JS&S's unusual and innovative design from the 1930s, 'The New Governor' has many interesting features, but there are not many about and it has taken some considerable time to track down an example. The photo above shows it as received. Not in the best of conditions, but the 'Svea-look-a-like' aspect is clear enough. This is what really intrigued me. From the photos of this other gallery example and the original catalogue illustrations below the possibility of some arrangement between John Shaw and Seivert/Svea looked to be a real possibility. But detailed examination of this actual stove seems to tell a very different story, that this was indeed a fully home-grown product (even if some ideas may have been 'borrowed'). Most instructive of all is the NRV set up. The first surprise is to find that the brass dome nut is much larger than those used by Svea, and made to fit a comparatively huge ⅜" Whitworth spanner size: Next, inside, the NRV pip cup guide and air gap arrangements are oppositely constructed to the Svea version. Svea used a standard NRV cup running between guide rails standing between machined air transfer grooves. The Governor uses a 'pip'-cup machined from hexagon bar and running in a smooth bore tube. In the Governor system the hex bar outer corners work as the guides whilst the flats provide the air transfer gaps to 4 pin holes through which the air is finally pushed into the tank: So very different to the Svea, but hidden from sight! At the other end of the pressure system the lockable pump rod is a well known JS&S special. Submitted for patenting in 1932, it was registered as patent no.387609 in 1933. The pump rod on this stove is marked with the patent number so it must date from 1933 or later, certainly later than the other example linked to above: The rest of the stove is generally unremarkable: The catalogue page at the beginning is dated from 1939, so this stove could be from anytime between 1933 and 1939. It was available for a reasonable period of time but does not seem to have sold well. In some respects it appears rather over-engineered. In other respects it was lacking. There were metallurgical quality issues leading to a reputation for stress cracking, as near the external NRV fitting on this example. In both regards exemplifying the problems of trying to break into a market dominated by pre-existing perfectly adequate designs by trying too hard to be different.
Very interesting stove, @igh371. I’m looking forward to seeing more of it. I’ve not come across any of the “Primus-type” stoves with the external NRV here in Australia. I’ll have to keep searching. Cheers Tony
I certainly agree with that, Ian. I’ve only acquired one battered example with a tank full of stress cracks, but worth having for the pleasure of operating the pump knob/NRV shut-off mechanism. My Governor blowlamp was a more rewarding project. John
