Some woodworking required on this project!

One of the control knobs from a 1930's (maybe earlier) twin-burner alcohol stove. Obviously in need of repair and missing the brass ferrule that the other knob still has






Once the fractured edges were trimmed, I cut a repair wedge from ebony to fit and glued it in place






Contours blended in and 'knurled' grip grooves cut in circumference of repair segment






Alongside the other control knob




Quite a handful, but then the stove's pretty massive too!




TO BE CONTINUED ...

John

 

John, I am looking forward to the rest.
Great job with the knob - dying to see the stove!

 

Hi John

What a great repair 8) & a not too easy one at that , really looking forward to the post on the stove

Stu

 

I was doing stuff like this, 2nd year of High School - some years later I got a job in a joinery shop.
Mastercraftsman Dave Rock, gave me a job of doing a 4" double ended mitre - I thought I had done a great job - he comes along and says : if I can get a baccy paper in the joint, you are going to take it apart - he only got the corner of the paper in, there was a standoff for 10 minutes, I had to take it apart !
Thanks Rocky - I miss you

 

Hi Ian. Great to hear from you mate.

John

 

Here's a little something I did recently, considering I have got really crap vision - I think I mentioned about my eyesight before - Glaucoma in both eyes, cataracts in both eyes, detached Retina in right eye, injections into the right eye, every month for the past 8 months. As we get older, the things dont get any easier, so all you newbies to the game of fettling, believe in yourself, thats the only tool you need.
Used 1/4mm silbraising wire on this, drilling was the hardest part - cant see jack sh** close to.

 

Jeez John and Ian! Every time I see your posts I think of all the fettles I've given up on as being "too difficult". Even in my dreams I can't do some of the jobs you tackle.

And I've got good eyesight!!

Terry

 

Ian, nicely done! I use drops in both eyes every night to forestall glaucoma too. The pressure caused my far vision to go to 20-20 and my near vision to 20-40. Go figure. The cataracts aren't bad enough to fix yet. Getting old sux but dying young is a poor alternative.

 

I had cataract surgery last year, left eye first, right one six weeks later. The only thing was night driving, it was like driving in a thick fog with halos around every light I could see. After the surgery, things are all sharp again and colors are very much brighter and more colorful. The pressure inside my eyeballs is "normal". That is comforting as I'm diabetic as is my sister, but she's nearly blind and on dialysis three times a week.

Even though I often feel like it isn't worth the effort to chew through the straps each morning, I really haven't all that much to bellyache about.

Gerry

 

Excellent work as all ways John, what a great match as well. The repair is virtually invisible

 

Thanks Terry, Brian.

Bit more done after work tonight. I made a ferrule to complete the repair. I'd no tubing of the right diameter so used a strip of brass bent into a ring and silbrazed at the join then 'capped' it by brazing the ring to a suitable patch of the same sheet and trimming it down.

Cleaned up, I'm pleased with the result ...



... and alongside the other I reckon it's a good match




Bit more of a reveal with more of the parts. The stove's complete, I've just more refurbishing to do. The frame's a rather grand cast iron affair finished in a lustrous brown(tending to orange) enamel. There's a chunk missing out of the back rail, not visible from top or front, but that's one of the repairs I've yet to do. I've a spot of resin casting in mind, which I'll document here.

A burner/vapourising tube/control spindle and knob assembly, the second control spindle showing how the knob's secured to the spindle and the nameplate from the cylindrical fuel tank. It's a Lawson. The name doesn't sound French - more Scandinavian if anything - and I'd be inclined to suppose it's American but for the tank pressure gauge being in metric units, so I'm a baffled. A site word search produces nothing and I've been through the Stove Ref Library without success so far

















John

 

Hi John

I have done some research on the name 'Lawson'.
I think you have been right in your ideas - American, French and even British.

Have a look HERE.
You will need to scroll down to some logo images and the following text:

Lawson Clocks Limited was an offshoot of an old and highly successful business, the Lawson Manufacturing Company established in Homestead, Pennsylvania in 1901. Lawson Manufacturing made gas water heaters, room heaters and stoves. Business was good. In 1914, Lawson built a bigger factory in nearby Pittsburgh and by the 1920s there were factories in London and Paris as well.

Early 1900s Lawson cast iron Fire.





Lawson Electric heater.






Early 1900s Lawson Gas hot Water Heater (notice the logo development).








Some adverts.






One Patent HERE.

Another Patent HERE.

 

I'm very grateful Trevor, and a little ashamed that I wasn't as efficient in my searches!

Yes, you've nailed the manufacturer for sure. There's an obvious match of the logo and category of product. A prolific manufacturer indeed.

Brilliant. I'll have a good read of all of that.

John

 

John my initial searches also came up with nothing.

I eventually found a cast iron stove in Google Images and followed that.
Once I was on the right trail, all sorts appeared.

As the Lawson company had factories in London and Paris, the enamel on your stove and the metric pressure guage suggests France.
But it may well have been made in London.
Whatever - you have a real gem!

 

Brilliant John

 

Gradually getting up to speed with this project.

Fuel tank, pressure gauge and tank filler cap/non-return valve refurbished




A Primus 71 alongside for comparison gives an idea of the size of the Lawson fuel tank, clearly for a stove to be used in a domestic setting to run for long periods without refuelling




There's no in-built pump and the tank is pressurised via the fuel filler cap, which incorporates a non-return valve and valve fitting for a bike hand pump of the old 'Presto' type, together with a dust cap




Components of the cap and NRV




Cork seals originally, now replaced with nitrile




The pressure gauge is a beauty and it still functions






The research Trevor (Shagratork) largely did for me and the 'kilogrammes' annotation suggests it's a product of an American-founded, French factory. Something of a misnomer to refer to units of pressure in kilos merely and not 'per' square metre, but no matter




On to the cast iron, enamelled stove frame repair next ...

John

 

John, your restoration so far is wonderful.
Every part of the stove is familiar but different from anything else I have seen.
That Lawson 'badge' is fantastic and is obviously a development from their earlier logo.

I long to see the full stove.

 

Thanks Trevor. Your help was a great step forward and a much-appreciated contribution.

At the very least I'll be able to allocate the finished project with some confidence to the 'French', 'Other makes' slot in the Stove Reference Gallery.

I'll take it to Newark and it'll be our 'base camp' stove.

John

 

Great work as usual John.

Iani - inspirational. I'll kick myself up the arse next time I catch myself , moaning about needing 2.5 reading glasses.

 

A bit more work completed on this project in between other jobs.

I mentioned at the outset that the cast iron stove frame had a chunk missing out of it. Damage is on the back rail, so not crucial to looks or function, but something I wanted to put right nevertheless








I'd decided to do a repair using casting resin ...




... and made a wooden mold, sprayed with a silicon release agent to enable me to part mold from molding when the resin had set




Ready to pour the casting resin, once blobs of 'Blu-Tak' putty (it was handy) had been inserted as end-stops








Resin, hardener and ... ground coffee (because I had no instant coffee)




The hardener is a garish pink colour and the resulting resin mixture isn't close to the colour I wanted






Coffee added, but turns out I used too dark a roast (never thought to hear myself say that in the context of a stove frame repair job)










Well, like I said, it's the back rail and not too noticeable ... but I might have another go and use low-roast coffee.

John