Hi Here are some photos of an early Optimus No.1 Traveller outfit which I was very generously gifted recently: What a wonderful gift and great stove. I eventually managed to free the cover-cap to give me access to the NRV. I then removed the NRV after soaking it for 36 hours in releasing fluid. The original (almost 100 year-old) cork washer had dried out to about the size of a small grain of rice, so I replaced it with a nitrile "pip" and added a new brass spring. This NRV cover cap has to be kerosene-tight, and originally relied on a thin lead washer. I have now made a thin nitrile washer for this joint and eventually managed to get it sealed. The stove is beautiful, and easily passed the "Tea Test". The flame is very powerful, and a beautiful blue colour, which continues to improve with use. I believe this stove probably dates from around 1914/18, so it is not far off 100 years old. How many of our current manufactured goods will be performing to original specification in another 100 years? I have replaced both the glass spirit bottle and filler funnel with, hopefully, near contemporary items. Best Regards, Kerophile.
You Lucky man. Great Pictures of a Beautiful stove. I like the wing nut Idea,shame that never carried on. I am hunting hard for a bun footed stove,missed out on one the other day,never mind I will be lucky one day. Cheers Tim
very nice generous gift there George and a real beauty of a stove you have done a wonderfull job as usual on the fettle. Even though i like polishing my stoves if i had one like that and that age i would leave it in its original paterena like you have done many thanks george for showing us it
George, is that raised lettering on the bottom of the tank? If so, I wonder how it was done, is each letter soldered on.
Hi Gordon, yes it is! I only really appreciated it when examiing the photo. It is achieved by using a die with female letters, and a bloody big press or rollers, I believe. Of course it has to be done before the bottom section is attached to the tank. Best Regards, George.
What a gorgeous hunk of brass! You're right George, I can think of almost nothing made today, that would be working well or even exist 100 years from now, except maybe a hammer or a boat anchor. That stove must be one of the nicest in your collestion.
That's a grand outfit, George. I'm intrigued to hear more about the NRV arrangement. With the cover cap removed is it the usual form of NRV in there? What I'm thinking of is the type of 'outboard' NRV (as opposed to end of pump tube type) such as that on my Svea No.40. In the Svea there's just an NRV cup, 'pip' and spring under the cover cap and not an entire NRV. John
Hi John, I should have taken some photos when I had the cover cap and NRV exposed. Unfortunately, it was a challenge to get the cover cap gas tight afterwards, and I am reluctant to dismantle it again until I have to. Removing the cover-cap reveals a slotted NRV cylinder which can be removed to expose its contents: conventional spring, brass carrier cup, and "pip". This cylinder screws into the base of the pump cylinder, but from the outside, rather than the inside as on later designs. Luckily an earlier post by Neil on an Optimus No.00 shows an almost identical fitting: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/10811 The type of external NRV you describe on your Svea No.40 was an earlier design from that on this Op.1 traveller. The base of the pump cylinder had a length of hypodermic tubing, linking it to the external NRV. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Thanks George and for that link to Neil's stove. As you know, it's bad practice to use the slot in a conventional NRV to unscrew the barrel from the rest of the NRV body, but this design evidently relies on doing just that to get it out, with no room to get a decent grip with a pair of pliers, much less with any space to pack the plier jaws to prevent scoring of the barrel. Tricky! I can see why you took your time. Good for you, brilliant job as usual. John
Hi John, you have raised a very interesting point, as to the intended purpose of the slot onthe base of an NRV. My reply is somewhat long so I have posted it in the Fettling Forum and retired to a safe distance: Dismantling NRVs. Some observations. Best Regards, George.
Very, very nice. And, based on the small amount of wear to the bun feet, little used. Excellent acquisition.
Hi, here are a couple of photos of the top of the burner head of this stove: The Cyrillic lettering is in the "old", pre-1918 style with the "hard" symbol, later dropped. Regards, Kerophile.
