher Carter’s catalogue pdf below.
The catalogue/instructions refer to the ‘reversible’ grate. I was at a loss to work out the possible benefit of that feature then realised that one side raises the pot more above the burner, so an aid to simmering, coupled with a lower flame setting. Sundry remaining photos. The fuel supply pipe to the burner joint, now a combination of a reinforcing plate silbrazed to the pipe and a greater surfaced area of soft soldered joint to the tank. The articulated pricker rods … … in position. The eccentric control. Finally, the instructions (loss of translation where I’ve added week!) recommend greasing the control rod weekly. Job done, copper-based grease for good measure.
Night shots, burner output. Max Simmer, pricker needle partially raised in the jet as the instructions direct, tank pressure the same as with maximum output.
