Westerner Owner's Club Question

[MartyG]

For all both of you in the club who own a Westerner, (that we know of anyway)  I have a quick question, and it's prompted by a chance encounter with (drum roll) a BRAND NEW Westerner. Lifting the lid of this incredible artifact revealed a speckled finish interior. I wasn't expecting that. I will say the one I spent a few minutes with was an Arlington version, with the wood lid handle. Curious to know if there is any variation on the interior of that one vs. the Wood Dale version.

The question is: What's in your Westerner?

Photos would help...

And yes, it was an honor to get my hands and eyes on a never-used Westerner, and I'm glad I didn't drop the lid. 

[Troy]

WHAAAAT!?

I trust that you also got some pervy pics of this rare beast!?

[MartyG]

Sadly no. It was all I could do to not grab it and run. It was not the time or place to do anything other than give it a good once over. Good thing is I know where it lives now, there's always a next time.

[Winz]

Marty - no freckles on my Wood Dale Westerner:





If you look closely in the photos above you can see "ridges".  It seems like these old kettles were somehow "spun" rather than stamped.  There is a nipple at the bottom center of the bowl, much like you would see in something turned by a lathe:



I read somewhere about the unused Westerner in the Weber offices.  Must have been quite a sight to see!

Winz

[harris92]

Mine does have speckles on the interior bowl.  I will get a better close up this evening.

[MartyG]

Interesting. Looking forward to the close-up shot. The one I saw looked like Jeff's Speckled Galley Que in the gallery. Winz, I believe all the 26ers have spun lids - new or old. I could be wrong, but I know my '96 is spun.


edit: I should have clarified that my lid is spun, but the bowl appears to be stamped. At least there are no ridges on the bowl like yours.

[Winz]

An just to hijack your thread (a little) - Harris's Westerner on the left, mine on the right.  Notice how the fade between dark and light on his is more gradual than on the top of the Wood Dale? On the bottom, the fade on mine goes much higher as you can see by the proximity of it to the bulls nose.  The stencil for the longhorn changed slightly as well - Harris's is much sharper in contrast with less overspray.   The steer's head is broader as well. 

It may just be my monitor, but the colors seem slightly different as well - Harris's with more of a brown tint, mine with more red.

Harris and i concluded that the paint/pattern on mine seems "cruder" (not in a bad way) then his.  Clearly these kettles were done by hand and are very individual:



Here is an updated comparison including the Westerner of the "unknown owner"  It too, is a Wood Dale (like mine) and yet is very different, especially in the execution of the fades:



Winz

[harris92]

The interior of mine is not like Jeff's Galley.  Mine has a blue/gray hue with what looks like a slight white over spray on the interior.  It gives the interior a fine speckled look.  Different than the interior of Winz's Westerner.

[harris92]

Here are a couple pics of the interior.  You can see the speckled finish