Tilley (Hendon) ‘Bottogas’ stove and lantern

Discussion in 'Tilley' started by presscall, Jan 16, 2025.

  1. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom PotY Winner SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    @David Shouksmith presented an example of this gassie a good while ago, so not many seem to have survived.

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    Bottogas was a British company supplying refillable (on exchange) cylinders of butane for “lighting, cooking, heating”.

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    In business from the 1930’s through to the early 1970’s - as far as my reaearch can determine - the company was at some point taken over by Shell Mex BP Gases, with a consequent expansion of business and outlets.

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    The company and their cylinders are long gone. They appear to have had a final redesign, captured in this drawing by Paul S. Sharp.

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    The Tilley has a vertical inlet and would have sat on top of the carrying handle ‘ring’ on the cylinder, bolted to the gas outlet (left-hand threads).

    With little or no chance of locating an original cylinder I adapted a control valve compatible with a Campingaz butane cylinder to accept the jet nipple mount for the stove. The joint ringed was hard-soldered.

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    The outer cap is identical to one from a Tilley CS56.

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    The inner cap is indistinguishable from that seen on a mantle lantern burner.

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    That and the pot rest frame fitting to the base set me to thinking that a Tilley ‘Bottogas’ lantern would exist, utilising Tilley X246A parts. The 246A was produced around 1961, so the stove probably is of that date, or thereabounts. It’s marked ‘Hendon’ and 1961 would still be possible before the company’s move to Dunmurry.

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    The flame pattern would certainly inflate and illuminate a mantle I expect.

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    Stove mode.

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    John
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2025
  2. Tony Press

    Tony Press Australia Subscriber

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    Interesting, indeed!

    Thanks, John.


    Tony
     
  3. Nicola Francesco Elia

    Nicola Francesco Elia Italy SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    Great and interesting post! Thanks!

    I add that it can be also an heater, following the concept of Barthel 802:

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    The bottom-up flame, similar to yours, heats up the ceramic cylinder and external mesh.

    Nicola
     
  4. Knee

    Knee Poland SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Hi John @presscall .
    Very interesting project.
    You can see that they wanted to refer to the traditional form, keeping a similar body to the old kerosene versions.
    I'm assuming, judging by the title, that after attaching an incandescent coat, it can be used as a lantern?
    Good job on that control valve.:thumbup:
    I also see that you used the external cap you made yourself for the CS56.:thumbup:
    Greetings
    Stanisław
     
  5. mr optimus

    mr optimus United Kingdom Subscriber

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    @presscall a very interesting post John, i never knew bottled gas was available back in the 30's, i thought it only started to come out in the 1950's i suppose at the time it was quite expensive and never really started to take off until the sixties.
    I suppose not many of the Tilley Botto gas appliances were made and survived, a superb addition to be able to have in a collection
     
  6. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom PotY Winner SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    @Nicola Francesco Elia @Knee @mr optimus Thanks Nicola, Stanislaw, Brian. The Barthel’s a versatile device for sure, Nicola.

    I’m not sure if cost was ever an issue Brian in delaying the uptake of butane. I don’t have comparative figures, but the outlay in buying and installing appliances to use it may have been a factor, if existing paraffin, petrol and/or acetylene systems were serving their purpose satisfactorily. Evidently convenience (switch on, ignite) was a huge selling point and proved ultimately to dominate the market.
    Well spotted Stanislaw! Yes, borrowed from THIS project.
    That’s right, further down my post I covered that with the Tilley X246A parts. I just need to install a mantle and it becomes a lantern, though getting a single-ended mantle to inflate upwards (think Petromax, they’re always hanging down from the burner) isn’t easy. I managed it with this Tilley lantern, but on a second or third attempt as I recall. At least I was using inexpensive Chinese mantles.

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    John
     
  7. mr optimus

    mr optimus United Kingdom Subscriber

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    A good point John i know that paraffin back in the mid 70's early 89's was a very cheap way of heating homes that never had central heating i cant remember exactly the cost, but when i lived in our council flat in Tottenham we had an open fire that had a back boiler that powered the central heating, which was never serviced we got plenty of hot water but the radiators just got Luke warm so we had a gas fire fitted some where in the mid 1970's and relied on few paraffin heaters for other rooms up until about early 80's when the council fitted a modern gas central heating, when i used to get the paraffin from the garrage or hardware shop it was less than a £1 a gallon 50pence -70pence i cant be exact but that was early 80's
     
  8. Knee

    Knee Poland SotM Winner Subscriber

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    It's true.
    If the outer cap was equipped with a rod with a fork (hanger), as in Tito Landi spirit lamps, the matter would be simpler.
     
  9. Knee

    Knee Poland SotM Winner Subscriber

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    I think I wrote some nonsense above...
    Of course the lamp works without using the outer cap.
     
  10. Blackdog

    Blackdog United Kingdom SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Interesting reconstruction John, congratulations! Something of a niche product I suppose, being heavy and bulky, and probably as suited to village hall use as outdoors! Although very convenient for Scout camps, school camps, catering at events.... but by the late 50s there would have been a lot of competition from such things as twin-burner tabletop gas burners of the type use in caravans.
     
  11. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom PotY Winner SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    Definitely, Chris. Coupling what’s essentially a camp stove, a single-burner one at that, with a hefty gas bottle was inevitably a dead end of a design. The combination of gas bottle and twin-burner with a grill, that Tilley subsequently perfected and sold heaps of, was (and still is) the way to go.
    The Tiiley I illustrated had such an arrangement, a vertical mantle support, part of the ceramic burner. It had broken off when I acquired that example but I’ve since acquired an intact replacement.

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    No more of this …

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    … but a mantle properly supported.

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    Of course, the Bottogas device lacks that type of burner-with-vertical-rod. The existing burner would probably unscrew, but shows no sign of loosening up and I’m reluctant to apply too much force.

    Turning the stove into a lantern is one thing, but the mantle would be destroyed getting it back to stove mode, so it’s not a worthwhile feature anyway.
     
  12. Knee

    Knee Poland SotM Winner Subscriber

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    John. Thanks very much for your reply.:thumbup:
     
  13. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom PotY Winner SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    An update

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    Taking the contemporary drawing of a Bottogas gas cylinder …

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    … I mocked up the handle/support to make my Campingaz cylinder resemble the original fuel source better.

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    A spare frame from a Tilley X246A lantern, painted black using brake caliper paint, a black hood (X246B) and Tilley globe and a Bottogas lantern emerges.

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    The lantern ‘conversion’ from the stove is made feasible by the use by the latter of a lantern-compatible burner nozzle (left), though the nozzle (Tilley part 2084) required by the lantern (right) has the mantle support as seen in a Tilley GL602T butane lantern.

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    The jet nipple (No.11) 2088 and mantle 2085 are common to the GL602T also.

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    GL602T.

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    I’ve collected some more Bottogas ephemera. A photo of a Bottogas mobile showroom …

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    … and a spanner to deal with the large (11/16-inch Whitworth, left-hand thread) nut attaching the Tilley appliance to the gas cylinder.

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    Also, this stove to attach to a Bottogas cylinder as the Tilley did, but made by another manufacturer.

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    John