Prentiss Wabers 409, Auto Cook Kit

Back in 2018, I spotted an unusual stove for sale. It appeared to be a Preway (or in earlier years known as Prentiss Wabers), but otherwise, I knew nothing about it. The paint looked pretty messed up in the photos so I thought it would be a good restoration project. I bought it and when it arrived it turned out to be completely different than what I expected.

First, a little background. This stove came out of Centennial, Wyoming. It had been kept in a cabin that was owned by a professor at the university in nearby Laramie. This was back in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. The professor was well known and supposedly his son was one of the weather forecasters who helped set the date for D-Day in WWII. The great nephew who was selling this stove told me that the stove stopped being used sometime in the 1970s and had been kept in a shed near the cabin ever since.

Original Veiling on Prentiss Wabers 409 stove

Back to the stove. When it arrived I noticed that the paint looked original and not adhered as if by accident, and it had this unusual, black, string-like accent to it. So, I did some research. The stove was a Prentiss Wabers 409 stove. It came from the factory with crackle paint and black veiling. To my surprise, it turned out that the stove was supposed to look like this only more so.

1937 Preway Catalog Number 19

The 1937 Preway Catalog Number 19, as it is titled, showed a black and white photo of the stove and notes the finish. It states, “The case keeps everything safe, clean and convenient. Made of 24 gauge steel, finished in rich green crackle baked enamel with veiling effect.”  I had never seen a stove with a crackle finish like this and was pretty happy that I took a chance on this restoration project. Thankfully, the stove was used at a cabin and later kept in a shed, so it didn’t experience the abuse that most stoves would experience when used on car camping trips. The paint was in good shape but almost all of the black veiling color was rubbed off. Since the green paint was actually good, I changed my mind on the planned restoration. The crackle paint would remain original.

Prentiss Wabers model tag and tank stenciling

On the fuel tank the stove is called an Auto-Cook-Kit and stenciled in gold lettering, and also states that the stove was made by Prentiss Wabers in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin in black lettering. The stenciled letters are quite faded now.

Prentiss Wabers Preheater Valve Wheel

I oiled the pump leather, added fuel and then added pressure to the tank. But . . . what’s this? There are two valve wheels on this stove. I looked carefully at the one on the left and it said Preheater Valve. I wasn’t sure about this valve but figured I’d light this stove the same way as a Coleman. That was a mistake as I promptly flooded the inside of the stove with fuel, creating a big mess. So, I searched the web for similar Preway products and found a set of operating instructions. It turns out that Preway accomplished Instant Lighting using a different method than Coleman. Coleman uses a control rod to limit fuel flow at startup forcing more air into the Fuel/Air mix (F/A tube). When the valve is opened fully, the control rod is automatically retracted forcing more fuel and less air. Preway solved the Instant Lighting problem by adding a second valve. The second valve, when opened, allows more air to the fuel/air mix. Once the generator is warm, the air valve is closed forcing an all fuel flow. Well, that explained the flooding I experienced. Mystery solved. By the way, this air valve is called the Preheater Valve.

Prentiss Wabers 409 Main Burner and cast iron grate

To light this stove, the user adds pressure by cycling the pump (I typically go with 45), then opens the Preheater Valve a couple of turns. Next, get a match or other ignition source ready and put it by the burner and finally, open the main valve until the burner lights.

Prentiss Wabers 409 Pump Assembly

This stove fired up properly once I learned how to light it, however, I noticed that the pump seemed loose sometimes and didn’t always add pressure. I tried oiling the leather pump cup, but it didn’t seem to fix the problem. Thinking that I would replace the pump cup with a similar-sized leather from another stove, such as the M-1942, I removed the pump tube assembly.

Prentiss Wabers 409 Pump Parts

I thought this would be an easy thing to do, however, Preway used an unusual retainer to hold the pump leather in place. In addition, the leather was captured between two brass parts. All of these brass parts require a special tool for disassembly which I don’t have, however, there was one more issue. The retainer part was also peened in place which made removal so difficult that the brass retainer cracked in one place (see photo of the part furthest to the lower right). Fortunately, the part is still usable, but I decided to stop trying to replace the leather and see if there was something else I could do. I noticed a hard and dried dark surface on the leather and scraped it off with my thumb nail. I think this is hardened oil or something like that and it may have been preventing the oil from soaking into the leather. I reassembled the pump and tried it out and it has worked really well since then. As you can see from the photo the check valve is very similar to some European designs, and while I haven’t had to replace the check valve gasket, it appears that it would be easy to do.

Prentiss Wabers with Restored Black Veiling

With the stove operating correctly, there was one more thing I wanted to do . . . restore the veiling. I tried using felt-tipped ink pen, a Sharpie marker, a small paintbrush with black enamel model paint and finally, a Sharpie Oil Based Paint Marker with the extra-fine tip. This last one worked well, when the paint flowed nicely and when it didn’t dump paint out of the tip all over my project, so yeah . . . they have issues and be careful if you try this method. In any case, the veiling was a bit tedious to trace everywhere I could find on the stove but I liked the result. It’s definitely unique among camp stoves and because the raised veiling lines were not worn off, the veiling is quite original-looking.

1937 Hudson Terraplane (web photo)

So, imagine it’s 1937 and you’ve got yourself a new Hudson Terraplane and you head off to go camping with your new Prentiss Wabers 409 Auto Cook Kit.

1937 Prentiss Wabers 409 Auto Cook Kit in use in 2020

This was the stove restoration project that wasn’t, or . . . was it? I didn’t need to refinish the entire stove, but did return the stove to something close to the original finish by restoring the veiling. Plus, I’ve got the pump working well so it’s quite nice to use. It’s one of my favorites.

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