Restoration of Antique Blowtorch Restoration - With Testing

Antique Swiss Blowtorch Restoration - with testing! Oerlikon Record

In this video I'm restoring an antique swiss blowtorch.

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I found this old blowtorch, which was perfect for a nice restoration video. Before I started to disassemble I wanted to know if it still works and it did. The flame was quiet inconsistent and fire leaked everywhere. By the first look I saw that the front piece was damaged very hard, the bolt on top had a lot of slack, the handle of the pump was broken and it didn't lock.
After this first look I started to disassemble. All the parts were really easy to remove and it went very well and fast.
To remove the soot and patina I used a mixture of flour, salt and vinegar. This is a very effective and cheap method, it takes a bit of time but it's worth to wait. I left the parts for 7 days. I made a new bolt on the lathe and recut the thread. To make the bolt black I heated it up to around 300-400°C and layered it in olive oil after it, that makes it also rust proofing. Because I couldn't fix the front piece, I decided to make a new one and it worked very well. I made the gasket for it out of an exhaust gasket, because it had one layer aluminum in it I first made a hole on the mill, then cut it roughly out and finished it with the belt grinder. Next up I removed all the scratches from the tank with sandpaper. As I can't engrave I decided to scratch the letters deeper with a needle and then I polished it. I did the same with the same with the filler cap and made a new gasket out of cork for it. The shaft from the pump was bent very hard, so I did straighten it with a hammer and polished it. The handle was broken and it didn't lock, I decided to make a new one. I designed the handle and I was inspired by pictures of similar blowtorches on the internet, I was quiet happy with the end result. To make a new leather for the pump, I sacked a piece of leather in pure gasoline. I made a die and stamp to bring the leather in shape. To dry it faster I set it on fire and waited until the flames stopped, held it quick under water and left it for 24 hours to dry. I took it out of the die, cut it in shape with scissors and punched a hole in it. I grinded the black handle clean with sandpaper on the lathe and made a new profile on the mill, after that I polished it to make it black and shiny. I made a new wick with a cotton cord.
Then I put it all back together. I used just a little bit grease on all the threads and also on the pump leather. The pump had a very good compression after assembling and I was very happy about the overall looking at the end.

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