Whilst this week Kerophile has posted his early 111B and Tony Press secured a treasure chest with Antarctic 111's, I was saving another 111B that I'd like to share with y'all: A burner with 2 legs: This is an 111B. The previous owner had travelled to many places and the stove had clearly seen a lot of use. The burner is pitted and all the internal parts were covered in carbon to the point that the stove didn't run anymore. The carbon was scratched out after about 5 cycles of heating and quenching. A very very rusty case. Setting up the electrolysis: Case in bucket with washing soda and sacrifice metal (saw blade). Hooked up to a battery charger. The electrolysis ran for 3 days. The above picture shows an intermediate result, as I took it out and checked progress every day. The case was dirty on the inside where the burner sits. The dirt seemed to slow down the process of electrolysis at this spot (right side of the picture). The rust has clearly build up on the sacrifice metal. Remember that rust is removed from the thing on the negative pole. Rust is "added" to the thing on the positve pole. Do not mix these up ... Electrolysis is a very nice process to remove rust and paint with limited effort. The only effort needed is a thorough cleaning before painting. Best is to paint straight after, because the case rusts from the moment that it comes out of the bucket. Visible rust was on the case within 15 minutes. Pictures taken after paint and assembly. I chose white because it was on sale ... It's car engine paint, heat resistant up to 800 deg. Celcius. So it will still be very white if fuel is spilled and burned inside the case. Preheating. I like the color in this picture 8) . And flame shots !! So, after viewing the above, what do you think: 1) Is it a good thing to repaint a stove? Drawback is that the stove is not original any more. On the other hand, it shows that a rusty case can be "saved" with electrolysis and a repaint. Also this may well be the only white 111B in the world, which makes it a very personal and exclusive stove. 2) What to do with it? Keep it as user or pass it on? Passing it on will mean that the stove gets a second life and make someone else really happy with it. (BTW passing on (selling) is hypothetical, I don't want to sell obviously) Cheers, Peter
Hi, Dutch_Peter, WOW!! Lovely stove and a perfect fettle!! If it were me, I'd keep and use it, and I would keep it white, too, just because it looks great that way!! Just my two cents, and worth what you paid to read them! Thank you for sharing this great old 111B, and again, well done on your fettle, and paint job, Peter!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Peter Your question about "to paint or not to paint" has had historical archaeologists arguing for decades! If you look at the collection of 111s in my post, many have been painted with whatever paint was at hand in Antarctica as they were being maintained in the field. Note that many of these colours are not original to the stove. One school of thought is that 'traditional' maintenance methods are part of the ongoing use of the stove: therefore re painting a stove is fine... ... On the other had there is a school of thought which says that the original 'fabric' should be preserved. My view is that in any working environment that is often very difficult. The solution then, for historical items, is to 'document' the original ''as found" by photographing it and recording the details, then refurbishing the stove. I really don't think the white colour is anything more than personal preference. Cheers Tony
1) Is it a good thing to repaint a stove? Drawback is that the stove is not original any more. On the other hand, it shows that a rusty case can be "saved" with electrolysis and a repaint. Also this may well be the only white 111B in the world, which makes it a very personal and exclusive stove. Whats the stove for? If its to use then anything done to preserve its usefullness is the correct and proper course of action. Paint it in stars and stripes if you like although a Swedish flag would be more appropriate. If its a display piece then do not change the paint you got it in Maybe a clear lacquer and maybe get it running but thats it. Its storage will preserve it. 2) What to do with it? Keep it as user or pass it on? Passing it on will mean that the stove gets a second life and make someone else really happy with it. (Btw passing on (selling) is hypothetical, I don't want to sell obviously) Thats your choice and yours alone Dont let anyone convince you otherwise but if you want to sell it Ill offer a dollar
Nice job! One hint: Add a bit of soap (dish soap) to the electrolysis mix will remove grease and dirt rather well.
Amazing change-over Peter. Great improvement over what it was before - basically rotting. Looks great. Keep using it over and over. sam
Hi Great work Peter and I have no doubt that a stove received in that condition deserves to be returned to a presentable and working condition. The choice of white for the case is "interesting" The stove would not look out of place in a Hospital, but probably not a good colour for Arctic use (Now where did I put that stove?) I too have used engine enamel on an Old Op.111: https://classiccampstoves.com/posts/275284 However, I still used Nick's idea and put in an aluminium base liner: https://classiccampstoves.com/posts/112457 Thanks for posting an interesting stove restoration. Best Regards, Kerophile.
You can always add a Red Cross to the white outside - and historians would be puzzled for decades regarding its origins...
Hi, the UN might be interested in buying your stove, as it is already in the correct color to match their Peace Keeping Mission vehicles: Best Regards, Kerophile.
Great restoration! Beautiful color! I might be a bit partial, but I think restoring is a good thing to do! In a couple of thousand years it will not matter and with a bit of luck be a interesting foot note in a dissertation about ancient technology. If I were you I'd keep the stove as a user! I pass on Trangias and Trangia clones/knock offs only. I buy every Trangia I come across that costs less than 5$ and if I don't "need" it I give it to a friend with a bottle of meths - everybody ought to have a stove for power outages! I always get a kick out of using my restored 111. All the work I put into it gives it a special value just for me! Just my thoughts!
Hi, Sorry for my late response. Though I have excuses, as I had to drink beer with a friend and pick up a Heinze Geniol. Thank you for your responses! Doc Mark, always great to read your positive posts. Thanks for your kind words. It's pretty in white indeed 8) . Thanks Bajabum for the hint, that's a good one to remember . Thank you too Sam and Bem1965. And you are right Svea121, but I don't like polishing ... Hi Kerophile, It would be something though, to actually paint "UN" on top and take it out camping. Then look serious and forge an important story for if anyone asks. Mumble some important sounding words like "peacekeeping" through the roar and flames of the 111B blasting away. Paint some names and numbers (locations, years) on it as well, as military stoves are always marked. Same for the red cross as Odd says. Although fellow campers then may be looking for bandages in the wrong place or somebody tosses out the burner to put bandages in instead ... None of Tony's stoves returned from the Antarctic were white, so I guess the white ones were lost in the snow indeed .. Hi Tony, This story I remember from class (although it wasn't told with a stove but with a ship): A stove is used and over time all the parts wear out and are gradually being replaced, until all of its original parts have been replaced. Then, a second stove is rebuild from the old parts and put in a museum. Which of the two stoves is the original then? The one that was kept in use over time, or the one rebuild with the worn out parts? I'd say the stove that was kept in use is the original one. So the user becomes part of the history of the stove as the stove is used. This 111B doesn't have much provenance (that is: Until I get rich and famous), so that's ok to me. It may be more of a question for your Antarctic stoves, as they have significant provenance. As you say, document before refurbishment. As Geeves says, one has to choose to preserve it or use it. Another way to preserve the metal (opposite of painting) is to use rust inhibitors or to oil the metal. This will harden and stop the rust. I've used raw linseed oil in the past. Takes a month to dry but works great. If you would ask me then the eagerness-to-rust of these Optimus cases is a form of planned obsolescence. The case will get ugly to the point that you want to buy a new Hiker+ .. Cheers, Peter
G,,day. At first I didn't like the white but it is growing on me to the point of somewhat liking it. But with the white pot on it, it does look wonderful. cheers, kerry
hi kerophile that picture of a UN convoy looks PEACEFUL to me. its been a year since I checked the forums and Im glad to be back again. Anyone of you ever tried powder coating their beat up cases?
Hi Pietromax, welcome back. Look at this post comment about powder coating: https://classiccampstoves.com/posts/209706 Best Regards, Kerophile.
An Update: I've got my hands on a bunch of stove parts and one of these parts is a 'regular' 111 burner. It's now fitted to this white 111, making it a 'regular' 111, capable of burning paraffin and 'wasbenzine': The four-spiked flame of a regular 111 (compared to the two-spiked flame in the earlier photos), Cheers, Peter
