1960s Twin Beer Pump Restoration - Gaskell & Chambers

[Grainer]

Hi All thought I would share this,

I bought a retro style Gaskell & Chambers 1960s Beer Pump from a Pub in the UK, the 'Spangled Bull' in Kirkheaton, in West Yorkshire. a little while ago ad I have been restoring it.

So heres a photo Gallery of how it all started...

 

[Grainer]

Next step was to unpackaged the gift of beer love..find the doggie !!

It was about 37kg and a ****** to unpackaged cause of all the metal strapping.. The beer pump was caked in oil from the 60s, entirely tarnished and in very bad condition.. the woodwork was damaged and chipped.. all he sealant was fooled and the pumps had different fittings.. As you can sort of tell it is sort of black and the pumps and wood are in bad repair.

OMG .. gunna be a big job but hell worth it

 

[Grainer]

Next I had 2 pump base connections that were different and wanted to make them look the same.. one was a screw attachment and one was a long nose attachment. I thought the nozzle looked longer so it was time to redesign it,.. so it went on the lathe to be turned to copy the other attachment.

 

[Grainer]

Now here are the nozzles the shorter one is the one that went on the lathe.. decided not to lengthen it as it was more of a hassle... Also I had to solder new screw threads onto the spouts.. next after that one of the attachments broke off so I had to resolver solder them back on after I stripped back the paint work and finished some of the exterior. I did this by soldering a brass nut directly to the pump. (You can see the screw one in one of the photos. I also took the time to polish all the exterior brass. I did this will rust removal liquid, brass, worstashire sauce and stainless cleaner (huge process). Problem is in pulling apart the pup I had to rip all the gaskets off which were sort of irreplaceable.

 

[Grainer]

Here is the semi-finished pump stripped back and the new nuts for the lower spouts silver soldered on.

 

[Grainer]

Next was to work on the woodwork, so I pulled the pumps apart and sanded back the wood to bare timber.

 

[mahonya1]

Hi All thought I would share this,

I bought a retro style Gaskell & Chambers 1960s Beer Pump from a Pub in the UK, the 'Spangled Bull' in Kirkheaton, in West Yorkshire. a little while ago ad I have been restoring it.

So heres a photo Gallery of how it all started...

The Spangled Bull, now that's a blast from the past. As a kid I used to play football around the corner from the pub. How did you come across this setup? Looks like a good project to keep you busy.

 

[Grainer]

I know a guy that put me in contact with a local that had the pump in a shed that was there fore like 20 years.

 

[Grainer]

Once the timber was in place all external brass was polished and the timber painted white and the wood grain lacquered. All the brass was either previously black or painted white like the nuts and washers.

 

[Grainer]

Next was to lathe the internal to ensure a good fit after adding a thread to the bottom fitting and ensure a nice tight fit for the main pump cylinder.. lathe time..

photos to follow they are huge and taking time to download

 

[Grainer]

Final was to make new gaskets.. these had to be made from scratch.. so lucky I have access to a laser cutter as well.. so they were redone from rubber to cork. Once the gaskets were made they were attached to the pumps.

 

[Grainer]

Final was to paint the pumps

 

[Grainer]

Next was to put it all together and test the pumps for integrity.. JACKPOT.. IT ALL WORKS :super: :beerbang:.. hope you enjoyed the small photo journey.. it took ages to upload and I'm now 4 beers in !

 

[Yob]

It's Xmas time you know! I'll swing by and grab it next week

 

[Benn]

Well done man interesting piece of history and a great restoration job.
You could take that thing to the 'Antiques Roadshow'

 

[Mardoo]

Seriously awesome restoration. Congratulations.

 

[barneey]

Very nice project, well done.

 

[antiphile]

A huge amount of time and effort well rewarded.

One stupid question: what was the reason for using Worcestershire sauce (or however you pommies spell it :icon_drool2: ) in the stripping process. I've never heard of it being used anywhere but the kitchen.

Cheers and great work.

 

[Grainer]

The sauce is a great brass cleaner that doent leave behind residues.

The process is...

Use Ranex rust remover with a semi coarse steel wool followed with a fine steel wool. Use thick rubber gloves and goggles
Following this polish with brasso with a power drill.
Next rinse and rub down with sauce to remove brasso redidues.. it leaves a fine film.
Finally spray with stainless steel spray and wipe down to maintain finish and prevent quick tarnish.

 

[Grainer]

Lathe photos as promised.