I made the new handle for my Thermette out of an old metal detector handle (not wire) that bit the dust years ago and I parted it out and saved the parts years ago (you should see all the junk I have saved.) I also made a handle for the one I bought my brother out of stainless steel bar stock and the handle from a auto window scraper.

I took the junk wires off it (they about fell of with no effort) I opened up the opening a bit. And then slid a piece of stainless bar stock 1/8 inch by 5/8 inch. 4 ¼ inches long (same length as the handle for it) I drilled & tapped 3 10x32 holes in it. I installed 2 studs (thread locked & pined them with a spring loaded center punch) and a 10x32 bolt on the bottom to keep the handle from slipping up. It sticks out kinda far and does not fold like the original handle. But It was extremely hard to use with the original handles without them bending and me getting burnt/ the new handle is very functional and strong.

Here is the address of some pictures I uploaded of the Thermette, some before the handle mod, and some after. A good place to find ready-made handles is to go to the Goodwill or Salvation Army stores and look for pots & pans you can part out.

ftp://members.toast.net/photos/Thermette/





As far as it being made in china, I tried (for over an hour of searching) to find them from New Zeeland, I could not, at one time they may have been a New Zeeland product, but not any more. I believe they are now an American company with the product made in China.

It does look crude and unfinished, but I’m interested in results more then the look. But it would have been nice if it had a better looking finish.


The soldered seam is not an issue, as it doesn’t get hot enough to melt the solder. But if you ran it without water (dry) I could easily seeing the solder melting, not an issue as I’m not going to use it with no water with the Thermette on the fire base. Why would you?

It is big, but not really that heavy.

The more I use it, the more I love it.