Purchased as a bare tank, no pump and no Tillite pre-heater torch, but with its frame. The hood is made from a Tilley 246 hood … … separated into its component parts … and reassembled, joints silver soldered. An example in better condition was used after the initial trial. Air buttons were made by combining Tilley and bialaddin parts. Polished and with a screwdriver slot cut in the face of each to reproduce the X359 pattern. The ‘Tillite’ pre-heater torch is a non-working dummy lookalike. I wanted to replace the ugly blanking plug. It seemed logical to replace it with something more presentable. The real thing is notorious for not working, so my replacement is authentic in that respect at least! It performs well. John
Nice work John, I have been fascinated by your approach to making the replica pieces. Without close inspection it looks like the genuine article.
@ROBBO55 Thanks Martin. The cap brim has a larger diameter than the genuine article and though I could reduce the diameter I’d then leave an un-enamelled bare steel cut edge and I rather like the existing out-turned edge.
@presscall .With your technical and creative abilities, you could make a lantern by just buying a pressure gauge. And so seriously. Whether it's lamps or stoves, it's always a pleasure to see your accounts of repairs and restorations of many items. Great work. Greetings Stanisław
@presscall . John. It's nice that you wrote that, but it's mostly posts from people like you that inspire people like me to take action.
I intended to nickel plate the air buttons but only got around to it today, since I’d to make up some fresh electrolyte first. Distilled white vinegar with a pinch of salt added to make it more electrically conductive. Nickel anode and cathode, 12 volt DC supply. When the liquid has turned sufficiently green in colour from being colourless I judge it’s done and putting the nickel cathode aside substitute the workpiece for it. 6 volt DC supply. Comparison of one air button plated, one not yet. Installed. I nickel plated the control valve too. Before. After.
To conclude: @Tony Press generously gave me three partially-complete Tillite pre-heaters and having repaired one I installed it in the X359. Photo, my ‘repro’ Tillite top, the functional Tillite below it. Installed and in action in the lamp. John
I bought a junk X359, so I was looking at your past posts. You're an amazing person to be able to create the torch part and make it function properly. I'm also planning to repair my 359 torch, so I'll use your posts as a reference. Thank you.
