Under Construction!!!
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Stuck Leg Removal
Fig. 16
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Fig. 17 Rusty! |
Fig. 18 Original 1914 Leg |
Fig. 19 Correct Angle for Year |
The auction stated that there was a leg stuck in one of the leg holders. There was, and it was the only original leg left of the three. Believing that the leg holders were brass, I figured it would just be a matter of a few taps with a plastic faced hammer and it would pop right off. Well... The leg holders are NOT brass they are steel... Steel to steel spells rust which = may as well be welded together.
So I tried clamping the leg in a vice and using a brass drift and a hammer to tap on the holder. That didn't work. I then switched to a small adjustable wrench up against the leg holder and whacked with a small hammer. No go. I tried opening up the holder by driving a wedge into the gap. It opened some but the leg still refused to budge. I then used a heat gun (a torch would melt the solder) to heat cycle it a few times. I still could not let it get too hot for fear of the solder softening. That did not work either. I dripped Ed's Red into the leg holder gap, then heated it up to draw it in. I did this several times followed by attempts to tap it out. NOTHING!
So I decided to rig up a harness and suspend the stove so that only the leg and holder were in my Electrolysis De-Rust tank. WARNING!!! Brass objects placed in a electrolysis tank will VERY quickly DISSOLVE! DO NOT let the brass parts touch the solution! You have been warned...
I rigged up the setup using a camera tripod so I could easily raise and lower the stove into the solution. I lowered it until just the leg and leg holder were in the solution, and left it alone to work for several hours. When I pulled it out the leg was rust free and was already loose! A quick tap with the hammer as before and off it popped! Finally! I was afraid I was going to have to unsolder the leg holder to get more aggressive on it. See Fig. 17 for how corroded the end was. That pic also shows how the end is ground to a taper. This taper fits into the leg holder where it pinches down and prevents the legs from rotating while in the stove. Fig. 18 is a pic of the whole leg and Fig. 19 shows the leg on a angle chart I found on the Classic Stove forum. It shows my leg has the period correct 15 degree angle.
Burner Clean up
Fig. 20 Burner semi-cleaned |
Fig. 21 Deformed Spirit Cup |
Fig. 22 Casting Roughness
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Fig. 23 Tulip Cracks |
While all the above was occurring, I decide to start cleaning up some parts. The burner assembly easily unscrewed so I dropped it into a container of vinegar and let it soak for a few minutes. It was removed, rinsed with plenty of water, then scrubbed with some fine steel wool. Fig. 20 shows the results. This bit of cleaning revealed a couple of things. One, someone has abused this poor stove burner! The spirit cup is warped and so is the tulip. See Fig. 21. Two, the tulip casting appears very rough and has cracks? See Fig. 22-23. I don't know if this is a result of years of hot burning or if the castings of that time period were just rough. I'm going with hot burning erosion till I hear otherwise.
Fig. 24 Brass Screen unrolled to clean
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Fig. 25 Cleaned and re-installed
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Fig. 26 Tulip Separated |
Fig. 27 Cleaned Vaporizer Tube |
I noticed when I pulled the burner out of the vinegar, that some really black solution stuff ran out the end. That's when I noticed the screening rolled up and stuffed in the Vaporizer tube. Pulling this out revealed almost a solid plug. (Sorry no pic) I unrolled it and put it back in the vinegar for a few more minutes then removed it and scrubbed well with a tooth brush. See Fig. 24 for the results. I then rolled it back up and stuffed in back in the tube. See Fig. 25.
Next was separating the tulip from the Vaporizer tube. Normally I suppose the two just pull apart but mine was really stuck. I clamped the nut end in a small vice, put a large adjustable wrench up against the base of the tulip and gave it a sharp rap with a hammer. Nothing, not even a hint of movement. I tried this several more time but stopped as I was marring the end of the tulip. When something is stuck and I can't use the de-rust tank on it I apply heat. So I used a propane torch and heated the base of the tulip till it was glowing red then repeated the wrench whack. This time the tulip popped right off! Fig. 26-27 shows the separated pieces. Another quick dip in the vinegar solution with some tooth brush action and it was clean again. I need a pricker to clean the jet hole, it is still fully clogged...
Making Replacement Seals
Fill Cap Seal
Fig. 28 Cracked Seal |
Fig. 29 New Seal Made |
Fill Cap Seal Replacement
A quick test with my air compressor had revealed that the fill cap was leaking a bit. Fig. 28 shows why. Removing this old seal was simple, just used a dental pick and the pieces just fell out. I had a large sheet of .060 thick buna rubber I use for making gaskets for my old Land Cruiser. I marked out the seal on a scrap piece and cut it out with scissors then pushed it into the cap. Super simple repair! See Fig. 29.
Vaporizer Tube Seal
Fig. 30 Original Washer |
Fig. 31 Lead Donor |
Fig. 32 Marking Overall Size |
Fig. 33 Cutting it out |
Fig. 34 Marking Inner Hole |
Fig. 35 Punching out Inner Hole |
Fig. 36 Completed |
Lead Washer Replacement
I had read on CCS that there was a lead seal under the Vaporizer tube that would need replacement. Though mine is in good shape, (See Fig. 30), just as an exercise I decided to make another one. I used some lead that I cut from a roofing vent pipe cover. See Fig. 31. This lead is about not as thick as the original but it does seem to work.
I started by cutting a piece just a bit larger than the opening in the stove. This was placed on the opening and a plastic hammer was used to "mark" the size of the opening on the lead by gently tapping. See Fig. 32. Scissors were used to cut this out on the inside line so that it just fit down inside the opening as shown in Fig. 33-34. I then screwed the Vaporizer tube onto the washer just tight enough to again mark the center hole on the lead, removed the lead washer, then used a 5/16 hole punch to punch out the center. See Fig. 35. The completed washer is shown in Fig. 36. I will order a replacement washer as I don't think mine will be thick enough to survive repeated removals of the Vaporizer, but for now it seals fine.