Does anyone know of a Tilley steam iron ?? Not the DN250 or the DN6 as what I am looking for uses a pint in four hours and the DN250 uses 1/3 of a pint in four hours.
Two years ago I purchased a Tilley gas clothes iron from England only to have it stopped from export. I think that is excluded from using a pint in any number of hours; but it is a Tilley.
A couple of years ago I sent an image or text of a Tilley iron to @Macburner that is quite possibly the iron you are seeking information on. I can't recall if it was an image or just text or both. I can't find that image or text, now. From memory, Neil wasn't aware that the iron that the image showed or as described in the text was ever produced.
@Matty it may be your article I have just found on my computer. Do a file search on TilleySteamIron1951.png
Anthony, I had a hard drive seize up and I lost a lot of information. The .png extension is a dead giveaway that I likely sent you the file. Is it text or image?
I really don't remember anything about this and searching my files for "Steam" finds nothing. I do remember finding an electric Tilley Iron in the US which caused some excitement when the baggage was searched in Dulles but that had no water tank. Not sure where that went but I don't think I kept it and I don't have any images. ::Neil::
@Mackburner Anthony has shown me the article and it is one I sent him. I thought it was you I'd discussed it with. I'll send you a copy of the article.
Is the attached really a Tilley Model R450? I am familiar with the 250 models and the DN6 but unsure of this or whether it is the one you are looking for @Anthony
Hmmm, me too. Very interesting.. I assume you got the model number from the ebay listing. ?? What a shame it didn't make it to your front door. Thanks.
Yep, that's for sure. But not from eBay. I have just come in after trying to fix a spigot on a burner and measuring some Tilley parts and spotted Matty's post. So I thought I will google search and was really surprised and thought maybe that's the one you are looking for, though it's not steam. So not from eBay just the google search of images. It looks Tilley to me. Regards
There was a Tilley DN250 recently completed on E/Bay which was advertised as being a *steam iron* because it had a spout on side to put water in.
Matt has copied the article to me now and it's definite enough but the numbers don't work and I don't believe it. The DN250 runs 4 hours on a 1/3 pint of kero and weighs 5lb 4oz filled. This steam iron article states 4 hours on a pint of kero and weight 5lbs filled with kero and water. That is a bigger burner than the Tilley stove which runs 4 hours on a pint and a half. Add to that a water tank and you would have to have a pair of tanks about twice the size of the one in DN250 which totals near 4 times the liquid capacity and weight of the DN250 tank plus a heavier burner and two vapourisers to run a burner and a steam generator/boiler. All that in a unit 4oz lighter than a fully loaded DN250? The image of "Tilley R450" does have the style of a Tilley but I would suspect that came from the Union Metal Works in Hong Kong. Tilley R models are radiators so it isn't a Tilley model number. The pump isn't a Tilley and Unimet did copy some Tilley product often fitted with Red plastic control wheels. That's a guess mind but I don't see that as a Tilley. ::Neil::
I understand your scepticism. When did the first Tilley iron become available? The article is from 1951. Mentioning steam and a new Tilley iron makes the concept sound plausible to me. I wonder if Tilley were trying to design a working steam iron but gave up before they actually released it. I know you can't answer the questions. I just don't know why a reporter would make something like this up.
Acording to the PLC DN6 is from 1938. I assume that is about right as I have considerable faith in the author and I doubt I made it up but now I can't find the evidence. That probably means it was never scanned and is buried in the hard copy paper files. Pretty sure I didn't make it up but a newspaper reporter? I thought those guys would never allow the truth to get in the way of a good story when a little imagination would work. ::Neil::
I just had a quick look on Trove and the first mention in Australia seems to be 1939 so your 1938 date is likely to be close enough. I asked because I wondered if 1951 was the first year of the Tilley irons and perhaps the reporter was given info of an impending iron release and like you say, he embellished a bit. Again, I do understand you scepticism of a reporter. If I was a reporter and I wanted to make up a story, it probably wouldn't be about Tilley irons. I'd guess if you were reporting on Tilley irons you probably weren't on the editors Christmas card list.
Thanks for the DN6 paper. That seems to be 1939 so possibly not the one I saw but close enough. That export iron for 1951 sounds like the DN250 spec. DN250 is not listed in the 1950-51 season price list but is listed by 1953. I don't think Tilley sold an iron in the UK before the DN250 in the early 1950s. I am not aware of any examples of DN6 here so maybe that was export only and perhaps not made during WW2 so the DN250 was a new design to reinstate the export trade in 1950/51 and later offered to the domestic market. I have only seen one example of a DN6 which was on eBay some years ago and I think that was in Australia. ::Neil::
