AUSTRALIA'S ORIGINAL AND BEST CAMP OVEN AND OUTDOOR COOKING CAMPING AND LIFESTYLE FORUM - E & G Foundry

Nov 27^th, 2012 at 8:37pm

Derek Offline
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Thanks to Saltbush Bill for providing these excellent documents that contain historical background to the E & G Foundry.

Large documents that will take time to open.

Enjoy.

http://www.aussiecampovenforum.com/documents/Fremantle%20foundries.pdf

http://www.aussiecampovenforum.com/documents/EgG-1.pdf

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Reply #1 - Nov 28^th, 2012 at 5:37pm

teemac Offline
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Thanks SBB,
interesting reading 10,000 CO for the Japanese, big order that was declined
I like the part where the Taiwanese ovens were cheap and ended up being inferior and the orders started to roll in again
Nice read
Cheers
Teemac

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Reply #2 - Nov 29^th, 2012 at 10:26am

Derek Offline
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Here is an interview with Gran Hickling courtesy of Saltbush Bill

http://aussiecampovenforum.com/documents/eandg.mp3

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Reply #3 - Nov 29^th, 2012 at 10:36am

Derek Offline
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Thanks to SBB and Nelson for this information.

Cheers

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Reply #4 - Nov 29^th, 2012 at 8:10pm

Saltbush Bill Offline
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I cant take the credit for those Derek, someone else posted the links to the forum ages ago, I just saved the files to my computer for safe keeping and thought they belonged here in the "History Section." Now that I think about it , it probably was Nelson who originally posted them.
SBB

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Reply #5 - Nov 29^th, 2012 at 8:26pm

Chally Offline
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Great to have in the history forum for sure.

Jeff

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Reply #6 - Dec 3^rd, 2012 at 10:59pm

eddy Offline
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Hi i was looking at the history of the E&G Foundry
I started my apprentice ship in 1984 in pattern making at Bradford Kendal just down the road from E&G and visited the place all the time as they use to do our small cast iron casting
I also must also say i made the pattern for the 1.5 litre camp oven i have the photos some where i will post when i find them Cheers

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Reply #7 - Dec 3^rd, 2012 at 11:03pm

Derek Offline
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eddy wrote on Dec 3^rd, 2012 at 10:59pm:

Hi i was looking at the history of the E&G Foundry
I started my apprentice ship in 1984 in pattern making at Bradford Kendal just down the road from E&G and visited the place all the time as they use to do our small cast iron casting
I also must also say i made the pattern for the 1.5 litre camp oven i have the photos some where i will post when i find them Cheers

Hi Eddy and welcome to the forum. Those photos will be much appreciated as we need to preserve as much history as we can.

Cheers

Derek

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Reply #8 - Dec 4^th, 2012 at 10:55pm

eddy Offline
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Hi all
i found the photos of the patterns i made for the 1.5 E&G oven and will send them tomorrow as the scanner is playing up or i am not doing something right which is prob the case
I should also have more info tomorrow about scandia foundry

Cheers Eddy

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Reply #9 - Dec 5^th, 2012 at 8:27am

Derek Offline
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eddy wrote on Dec 4^th, 2012 at 10:55pm:

Hi all
i found the photos of the patterns i made for the 1.5 E&G oven and will send them tomorrow as the scanner is playing up or i am not doing something right which is prob the case
I should also have more info tomorrow about scandia foundry

Cheers Eddy

Hi Eddy

Sent you an email regarding the photos.

Cheers

Derek

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Reply #10 - Dec 7^th, 2012 at 8:10am

Derek Offline
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Here are Eddy's photos. I will let him explain. Click on the photo for full size

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Reply #11 - Dec 7^th, 2012 at 1:46pm

LG Offline
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Bunbury, Western Australia, Western Australia, Australia

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Question:
Is the Furphy family of E&G Foundry in Fremantle WA, connected to the Furphy Foundry in Shepparton Victoria?

brain pain - this place is no good for me Wink

The judge's decision is final... unless the 3rd umpire is called for... or a facebook campaign goes viral !!!

All comments are my personal opinion only and/or based on real life experiences. No debate will be entered into.

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Reply #12 - Dec 8^th, 2012 at 12:17am

eddy Offline
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Hi All
The photos above are the master patterns i made for E&G Foundry in the mid 80s i got a whole $100 for my effort which i thought was a lot back then as i only got $120 for a 40 hour week
The pattern is a 1.5 which i noticed nelson has a casting of
I was wondering if any body knows if there is still a Australian made oven being made
Its a shame if there not but like most things in a disposable world most people choose price over quality
Also im on the Scandia case the man i mentioned before who worked there is getting a bit old and forgetful and he cant remember if he worked there or not but his wife told me did and it was in collie st Fremantle i hope to get him on a better day
Cheers Eddy

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Reply #13 - Dec 8^th, 2012 at 10:29am

Derek Offline
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eddy wrote on Dec 8^th, 2012 at 12:17am:

Hi All
The photos above are the master patterns i made for E&G Foundry in the mid 80s i got a whole $100 for my effort which i thought was a lot back then as i only got $120 for a 40 hour week
The pattern is a 1.5 which i noticed nelson has a casting of
I was wondering if any body knows if there is still a Australian made oven being made
Its a shame if there not but like most things in a disposable world most people choose price over quality
Also im on the Scandia case the man i mentioned before who worked there is getting a bit old and forgetful and he cant remember if he worked there or not but his wife told me did and it was in collie st Fremantle i hope to get him on a better day
Cheers Eddy

Once again Eddy, thanks for the photos.

Billmans in Victoria still make cast iron ovens - http://billmansfoundry.com.au/camp-ovens/

Also Larges in Toowoomba here in Qld recently made camp ovens for the last National Camp Oven Festival as the prizes and I believe they also sold some - http://www.larges.net/

Billmans are recognised as being great quality. I have not heard one good word spoken about the Larges ovens. Every person I have spoken to who has seen them commented on the very rough finish. KD has one I believe and may shed some additional light on them.

Cheers

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Reply #14 - Dec 8^th, 2012 at 11:03am

Saltbush Bill Offline
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Thanks for the great photos and information Eddy,
Its very hard to find much first hand info or photos relevance to Australian Camp Oven History.
I'm sure anything else you could add would be greatly appreciated by those interested.

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Reply #15 - Dec 8^th, 2012 at 5:59pm

Nelson Offline
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`Hi Eddy, thanks for the information very interesting, I was hoping that you might be able to answer a few questions I have. When you made the patterns for the 1.5 L camp oven was Gran Hickling running the foundry or had it changed hands to John Honey, I think that John run the foundry from 1983 to 1986 when it closed down. A few years ago mackerel whisperer (Jono) spoke to Gran on the telephone, one of the questions he asked was what the numbers on the lids meant, Jono told him he had a 16 inch E and G foundry camp oven with 12 cast into the lead, Gran said he could not recall ever putting numbers on the lids, so can we say that the camp ovens that were made when John Honey was in charge had numbers on them, and when Gran had the foundry they didn't.
Also would you be able to shed any light on what size ovens were made, in the audiotape interview Gran says that he made ovens from 3 L up to 10 L, so in inches what size would a 3 L be.
In regards to the Scandia foundry I found this on the Internet it was an ad in the daily news for a job at the Scandia foundry dated 20th of November 1950.

REQUIRED YOUNG JOBBING MOULDER Also APPRENTICE FOR JOBBING MOULDER Top Wages. Good Conditions. Scandia Foundry 3 ELIZABETH STREET, NORTH FREMANTLE. Tel. 1.8335.

LH003712__Large_.jpg (116 KB | )

LH003735__Large_.jpg (101 KB | )

Photo1326__Large_.jpg (181 KB | )

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Reply #16 - Dec 8^th, 2012 at 8:36pm

Chally Offline
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Thanks for the info and photos Eddy; very interesting. What were the patterns made from?

Jeff

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Reply #17 - Dec 9^th, 2012 at 12:16am

eddy Offline
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Hi im not to sure if it was gran all i remember it was a older man who ran the foundry
The place was old and pretty run down i only live 5 mins away i think its a sail making factory now i will take a pic next time im down there and post them on here
To answer Jeffs question the pattern for the lid was made from timber and the base was made from epoxy resin i made it all at home
Iam tempted to make some more now after visiting this site
i havent done any patternmaking for over 20 years
but once you get started things come back just like riding a bike
Cheers Eddy

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Reply #18 - Dec 9^th, 2012 at 5:40pm

Chally Offline
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Thanks for the information on the patterns Eddy. I never picked either pattern as being wood. This is all very interesting stuff.

Making some new patterns sounds great!

Jeff

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Reply #19 - Dec 9^th, 2012 at 6:05pm

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Eddy,
This is some of the best information that I have read, learning about our past history is amazing, those of us on this site collect the ovens as they will never be produced again, all part of our history which goes hand in had with collecting
Well done mate, also cheers to you Nelson for following up on the history and some great photos of part of your collection which I am sure most of us are jealous off
Great reading gents, keep it coming
Regards
Teemac

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Reply #20 - Dec 9^th, 2012 at 11:46pm

eddy Offline
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Hi Teemac
Thanks for that now that ive been reading more about the history and there is a big following on the camp oven when i get time next year im gonna get a few castings made the only problem is cost
However i think if you pay for quality it will last forever
I know a good foundry that should be able to make a very good finished oven i will keep you posted on the progress
Cheers Eddy

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Reply #21 - Dec 10^th, 2012 at 4:44pm

teemac Offline
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Good on you Eddy,

I am sure you will get plenty of interest in that, I for one would love to have something as special as that and as my Dad always said "mate, ya only get what ya pay for"
Good work Eddy great to hear from you
Cheers Teemac

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Reply #22 - Dec 10^th, 2012 at 4:47pm

teemac Offline
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Bloody Hell Nelson,
I can't stop looking at the photo of your E&G collection, my wife keeps thinking I am looking at "something else" Grin

I only work 5 days a week cause I cant afford to live on 4

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Reply #23 - Dec 11^th, 2012 at 5:47am

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Beautiful array of pots Nelson
Glad to see you are taking such good care of CI history.
Aart

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Reply #24 - Dec 11^th, 2012 at 1:31pm

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Nice array of pots you've got there Nelson. It's a pity more of them don't make it across the Nullabor Undecided

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Reply #25 - Mar 20^th, 2013 at 4:02pm

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Terrific pic of your E & G ovens Nelson, I doubt there is another collection of E & Gs like it.
I have an early Billmans which is 12" wide and 8" deep with the name embossed on the lid and looks like the oven right at the back of your photo, not many tall deep ovens around !!
Rob

When I die I hope my missus doesn't sell my camp ovens for what I told her I paid for them. pd

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Reply #26 - Jun 10^th, 2015 at 11:18am

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Thought you might find this link interesting. http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/5f11d4fe-a062-4f...

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Reply #27 - Jun 10^th, 2015 at 11:25am

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My e&g fremantle foundry oven. Before and after shots.

11222281_696676197110844_9072574240534260644_n.jpg (27 KB | )

17650_696676170444180_4057595823008145068_n_001.jpg (25 KB | )

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Reply #28 - Jun 10^th, 2015 at 9:06pm

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You have done an excellent job of restoring your oven mate - well done!

Jeff

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Reply #29 - Jun 11^th, 2015 at 12:16pm

Nelson Offline
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Looks very nice well done on the clean up, where did you find that one

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Reply #30 - Jun 11^th, 2015 at 5:52pm

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Yes great job Ozy! We are all jealous.. Roll Eyes

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Reply #31 - Dec 29^th, 2024 at 7:04pm

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Gran Hickling's granddaughter here. I stumbled across this thread while looking up his camp ovens today. Thank you so much for posting photos, resources and the mp3 of his interview. I have old newspaper clippings of some of his projects, as well as family photos taken when I used to visit the foundry to say goodnight when there was a late night cast. It's interesting to see things through someone else's viewpoint. It also means a lot to be hear his voice again.

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Reply #32 - Dec 29^th, 2024 at 7:10pm

Derek Offline
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HannahMHickling wrote on Dec 29^th, 2024 at 7:04pm:

Gran Hickling's granddaughter here. I stumbled across this thread while looking up his camp ovens today. Thank you so much for posting the mp3 of his interview. It means so much to be able to hear his voice again.

Hi Hannah and welcome to the forum. Great to have you.

These old E G Foundry ovens are still very popular with collectors.

Do you by any chance have any more photos that we could put on here of the foundry, the camp ovens or your grandfather.

Here on this forum I believe we have managed to collect the largest overall history of old camp ovens and just love adding to it.

Welcome once again.

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Reply #33 - Dec 29^th, 2024 at 9:23pm

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Thanks Derek. I'll go through what I have over the next few days and put some photos up.

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Reply #34 - Dec 30^th, 2024 at 9:44am

Derek Offline
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Many, many thanks.

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Reply #35 - Dec 30^th, 2024 at 3:29pm

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Welcome Hannah.
Great to see you here in our Campoven history section, anything at all that you can add will be very much appreciated.
Way to much of Australia's campoven history has already been lost.
I'm kind of amazed that you have just bobbed up here Grin

Do you personaly own any examples of your Grandfathers ovens.
I own one , a 12 inch.

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Reply #36 - Jan 4^th, 2025 at 2:08pm

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Hi Saltbush Bill,

Sadly no, I don't have any of Granpop's ovens. My cousin mentioned he saw on on Marketplace and it's actually looking for them on Facebook and Googling that led me here! I did see eddy mention the possibility of casting some - did anyone ever get one made?

I have some brass bells that he cast, a lamp, and moulds for some pieces. He and Dad also cast the scrollwork around the house.

I drove past the Foundry this morning after breakfast. It'll always be "the Foundry" for me, even though it hasn't had any signage for so many years.

I'm still looking for photos more related to the Foundry - most of them are home/family things. Dad has given me the audio tapes from the oral history interview in 1995 and 2 VHS tapes of the Paddy Hannan casting. I'm going to have them digitised and will share here. Granpop passed almost 16 years ago, so it will be nice to see him in the video. I wouldn't be surprised to see my Dad in there as well.

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