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Thread: Wiles Senior cooker.

  1. #201
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4bee View Post
    I recall reading an article about using overnight standing water out of taps first thing in the morning.

    Apparently the water leaches out certain ingredients from brass fittings (not sure, but I think Cadmium was one ?????) but I'd be surprised.



    Recom. was to flush the taps first.


    I don't know how legit this theory is, but these days I give the system a quick flush when selecting potable water.

    The Toilet Pan or shower doesn't bother me as I don't normally drink water from there.

    Whether this applies to Mains &/or Rainwater no idea, but I would suspect some Mains water with associated treatment chemicals ie. Chlorine could do this.
    I agree with John, it's lead, and not many years ago there was a fuss about tapware being sold by discount hardware and supermarkets having a lead level that was above the recommended limit. I believe the majority of it came from China. I hope the problem has been sorted by now.
    Don.

  2. #202
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    Jan 2008
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    Nowra NSW
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    I am getting serious with the soup and steamer bins.

    I have one usable one which only needed sand blasting and replating.

    Another one I fitted a new bottom to with sand blasting and the need to replate.

    I purchased some pure tin and try and set my self up to electrolytically replate the bins.

    I also set up a acid wash ect and Low voltage DC power supply.
    My plating efforts were not successful.
    I got in a friend who used to do electroplating commercially.
    I got my information from the the internet and you tube.
    What I have learnt, is what someone does small scale on you tube, doesn't mean it will work on a large scale and on 70 year old metal.
    I was using acid and with tin it needs to be a alkaline solution, heated and with cyanide as well.
    5 volts DC and about 300amps would be good too.
    I do not want to go stuffing around with cyanide.
    Also I have learnt electroplating must be done on perfectly smooth clean metal.
    A sandblasting finish will lead to a poor tin coating as the tin will only coat the high spots of the surface.
    The bin I fitted the new bottom to needed to be sealed with tin and if possible the whole inside of the bin tin wiped.
    It turns out acid dipping and sand blasting still will not get the old bins surfaces clean enough to do a good tinning job using heat and wiping by hand.
    On copper cook ware you will get away with it, but not on old steel.
    It also turns out the old bins are coated with something, but even if it is tin, the old tin is dirty and will not let the new tin take and flow.
    I did end up sealing the bin with a new bottom in its lower corners with tin, but re tinning the whole inside of it was not a option.
    If the bins were new ,manually heat spreading of the tin would have worked.
    I still have the vegetable steamer baskets to replate and they are rusted in a way that I will not get a smooth surface or get them clean enough for tin plating, even if done professionally.

    What all this means
    1/ I have wasted time and money, but have learnt alot.
    2/ new stainless steel replacement steamer bins and baskets are the way forward.
    ( I have a design in my head for new bins and baskets which I should be able to make and
    look and operate near original)
    3/ in the short term two steamer bins have been sand blasted and sealed etc and painted silver.
    ( they will be operational but cannot be used for cooking due to the possibility of the paint
    coming off and going into the food.) ( the old rusty bins can be still fitted to the cooker to complete the look
    of it)

    The steamer pipes for the bins have been remade in stainless steel, but the stainless pipe was going too difficult to bend in a very small radius , so currently brass, but later stainless steel 90 degree elbows are now used.

    I just could paint everything up like they are at the museums with these cookers in them, but I want this one fully usable in all respects and why the stainless option, even though its going to be alot of work.

    The steamer bin lids have been sandblasted and painted, and as they are not in direct contact with food I should be able to get away with that...........professionally tinning of them is not possible due to the rough surface due to old age and old rust pits.
    They are hard to make and the old ones with paint are serviceable.

  3. #203
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    attached pics
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  4. #204
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    more pics
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  5. #205
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
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    Adelaide Hills. South Australia
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    Quote Originally Posted by 101 Ron View Post
    I am getting serious with the soup and steamer bins.

    I have one usable one which only needed sand blasting and replating.

    Another one I fitted a new bottom to with sand blasting and the need to replate.

    I purchased some pure tin and try and set my self up to electrolytically replate the bins.

    I also set up a acid wash ect and Low voltage DC power supply.
    My plating efforts were not successful.
    I got in a friend who used to do electroplating commercially.
    I got my information from the the internet and you tube.
    What I have learnt, is what someone does small scale on you tube, doesn't mean it will work on a large scale and on 70 year old metal.
    I was using acid and with tin it needs to be a alkaline solution, heated and with cyanide as well.
    5 volts DC and about 300amps would be good too.
    I do not want to go stuffing around with cyanide.
    Also I have learnt electroplating must be done on perfectly smooth clean metal.
    A sandblasting finish will lead to a poor tin coating as the tin will only coat the high spots of the surface.
    The bin I fitted the new bottom to needed to be sealed with tin and if possible the whole inside of the bin tin wiped.
    It turns out acid dipping and sand blasting still will not get the old bins surfaces clean enough to do a good tinning job using heat and wiping by hand.
    On copper cook ware you will get away with it, but not on old steel.
    It also turns out the old bins are coated with something, but even if it is tin, the old tin is dirty and will not let the new tin take and flow.
    I did end up sealing the bin with a new bottom in its lower corners with tin, but re tinning the whole inside of it was not a option.
    If the bins were new ,manually heat spreading of the tin would have worked.
    I still have the vegetable steamer baskets to replate and they are rusted in a way that I will not get a smooth surface or get them clean enough for tin plating, even if done professionally.

    What all this means
    1/ I have wasted time and money, but have learnt alot.
    2/ new stainless steel replacement steamer bins and baskets are the way forward.
    ( I have a design in my head for new bins and baskets which I should be able to make and
    look and operate near original)
    3/ in the short term two steamer bins have been sand blasted and sealed etc and painted silver.
    ( they will be operational but cannot be used for cooking due to the possibility of the paint
    coming off and going into the food.) ( the old rusty bins can be still fitted to the cooker to complete the look
    of it)

    The steamer pipes for the bins have been remade in stainless steel, but the stainless pipe was going too difficult to bend in a very small radius , so currently brass, but later stainless steel 90 degree elbows are now used.

    I just could paint everything up like they are at the museums with these cookers in them, but I want this one fully usable in all respects and why the stainless option, even though its going to be alot of work.

    The steamer bin lids have been sandblasted and painted, and as they are not in direct contact with food I should be able to get away with that...........professionally tinning of them is not possible due to the rough surface due to old age and old rust pits.
    They are hard to make and the old ones with paint are serviceable.

    [QUOTE] due to the rough surface due to old age and old rust pits.


    Doesn't bode well for us olde Codgers does it Ron? So, no tinning of us to extend our lives. Bugger!


    EDIT. It would have been much more convenient for Wiles to do all that plating stuff as they also operated an Electroplating/ /Hot tin/Galvanised/Plant in Manchester St Mile End. The walls & roof were eaten away with all the fumes & it must have been a hell of a place to work, or Die.

  6. #206
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    The little Wiles has been in use.

    Not much more has been done to it.

    One new stainless steel vegetable basket has been manufactured from scratch.

    I have moved onto other projects for the time been.

    The wiles has been a subject of two paintings.
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  7. #207
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    Jan 1970
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    Adelaide Hills. South Australia
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    Quote Originally Posted by 101 Ron View Post
    The little Wiles has been in use.

    Not much more has been done to it.

    One new stainless steel vegetable basket has been manufactured from scratch.

    I have moved onto other projects for the time been.

    The wiles has been a subject of two paintings.

    A Monet & a Constable no less.


    I shall look forward to the time when you recommence work on it again Ron.

  8. #208
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    Jan 2008
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    Nowra NSW
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    The little wiles cooker is seeing use about Three times a year, at air shows, and club gatherings.
    At the air shows , little kids queue in line to have a go at blowing the whisle.
    I have extended the brass chain that works the whisle so they dont get too close to the hot boiler, and the hot steam/water that can come out of the whisles.
    I have cooked many a roast dinner on it and used the steaming baskets for cooking vegetables.
    It is a good attention getter at public displays.
    I have found it works very well on cut up soft wood pallets that are normally scrapped.
    It takes about an hour to get the heat into the cooker, and after that wood use is very little.
    As a demo I have shown many a time heating a Jerrycan of cold water to boiling in Two minutes.
    I have found I need to touch up the High temp stove black paint frequently.
    Recently the laws have change regarding old boilers and a second safety valve has been added to meet requirements for a boiler certificate.
    I have made Two stainless steel steamer bin baskets.
    The first one used silver soldered together mesh, which could look better, the second one I ended up using stainless cable ties which look much better and easier to hold the mesh in place.
    The original set up was plated steel wire and everything was hand tied together, in a way I could not easily do with more modern materials.
    I still need to sort out the tea/hot water container, which has a corroded outer case and Two corroded food steam cooking/boiling pots..

    Ron
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  9. #209
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    Jan 2008
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    Nowra NSW
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    The tea urn/hot water tank has been removed from the cooker.
    It was working well, but the outer jacket is corroded and it holds in place asbestos insulation which could escape because of the corrosion holes.
    I was temporarily using duct tape to cover the rust holes..

    I stripped the steel cover from the inner tank and safely removed the asbestos sheet.
    The inner tank is all copper and the outer steel jacket is soldered and cleverly folded inter locked steams that snap and hook into place when assembled.

    I dont have the skills or access to a sheet metal seam roller to do that sort of work, so I will be using more modern methods that I can do to achieve a similar look and improve durability.

    Looking at the level of hand fabrication, sheet metal skill I would be flat out finding someone who could do it.

    I plan to replace the asbestos with modern insulation......I am thinking stuff used in modern wood fire heaters or that two part mix and let it foam up stuff.

    The brass hot water tap was mostly blocked up with years of mineral build up and the steel fittings broke off , because they had almost corroded though.

    Brass has replace steel.

    I am thinking stainless steel for the outer case, with spot welding and a slightly different construction , folding method.

    I have a pan brake folder, but little experience in using it and thinking of purchasing a hand held spot welding machine.
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  10. #210
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    Jan 2008
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    Nowra NSW
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    Just some more pictures of the cooker and its adventures so far.
    The first picture is a bit hard to see the cooker as its in the back ground in use on a camping trip at a local property.
    It is interesting at the traffic lights towing the cooker if is still lit up and the look on peoples faces if the safety valve pops and you pull away from the traffic lights with a trail of steam behind you.
    The cooker creates much interest.
    I still have not found anyone who knew how to use these cookers correctly and to their full potential.

    Cooking large amounts of food stuffs with steam looks to be a lost art.

    The wiles senior cooker under the cover in the last picture is up for sale, looking for a home .
    It is the 1942 Boyded built unit shown in early pages of this thread.
    It is totally complete, but the steel metal work is corroded and needs full restoration.
    The steamer bins and tanks are in good useable condition.( there are spare ones as well.)
    I will never find time to start restoring it as a project and the fact I now have the smaller Junior cooker to play with.
    I would be looking at 6K ............comes with a parts senior cooker, new tyres and new original canvass side curtains.

    Ron.
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