I've been sorting through my Tilley burners and I've got a few questions for the Tilley experts. I'll go through them iteratively. Photo 1. First question Has anyone seen a Tilley burner mixing tube (Part 211) with the knurling flush with the burner body? Notes: These two burners (photo 2, below), are essentially the same, except for the mixing tube and injector tube (Part 212). Both are the 'older' type of burner that is longer overall than three 'modern' burners shown at the bottom row of photo 1. The right hand burner in photo 2 has the short mixing tube and a short injector tube. Both of the burner tubes are stamped on the top with the Tilley Patent number. Photo 2 Photo 3. I'm not sure if this is a workshop job, or came from the Tilley like that. Cheers Tony
Hi Tony, Very interesting stuff.. if you hadn't said that both burners have the Tilley patent number stamped, then i might have thought that the shorter dome looked like a Bialaddin mixer dome... the thread on them is the same... Didn't W&B reputedly make stuff for Tilley at one time? Btw, Great clear photos! Regards, pb
Second question The Tilley patent number that is stamped on the dome of the Tilley mixing tube on many lamps comes in two forms: Does the stamping on the right hand burner appear on lamps other than on the X359? Tony
Could someone with engineering skills and workshop tools have made bespoke burners, one offs, for his own use perhaps?
I don’t think a bespoke burner would have patent stampings. But the “First Question” burner mixing tube may well be a skilled workshop job and not factory. Cheers Tony
Will have to check my supply of spares when I'm back out of hospital been a long time when in start of october last year.Bob
Just checked my Tilley x359 3/59, The stamping is in the same positions, (The air vents are similar to some Bialadin/Vapalux models)
Always struck me as odd to see that patent stamped on the later burners. It is a 1923 patent which expired before WW2 and was 20 years obsolete by the time X359 was made. ::Neil::
Third question [Back to this thread as I sort through the shed/workshop and stock that's in it] I have a few loose examples (not fitted to lamps) of the older Tilley three-armed burners (300cp). All the ones that are fitted with air button do not have the Tilley patent stamp nor the knurled ring on the mixing tube that the Table Lamp burners have, and they have a rather more accentuated dome on the mixing chamber. Is this consistent with other people's observations? Tony
@Nils Stephenson If it’s a Kayen (the one without a Tilley stamp), I have quite a few. I have “flat top” burners that are definitely Kayen, and a lot of Kayen burners have “flat” air buttons. I suppose what I’m looking for is whether Tilleys that have the PL or 199 hoods, came with the stampless, knurl-less burner. Cheers Tony
I think I’ve come to the conclusion that the burner on the left below (also shown above) is Kayen. For all intents and purposes, it has the same dimensions as the Tilley burner (right) but lacks the Tilley patent stamp, and the knurled ring on the mixing tube: I’ve a few of these. Cheers Tony
I should add that I’ve gone though all my paperwork and can find no illustration of a Tilley 3-arm burner, prior to the X246B that doesn’t have the knurled ring on the mixing tube. Cheers Tony PS: Kayen also made burners with flat tops to the mixing tube.
It sure is a Kayen, I have a few myself, both flat and the domed burners, they're not knurled and I haven't seen one that is, but I have only seen about 40 Kayen lamps so far.
@Tony Press Also the air buttons on Kayen are different, not as round as Tilley. In your photos they are Kayen air buttons.
I’ve got these with the flat Kayen buttons; no buttons; and some with buttons that are indistinguishable from Tilley buttons. But none of these were on lanterns when I got them. They are all spares. I’ve also got a bag of “mixed” buttons. Cheers Tony
Most of it looks factory-made. But then it could have been altered by someone with good metal working skills in a machine shop. White coloured inscriptions or stampings are not very common on older stuffs. But they are quite common in modern parts and could quite easily be produced in a decent shop these days. Its hard to judge. Its still possible in a workshop but the person who would do it must have been really determined to make things appear factory-finished.
Here you go, just to throw a spanner in the works check this out. No knurled ring on the mixing tube, but has Tilley patent number.
