The engineers who made things ages ago that can still be used today should be really proud of themselves. Glad to see you breathed life back into the blow torch! Nicely done Dom!

I love how you show your successes and failures. Great video keep up the good work.

That takes me back. I can remember using one of these back in the 60's. Remember not getting something quite right and ending up with a flame thrower which ignited the skirting board at the opposite side of the room.

Hi Dom. I have a Primus No 632 under my bed which has been gathering dust for years. I think it belonged to my grandfather. I’ve never had the guts to investigate and get it working but this has ‘fired up’ the courage. If you hear reports of a small explosion from Buckinghamshire later this week then you know it hasn’t gone well…😂

Fantastic job, as always! Also, so pleasing to see someone giving all the fire precaution warnings before lighting the blowtorch in between the open containers of meths and paraffin! Exactly what I would do, so relatable!! 💚🐇🐴💚

Lovely MkII Escort

Loved the Blow Torch Resto, When you're pushed for time, would like to see more short restos (they're just as enjoyable).

Great job on the torch. Being a Navy guy I would have polished the brass. Lol.

I’ve never really understood how those old blowtorches work. Until now. Thanks Dom!

Great job mate.

Magic

Good vlog Dom, but as a plumber who did my apprenticeship with these blow lamps you needed a few more pumps to get a really hot flame. You showed the correct procedure for lighting it but going from job to job we never carried meths we rapped what was in those days asbestos string around the the well, then we would tip it up with a thumb over the outlet, pump it so the paraffin hit the thumb and ran into the wick then release the pressure and light it. We would then prepare the burst lead pipe by which time the blow lamp was hot and ready to pump up.

There is a primus tin that you could buy in the old days that came with spare washers and a pricker tool that poked the small vents if blocked.

I always wanted to know how those old blow torches worked. Thanks for the bit of education, Dom. You know, between all the changing camera angles, great background music, clear commentary, and fascinating subject matter, your videos are some of the best on the web and seem much more like they are the product of a highly skilled team. I don't know how you find the time but I sure appreciate the fact that you manage to just the same. Brilliant!

Great video. Really enjoyed it 😁

I came across mine today and remembered your video. I remember my dad using it decades ago and it used kerosene for fuel. I thought I’d watch this again for a refresher in the event that I have a go at reviving it. Lots of stuff to do on my ‘71 MGBGT so this will no doubt be put on the back burner, so to speak.

I love seeing this old kit being revived. It’s proven technology that still works when it’s looked after. I wouldn’t mind one myself!

Always wondered how my dad's one of these worked! Great video Dom, this is the level of detail and time spent I would love to see on every Repair Shop item :D

Great little project Dom, yep we have one on display in our Den...time for flame on !

Thanks Dom. I have finally got round to sorting my burner handed down from my grandad.

I have three Burmos lamps, I replaced the pump washers with 5/8” leather cup washers bought on EBay. Also picked up a vintage service kit and many spares for little money. My Dad was a plumber and told me that many cold rooms where he worked were heated by his trusty blow lamp 😁

Hi Dom …when I was a young man I remember my dad having one… it would be interesting to see how many of your subscribers had one or still got one

I’ve got one in my man cave. I lit it many years ago just to see if it worked - and it did. It’s still there gathering dust.

My grandad was a painter and decorator all his working life, he used one of these paraffin blowtorches to strip old paint. It had a little flat silver metal handle with a thin wire at the end, he called it a pricker and it was used to clear the hole in he jet.

Great presenting

I did enjoy the video. Thanks Dom. Best wishes

Ive got one in shop bèen threatening to strip it down for years ! Ill give it a go.😊

It hurts but remodeling is the best way. Move it all out and see what you've got. Could be a great we seriously interesting vid

D.C. - Making the history about an everyday thing interesting :) Nice one

great job looks great..

Have a lot of the blow torches, even one that came withe box and never used form 1930s. They are fun..

as a kid I learnt to use one to burn off paint with my dad ... he was a painter... fabulous in cold weather!!

Cheers I will be looking at mine now

Great video Dom. Especially if you compare it with some of those other 'restoration' video's which make it better then new but loose all authenticity.

30 min video on lighting a blow-torch. Sounds about right :)

Back in the day (until the '70s when gas lamps came out) nearly all plumbers had these. The rest used a different type which ran on petrol instead. These could be distinguished by having a horizontal burner instead of an inclined one, and no heating coils inside. They could be started (ignited) a lot quicker as they didn't need to be warmed up but I imagine they were more dangerous. My Dad was a builder and as a 10 year old I used to spend my school holidays playing on the site, "helping out" the various trades and generally making myself a nuisance with the never ending "why do you do that?" and "what is this for?" questions. On one occasion I was walking past a house where a Plumber was working and I heard a loud warning " LOOK OUT!" followed a second later by a fireball flying out of the upstairs window, (in those days they didn't glaze the houses until just before the painters came in, so no glass in the frame). The fireball touched down about 20 feet away and promptly exploded, but luckily I had fast reflexes and managed to get out of the way, and no one else was close. It turned out to be a misbehaving blow lamp, and I was a bit shaken up and I forgot to ask if it was a paraffin or a petrol one, although my guess is the latter. Kids eh, never ask the right questions! 😀😀.

I honestly didn't watch this at first because I thought, what's so interesting about an old torch... then I watched it end to end and now want to buy and restore one myself. Well done Dom as always!

Wow, what a journey. Great restoration, thanks.

That was great

Flaming good video dom

I learnt how to use one as a kid lighting the aga. I also used a primus stove to melt lead to do sand castings. Of course that was before lead was toxic.

I was using one 55 years ago and it will still be here somewhere .

Never used one. Always wondered how they worked. Thanks for the lesson. Cheers.

Just bought a Swedish optimus no 406 from Elsecar heritage centre Yorkshire missing baskets and leather washer thanks for talk through I will get it working in the near future Thanks

Be careful when undoing the valve to turn it off, do it slowly otherwise it can release a parafin "mist" which will burn. I once accidently caught the valve on something I was working on and ended up with a fireball. Great Video.

My father likely used one of these! Nice to see you restore something of your own! Great video!

Great video Dom, I particularly loved the way you fired up the blowlamp - completely unfazed by the proximity of a container of meths on one side and a pint of thinners on the other! Great job!

Hi Dom, yup I'm another of those guys who's dad had one of these, I remember him replumbing the shop we moved into in 1962, fantastic at jointing into the old lead water feed pipe, had heat to spare. I used it a couple of times and remember the fiery paraffin jet that would start if you failed to leave the pressure relief valve open 😱. Heaven knows what happened to them, gas's blow lamps became so much more convenient to use 🤷.

My brother in law has one belonging to his grandfather. Definitely going to restore it.

Flame coming out of a torch -- always brings Dom's biggest grin

So odd to look at something I used as a kid now treated as a museum piece! I used to scavenge old lead water pipes and melt them down to make soldiers from a split metal mould. Very satisfying! Any surplus was poured into an old yorkshire pud tray, creating lead 'biscuits' with a shell pattern on. I still have a few!

lovely to see how these work.

Brilliant, thank you

Hi Dom, Thanks for that lesson I’ll now go and get my blow torch out and see if I can get it working. I only used it once as it belonged to my late father in law who was a plumber so this is taking me back. Thanks very much 🤗

I can't stress enough to people not to give up on these if you choose to restore one. The trick is, to let the methylated spirits burn a couple of trays at LEAST!!! After which, start with only one or two pumps. The nozzle pipework needs to be very hot before these lamps will work. People often get a jet of paraffin shooting out, or setting fire all over the lamp and just give up. However, get the nozzle pipework seriously hot by burning the methylated spirits longer and the joy once it kicks into life is definitely worth it!!! Took me two days...I made a new pump seal from a charity shop belt, soaked and shaped it in oil and I just couldn't get it to fire up properly. I was about to give up, but decided to think about why it wasn't working. Then sure enough, away it went. I sat back and admired it for a good five minutes like the man I am!!! Lol.

Your workshop reminds me of my late dad's garage and papas shed they had everything. I can remember seeing a old blow torch like yours

I prefer these , if only for the smell and the ritual of lighting them . Great video 👍🇬🇧

Thanks Dom, I really enjoyed this video, one of your best!

perseverance makes perfect

I inherited one of these from my grandfather, he passed away in the mid '70s. Always wondered how you go about using one of these things ! Many thanks for the guide :)

That was great, so enjoyable, thank you.

Just cleaned up my old dad’s blow lamp. He was a plumber and he used lead. A lot of plumbers were traditionally also glaziers - most tradesmen had two related skills.

Excellent vlog!! Those bell torches came in three sizes, with the smallest one being the size of a can of beer. cheers!!

Really interesting that Dom! I’m sure i have a few kicking about which i’m going to have a go at restoring thanks to that video 😃

On the repair shop one of the best episodes was the Secret Santa one. How about doing a special one day where everyone brings in something of their own that is broken (can be bought specially, recently or a family piece), that one (or more) of the other members or trades can bring back to life ?

Well sorted out Dom.👍👍

Loved the video. Greetings from the Netherlands 🌷

As a aged plumber these were the tools of my trade wipeing a joint on a lead pipe the leather washer for the pump was called a cup washer and could be bought from the local hardware store. Best soaked in oil for best result Les

Fantastic. I have one and didn't know exactly how to work it. Another project for the list, now. Thanks again.

Well done Dom. I have spent many hours behind one. Good for winter mornings stripping paint. I do not know if you can still get them, but there was a "Nozzle Cleaner"as well, known as a "Pricker". This simple device is/was used to insert a needle in the jet when it was blocked without disassembling it. Gold star as well as thumbs up!

Oh my goodness; You have just taken me back to times spent with my Dad in his garage in the 1960’s! Wonderful presentation Dom.

Many years ago I purchased new a paraffin blow lamp, cheap to run & did a great job stripping paint. But it was heavy to use, I would use gas today, but the old lamp is a great stand by. You are a great presenter, enjoy watching !!

Champion Dom! That certainly brought back many happy memories with my Dad.

Great lil video, how many ppl have these lamps and dont use them .I tried to fix mine but didn't have any leather for the plunger only had a brake kit so use a slave cylinder rubber cover cut down ,it still works years later .made to last years

That was flaming good 👍.

I was a bit late getting to this video this week but wow was it worth the wait. I walked past one of those blow lamps at a car boot sale. Man, am I regretting that now. Brilliant video this, Dom. Many thanks. 👍

O.M.G.it's a long time since I got one of those going, and yes they can be very temperamental, Great video Dom.

Hi Dominic 😊 I remember plumbers in the old days prewarming the vaporiser whith a piece of old rag soaked in paraffin from the the lamp , they wrapped it around the airtube part and set fire to it, this was done outside of course, I think it saved them carrying meths in their tool kit. This was early 1960s, when a plumber carried a Bass Bag over his shoulder suspended on a large ball pien hammer, sorry if you already knew this, good job on the lamp, it would have looked good polished, painted though,lol, cheers mate great video, stay safe, best wishe's to you and your's, Stuart uk.

Fascinating, and ingenious. Tidy job bringing it back! Now back to the 356 please!

My dad had a Monitor blow lamp just like yours. It came with a circular wick with a wire handle, you soaked the wick in meths and fitted it over the blowlamp nozzle and lit it. After a couple of minutes you pumped up the pressure and it would burst into life.

Remember messing about with one @ an old friends place, his dad had one in an old farm building, quite fascinating thing to see going when I was a young lad!!

I think I might have my dad's old one somewhere in the garage. I don't know when it was last used, but I remember it not working when I was a teenager, which would be over 60 years ago.

Dom, I have 3 in a box which I bought off ebay about 15 years ago. Your video has given me the inspiration to fix them. Cheers and loving the channel.

There is a small attachment for the top of the exhaust that can hold a soldering iron.

When I was a lad 56 years ago that’s all the plumbers had also never saw it working we had a giant petrol powered blow lamp

I stripped mine a while back and cleaned it up it’s ready to reassemble but I’ll need to make a new leather seal too. I used these around 50 years ago they’re very very useful 👍😀

Hi Dom, I have an old blow lamp that uses petrol. Never seen another one, but it was my dad’s from about the 1940s. He used it for removing paint when decorating. Love your channel, the enthusiasm is infectious.

Wow Dom. You're a great tutor. Loved the lesson & seeing the literal nuts & bolts of the intricate engineering. Oh,& that Escort looked greeaat fun🚀..!!!

That was really interesting to see how they used the blowtorch to heat it’s own fuel

Great , more like this please

You need an essential tool , the pricker, to keep the jet clear,they can soot up.

Oh, the memories, Dom. You should have called me and I would have told you to sort out the piston first. My dad is now 97 and I bet he's still got the blow lamp that, as a teenager, I took apart all those years ago.

Nice one Dom. Remember my Old Dad and Grandad using them regularly. Grandads brass was always polished regularly. Dads was every 3/4 months.

Another great video Dom, would love to see similar with an old Tilly lamp.

Growing up we used to have an old Fordson Super Major Tractor,which was a right so and so to get started in the cold weather, have been known to warm up the intake manifold with one of these lamps, works a treat....

Dom's pimp my blow torch :) excellent video to watch you service and repair and get working I might add :) a really old blow torch :) cool thanks for posting Dom look forward to some more of your videos as I have caught up again now :)

I had a play with my three blow torches the other day and couldn't get any of them working despite stripping, cleaning etc. Time to have another play with them now with better results hopefully.

Nice job Dom , can you show people how the blow torch heats up old heavy copper soldering irons . They were used to solder joints on tin , copper and roof gutters . Cheers from Rick in Sydney Australia 🇦🇺

Another brilliant video Dom!

Cool. I’ve got exactly that same one. Now I know how to get it going.