SIEVERT BRAND
Max Sievert was a pioneer in the blowtorch industry dating back to 1882. They were also a major Swedish manufacturer of pressure stoves. Torches were always stamped as genuine ‘Max Sievert, Stockholm’ until the early sixties when the comapny changed hands and torches were then branded as genuine with ‘Sievert, Stockholm’.
In Australia, the Companion brand of blowlamps were made under licence to Max Sievert of Stockholm, Sweden.
Sievert 10 (Kerosene 0.5 pt )
Notes: A small general purpose inclined blowtorch marked as made by Max Sievert, Stockholm.
Sievert 12 / 556 (Kerosene 1 pt ) abt 1930
Notes: This pump in handle type blowtorch is a heavy duty unit capable of a 10” flame and ideally suited for tin soldering. The Safe and Handy stamp on the tank indicates an age not much past the late 1920s. The stamped message to use petroleum is not in English and actually means what we now know as kerosene. The torch is inclined and has a double coil burner and two cleaning caps at the back of the burner for cleaning the two tubes. The burner is made of a special heat resisting alloy; not brass.
Sievert 217 (formerly R) (Gasoline 3/4 pt – 1913 to 1937)
Notes: A small vertical blowtorch designed for laboratory use. This was the same as the model S but with a vertical burner. The burner has an additional solid supporting stem. This unit retains much of the original cane handle wrap held in place now by a plastic cable tie. The words ‘Safe and Handy’ in the square at the top disapeared after the 1920s. In the top image the safety pin can be seen sticking out. If the pressure in the unit became too much the solder around the pin would give way and release the air.
Sievert 221 (formerly APM) (Gasoline 3/4 pt – 1920s)
Notes: A smaller capacity pump in handle blowtorch with a 6″ flame. The Safe and Handy stamp (1920s) is not stamped inside a square like most (see Sievert 217). The filler cap (middle image) is referred to as ‘admiralty pattern safety valve operating at 45 lb pressure’. The APM was about 10% cheaper than the one pint (APH / 223).
Sievert 284 (formerly AKP2) (Gasoline 1/2 pt – 1930 to 1937)
Notes: A small hand held Self-Heated Soldering Iron (SHSI) that came with a screw in nozzle. The original nozzle was lost and a replacement made. These were made for areas where continuous soldering was required (lower image). The unit could also act as a standard blowtorch once the soldering iron was removed.
Sievert 542 (Kerosene 1 pt – abt 1960)Notes: The Sievert 542 blowtorch (top image) is from around 1960 and at that time the blowtorch could have either a metal or plastic handle. This one looks like a plastic handle but it is in fact metal. Appearing in a 1962 catalog the model 542N (middle and bottom images) came out and had different open shaped handle.
Sievert 543 (formerly 43) (Kerosene 1 litre – abt 1960)
Notes: An inclined general purpose blowtorch marked as made by Sievert rather than the earlier ‘Max Sievert’. The handle can be metal or plastic and the later version has an open handle.
© 2000-2025 Terry Marsh
The Terrence Marsh Lantern Gallery 