Osborne Restoration

Author: OliverOsborne

  • …and another Beetonette!

    As quick as I can get them out the door another one appears! Here is another Beetonette that has come in for restoration. It’s a 1930s model and features some very nice simplistic Art Deco stylings. It is in pretty good condition aswell with only the oven trivet and door release missing. I’m looking forward to seeing this one complete again.

  • Another Belle Portable range in for restoration

    This range is fairly typical of the kind that come here for restoration. On the outside they look tired and tatty but in reasonable order but inside they are a mess. It is for this reason that I am so diligent with my restorations as a range that appears to be in fair aesthetic condition could (and probably is) in very poor working condition. It’s sometimes easy to forget that these ranges are 100+ years old and for much of that time they may have had a coal fire inn them for 12hrs of the day!

  • Beetonette completed and ready for sale

    Well after a pretty involved restoration the Bettonette boiler is now fully restored and ready for its new home. Go to the ‘Shop’ tab at the top of the page to view it.

  • Beetonette diffuser plate and firestones

    I’ve now finished the Beetonette so it is patiently waiting to be collected by the couriers this week. Here is a quick pic of the finished internals. All firebox plates are new save the one of the boiler side, the whole damper assemply is also new as is the grate, oven and diffuser plate. This one was a big job to get back together again!

  • 1885 UTILIS range for Gressenhall museum

    I was contacted earlier in the year by Gressenhall farm and workhouse museum regarding the restoration of their cooking range that they use to show visitors and school children how the Victorians cooked.
    It was in a poor state or repair with many parts having suffered from heat fatigue and many other damaged or lost by a previous ‘restoration’. The later is one of the biggest offenders when ranges are concerned. More damage can be done by a poor restoration than would have been casued if it has been left well alone and used as is.

    I will do a full write up of this restoration when it is complete but in the mean time here are some pictures showing some new fabricated replacement parts and some patterns being made to replace missing or badly damaged parts.

  • Name plates

    I just got the new name plates back from the foundry. They have been cast in brass and will be polished and then rivited to each of my restorations. They have come out great and I’m really pleased with them!

  • Another range complete

    Here’s another range complete. I have taken care of the restoration of the ironwork whilst the builders have been hard at work on the surround and brickwork. This range required a completely new top plate, hot plates, damper etc. The top plate proved to be a very tricky casting to produce due to its size but it came out very nicely and is now fit for service again.

  • Historic fiddle rails for back cabin stoves

    I am often asked to provide ‘Back cabin stoves’ for the historic narrow boats. These were commonly ‘marinised’ portable cooking ranges typically 20″-24″ in width depending on wether or not they were used in a ‘Butty’ or ‘Motor’ boat. Although the ranges of this size are very rare they do come up and I try to keep at least a couple in stock.
    However the most prominent and unique feature to the ranges used in the back cabin was the highly polished brass fiddle rail and standards. Finding original sets is practically impossible and in fact very few actual exist even on original ranges.
    I am pleased to say that I have produced a set of patterns for the rail and standards taken directly from an original set. These standards and rail will be cast in Somerset in brass to the exact design and dimensions as the original ones used on working boats throughout the Uk.
    They will be available as part of my restorations only and not as a seperate set.
    Below is a picture of an original set as reference.

  • The pesky Beetonette is nearing completion

    The end is in sight! Here I have mocked up the Beetonette before its final assembly. There is barely an item on this range that hasn’t be repaired or renewed. The problem was that the damage was cunningly hidden beneath layers of body filler and paint so its true condition could not be perceived until it was blasted. Almost all the external panels were in reasonable order so the damage was largely limited to the internal workings. The top plate however was in nine separate piece and took more than a few hours to put right again!

    – Note the rather grand nickel plated knobs, vent and tap.

  • Beetonette repairs

    As you can see from the first picture the internals of this Beetonette were absolutely shot! It’s amazing that someone was still using it! Most of the firebox was held together with old stones and bricks and the entire thing was clogged with ash. The entire damper assembly had disappeared so had to be fabricated anew. Likewise only one small section of the RHS firebox was present and the back looked as though it had been hit by a train. The grate is also shot so all of the above as been replaced. The oven has also been replaced as a matter of course as well as the diffuser plate and water boiler.