In trying to deal a death blow to Japanese Knotweed in the garden, i
have bought an old paraffin blow torch.
The leather washer of the pump is very dried out and no longer a good seal.
To moisten it, to expand the piston leather; am i better using paraffin
or dubbin or would it be kinder to the leather to use a vegetable oil
like walnut oil? Thanks.

On 04/10/2017 19:23, john.west wrote:
In trying to deal a death blow to Japanese Knotweed in the garden, i
have bought an old paraffin blow torch.
The leather washer of the pump is very dried out and no longer a good seal.
To moisten it, to expand the piston leather;Â* am i better using paraffin
or dubbin or would it be kinder to the leather to use a vegetable oil
like walnut oil?Â* Thanks.

I'd say as there's going to be paraffin in the area anyway, use
paraffin. It may, though be necessary to make or buy a new washer. Your
local shoe repair place or leatherworker may be able to help.


--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On Wed, 4 Oct 2017 19:27:47 +0100, John Williamson
wrote:

I'd say as there's going to be paraffin in the area anyway, use
paraffin. It may, though be necessary to make or buy a new washer. Your
local shoe repair place or leatherworker may be able to help.

I have read a (German) guide to making new pump leather for pressure lamps:

Soak leather in meths, which turns it soggy and limp. Wedge leather in pump
cylinder using socket from socket set as a plug, rough side of leather towards
cylinder, minimum 8mm. Light the spirit-soaked bit (5-10mm) that sticks out of
the cylinder -- this dries the part inside. Wait for flames to subside, remove
leather, trim, soak in motor oil, use.

This should adapt to a torch, should a new leather be needed.


Thomas Prufer

On 04/10/17 19:23, john.west wrote:
In trying to deal a death blow to Japanese Knotweed in the garden, i
have bought an old paraffin blow torch.
The leather washer of the pump is very dried out and no longer a good seal.
To moisten it, to expand the piston leather; am i better using paraffin
or dubbin or would it be kinder to the leather to use a vegetable oil
like walnut oil? Thanks.

You are wasting your time and money, as Japanese Knotweed roots can
penetrate metres underground. You can burn the topgrowth down to the
ground with a blowtorch, but it will resprout in spring. The best way to
deal with it is repeated application of glyphosate (Roundup), and even
then it will take years to get rid of it completely.

There are legal issues surrounding disposal of Japanese Knotweed. See he
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-japanese-knotweed-from-spreading

--

Jeff

On Wed, 4 Oct 2017 22:40:48 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

The best way to
deal with it is repeated application of glyphosate (Roundup), and even
then it will take years to get rid of it completely.

Apparently injection is a good application method -- google "japanese knotweed
injection".

Looks like it would be very selective in applying the herbicide...


Thomas Prufer

On Wed, 04 Oct 2017 19:23:40 +0100, john.west wrote:

In trying to deal a death blow to Japanese Knotweed in the garden, i
have bought an old paraffin blow torch.

Which is of no use at all. Glyphosate is the only thing that will shift
it and is ideally injected into the growing stems. It will takes several
years to completely eradicate it. If you dont wish to follow the
injection route then it can be sprayed, again repeatedly over several
years.

Japanese Knotweed has a number of 'prohibitions' around it and I
recommend that you look them up and check just what you can/can't do with
it (including the soil its growing in)

The leather washer of the pump is very dried out and no longer a good
seal.
To moisten it, to expand the piston leather; am i better using paraffin
or dubbin or would it be kinder to the leather to use a vegetable oil
like walnut oil? Thanks.

If the washer has dried to the extent you suggest then its probable that
only a new washer will be the cure. In the interim you could try a good
soak in paraffin to loosen it a little followed by an even longer soak in
engine oil - if you have any used engine oil then you could skip the
paraffin soak and just try that.

On 04/10/17 22:40, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 04/10/17 19:23, john.west wrote:
In trying to deal a death blow to Japanese Knotweed in the garden, i
have bought an old paraffin blow torch.
The leather washer of the pump is very dried out and no longer a good
seal.
To moisten it, to expand the piston leather;Â* am i better using paraffin
or dubbin or would it be kinder to the leather to use a vegetable oil
like walnut oil?Â* Thanks.

You are wasting your time and money, as Japanese Knotweed roots can
penetrate metres underground. You can burn the topgrowth down to the
ground with a blowtorch, but it will resprout in spring. The best way to
deal with it is repeated application of glyphosate (Roundup), and even
then it will take years to get rid of it completely.

Two if you do it right, from experience.

first year you get all the stuff abovee ground, second year you get what
was seeded or sprouited from below.

There are legal issues surrounding disposal of Japanese Knotweed. See he
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-japanese-knotweed-from-spreading



--
"When one man dies it's a tragedy. When thousands die it's statistics."

Josef Stalin

In uk.rec.gardening john.west wrote:
: In trying to deal a death blow to Japanese Knotweed in the garden, i
: have bought an old paraffin blow torch.
: The leather washer of the pump is very dried out and no longer a good seal.
: To moisten it, to expand the piston leather; am i better using paraffin
: or dubbin or would it be kinder to the leather to use a vegetable oil
: like walnut oil? Thanks.

These people http://www.base-camp.co.uk/ might be able to supply a
new leather washer. They did for the Veritas blowlamp I have.


Tom.

Ps. The email address in the header is just a spam-trap.
--
Tom Crane, Dept. Physics, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill,
Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, England.
Email: T dot Crane at rhul dot ac dot uk