# Coleman gas clothes iron



## Brian Rupnow (Mar 14, 2013)

Does anybody remember these? They were an iron for ironing clothes before electricity became available in a lot of rural communities. The ones I remember had a blue ball about 2 1/2 or 3" in diameter that you filled with naptha gas, and a built in pump to pressurize the ball with air. Then you lit it just like a Coleman camp stove, and after the initial flames had settled down to a nice even hiss, the internal burner heated the sole plate and it was great to iron clothes with. I would like to get one of those balls for a fuel tank for my Odds and Ends hit and miss engine. If anybody has one, let me know please. Childhood memorys of my aunt Betty ironing clothes prompted this story I wrote a few years ago, titled "Aunt Bettys Iron".

*&#8220;Aunt Betty&#8217;s Iron&#8221;*

The part of Ontario that I grew up in had no Hydro electric power untilI was about 10 years old, and then when it did come through, a lot of peoplecouldn't afford it until I was about 15 years old.

     This lead to a lot of strange and wonderful memories of when I was akid. One of the more awe inspiring memories is of my aunt Betty's Naptha gaspowered clothes iron.  (And yes, she wasmarried to the ill fated Uncle Jimmy who put the Naptha in grandpa's oilcan).

   Now I'm sure that not too manyof you knew that there was such a thing as a Naptha powered clothes iron. 

It kinda looked like anelectric clothes iron, but it had a round blue globe about 3" diameter onone end. This globe had a screw on lid and a pressure pump just like a gaslantern.

          The procedure to use this thing was to fill the globe withNaptha gas, pump up the internal pressure, then light it with a kitchen matchand let it preheat.--And that was the fun part. My aunt Betty was deathlyafraid of the damn thing, because when you lit it, blue flames would shoot inall directions, totally enveloping the iron and the hand of whoever lit it, andit would hiss like a ruptured dragon until the burners inside the iron heatedup---then it would settle into a rather contented hiss and you would be readyto iron the days washing with it.

          She would make my uncle take it outside to light it and get itwarmed up to operating temperature. My uncle knew no fear!! (Hell, he even usedNaptha in his Zippo cigarette lighter, because it was cheaper than lighterfluid.).

          I always loved it if I happened to be at Grandpa's house onironing day. My uncle never worked too steady---it interfered with his whiskeydrinking and fiddle playing too much. As a consequence, him and my aunt livedin a little  house on a piece of mygrandpa's land.

   He wasn't big on working, buthe was great with all of us various nephews and nieces, and could be dependedon for some great pyrotechnic displays!!!


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## GailInNM (Mar 14, 2013)

Lots of versions but this one was popular.
Gail in NM


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 14, 2013)

Thats the one Gail.---Hope you enjoyed the story.---Brian


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## johnmcc69 (Mar 14, 2013)

Are you thinking about making one of those tanks? You can probably spin one up on your
lathe out of sheet metal. Make a wooden form that is the shape of the top or
Bottom of the tank you want, chuck this "form" in your lathe, put a flat piece of sheet metal
on the end of the form, run the tailstock up against the sheet metal, & work (form) the metal
over the form. Make 2 halves & solder together.
Search for "metal spinning" & you will find more detailed info.

John


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 14, 2013)

No, I've never tried metal spinning in my lathe. I do a lot of design work for a company that does huge CNC spinning lathes, but not  my little lathe here at home. Its a new skill set that I don't want to have to learn right now, and the headstock bearings in my lathe wouldn't like it too much.


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## aarggh (Mar 14, 2013)

Brilliant story Brian, it really reminded me of how different things were when I grew up not that long back to how my kids are now. My mum had a similar iron, but it was the manual type you put on the kookaburra oven to warm up the water reservoir in it. As an aside, one of the fondest memories I have of that era as a kid is around 5am each morning when the milkman and his clydesdale would trot slowly down the street while dropping off the glass bottles of milk and cream. The sound of the clip-clop in the deathly quiet at that time was just magical to me. Something the kids now unfortunately would never understand or appreciate the spectacle of. Although I don't think anything in life has ever exceeded the excitement of the day we got an indoor toilet!

cheers, Ian


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 15, 2013)

I just did a search on ebay for Coleman irons---There are a ton of them on there for prices ranging from $19 up to $300. From what I could see, any that I could afford had ---ahem---dents in their balls!!!


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## rodw (Mar 16, 2013)

We called them petrol irons here and I remember my mum had one too. She also had a set of Mrs Potts Irons which sat on the wood stove and had a clip on handle. She had three of the irons so the other 2 were heating up on top of the slow combustion stove (which also ran our hot water system) . The petrol iron was retired when we moved to a new property (some might call them a ranch) because we had a 32 DC volt lighting plant so Mum could use an electric iron for the first time in her life. That is if somebody started the lighting plant for her as heating elements sucked the bank of 16 x 2 volt lead acid batteries flat in double quick time!

The lighting plant had a single cylinder stationery engine with magneto. It drove a a generator via a V belt to charge the batteries. The cooling system of course was a 44 gallon drum of water. It was a bit more modern than the one on the pump for the house water supply and was important enough that I remember Dad had a mechanic come out 60 miles and look at it a couple of times.

Of course being a Dc system, we still relied on our kerosene refrigerators!


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 16, 2013)

I'm off to the local "Junkatorium" to try and sus out a gas tank for the Odds and Ends engine. On the phone the proprieter said thay have over 5000 "Things of signifigant interest". Sounds like the Bazzar in ancient india!!!


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## Lew Hartswick (Mar 18, 2013)

Was just through several museums last week that several of those irons on display in 
suitable "environments" as well as the kind heated on a stove. That is what my mother 
used as I was growing up, the stove top type.  We were not into the "latest" gimmicks.

   ...lew...


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## Brian Rupnow (Mar 23, 2013)

Now I ask you---Is that a beautifull thing or not!!! That is one of the fuel tanks off a gas Coleman iron that I have been trying to chase down to use as a fuel tank for my Odds and Ends engine. It is just the right size, and even from the right time era. I'm as pleased as a can be!!!!


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## aarggh (Mar 23, 2013)

That looks just great Brian, very nice touch indeed! As always, I love reading your builds!

cheers, Ian


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## Shopguy (Mar 23, 2013)

Brian 
Perfect. The Coleman iron fuel tank does go right along with your engine.
Ernie J


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