My Tilley’s metal screen mantle burned up prematurely. It barely lasted a year. I went back to my asbestos one but wanted another metal mantle. I have a propane reflector heater that utilizes a perforated metal mantle. Why not manufacture one from perforated metal? This is the result. The holes are 2.8mm or 0.113” The metal was a piece of mild steel 0.2mm or 0.087”. I drilled the holes, notched the plate ends and tig welded the seam to form a cylinder. The ends were then formed as shown. This was the result. I’m happy with the heat output. I’m not sure why the pics posted sideways.
@goldwinger11 Well done. She’s working very well. It’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts. Cheers Pete
@AussiePete I'm curious as well about the longevity. I couldn't see spending $25 US for a replacement metal one that lasted less than a year.
I came across this post while searching for something else. Thought I would post some feedback. The metal mod is still working well without any signs of fatigue.
OK, it seems to work well but why don't you just make it cylindrical and fashion a suitable baseplate to hold it in place - something in the style of the Bialaddin equivalent. Cosmetically at least, that would be better IMHO and also save a bit of work possibly...
I've a lot of these, 2 1/4" diameter stainless steel out of steam traps, thought these could make some
@David Shouksmith I used this shape to imitate the shape of the steel mesh mantles. I never dawned on me to make a cylindrical mantle. Yesterday I saw someone else had manufactured a cylindrical mantle using wire mesh. Looked neat. @paul m The steam traps wouldn't fit in the existing preheat chimney and might be too large to heat to cherry red.
From this thread: https://classicpressurelamps.com/threads/fabricated-tilley-r1-mantle.16151/#post-125710 Don’t get me wrong, @goldwinger11. I really like your mantle. Cheers Tony
@Tony Press thanks for the compliment. I like the idea of experimenting with different mantles. The references help a lot
Update: My homegrown metal mantle disintegrated today. It took 14 months to give up the ghost. The metal became brittle where the flames were almost touching the metal. Next I’ll try making a cylindrical one.