Osborne Restoration

Category: Larbert Portable Cooking Range

‘Larbert 41104’ portable range is arguably the most attractive of the portable ranges. Like almost all of its counterparts the Larbert range harked from the Falkirk area and was manufactured by Dobbie Forbes & Company Ltd at their Larbert Works. It was dubbed by its creators “Best in the world” and “never fail” which is good marketing by anyone’s standards!

Early examples feature the decorative strap hinges and crescent flue box whilst the later ones have a plain door and angular flue box. They came in every shape and size with or without boilers and remained in production from the late 19th century to the mid 20th.

  • New (old) ranges in stock!

    I’ve had a few deliveries over the last week and here’s the result, you guessed it- ranges!

    I tend to try and get my hand on anything cast by the Caledonian Stove and Iron Works so when this beautifully deco ‘Dover’ range came up I had to have it!

    Secondly a very smart 26″ Belle Portable with removable oven. These narrower ranges are increasingly hard to come by especially in this condition!

    Next is a very nice but fairly rusty Larbert 410114 30″ range, these are very pretty with their strap hinges and curve top oven doors. The firebox drop doors that are always missing will be replaced in the restoration with new ones that I have had cast in England from high quality grey iron.

    Finally, here is something really special! It’s a very nice little 24″ model, the kind of stove that can be found in narrowboat back cabins but can also slip into many standard chimney openings. It’s had a hard old life but we’ll get him ship shape again before long!

  • 1896 Larbert 41104 with boiler resto

    The Larbert with boiler goes in for restoration this week so I thought this would be a good opportunity to do a ‘before and after’ photo. It is in complete condition but has suffered a lot of damage over the years. A section of top plate on the RHS is completely gone, the back/ sides and oven have rotted out and the front panel is broken in three places. Likewise the firebox cheeks are both damaged, the grate hanger is burnt out, the oven is rotten and It is also missing a hot plate. But most importantly the whole boiler is knackered. Busy week then!

  • Early Larbert 41104 with water boiler

    I just received this range in stock, it is an early example of a Larbert 41104 portable range with water boiler. There is lots of work to do to this one before it will be ready to use again including the fabrication of a stainless steel boiler since the cast iron has been reduced to metallic mulch! It’s a very nice range however and will be well worth the effort.
    If you are interested in this one then get in touch.

  • Well it’s been a really busy few weeks here. We’ve been up and down the country working, buying and selling and I’m now back at the workshop to catch up with the on going work here.
    I went to take a look at two Shepherds huts yesterday with a mind to restoring them for the owner of the estate where they still are. One is in reasonable nick but the other is a real project.
    The Ideal Domestic boiler is off up to London for its new life on a boat on the Thames. I’ve been busy making a log store/ base for it to stand on which should look very smart and raise boiler to a more convenient height for cooking etc.
    I’ve got three new acquisitions this week alone. Firstly a very nice Coalbrookdale open range that I just couldn’t pass up. Sadly I can’t make out the digits on the RD mark but I suspect it is circa 1860 and certainly no later than 1868.
    Next is a Larbert portable range, this is probably the most desirable of the portable ranges and they don’t come up very often. It’s in reasonable nick but will certainly take more than a bit of work to get it up to scratch again!
    Lastly is a very nice early open range. This type of range predate any dating marks so it is hard to know when they were cast. The earliest example that I have restored was in Bristol and dated from 1813. This one is likely to be a bit later but is almost certainly pre 1840s.