Yellow Ladybug (JBK-320 "The Yachtsman")

[Cellar2ful]

Back in 2017, I scored a never used Yachtsman (link below to that story). I have never cooked on it as I wanted to keep it in the unused condition.  Ever since then, I have been on the hunt for another 18" yellow that I could use as a cooker.  A couple of weeks ago I found another Yachtsman at a estate sale.  It had quite a bit of missing porcelain, both bowl handles were bent downwards and the lid handle was dented in. Other than that, I thought it was actually in pretty good shape.  The leg sockets were really solid and the inside of the bowl and grate straps were in good condition. 

There was a price sticker on it for $50.  Beings that I was interested in another item at the estate sale, I waited for an opportunity to speak with the estate sale person in charge to see if I could get a price break. This was a vary busy estate sale and the one woman in charge was being aggressively approached by "pickers" trying to get deals.   I had to wait until about 4 other people asked the woman pricing questions, one of which jumped in front of me.  I did not make an issue of it and the woman made eye contact with me and nodded.   When I mentioned the two items I was interested in, she said I could have both for $40, thanking me for my patience.  I had planned on offering $40 for just the kettle so I guess my patience worked to my advantage.



The bowl was an easy clean up.





The lid, not so much. This kettle was used for a lot of high heat cooks.  The residue on the lid was a bitch getting off, even with brand new razor blades.  I went through about 6 razor blades just on the lid.  It was like chipping rock and the blades kept breaking.






Removed the rust from all areas that was missing porcelain and applied olive oil to all bare metal areas.   





Based on the lid vent it looks to be 1977.  Special to me as that is the year I started working for the agency I am now retired from.



Sanded the wood lid handle and applied three coats of Tung oil. Sanded the legs and polished them with Rolite Supra 90 Aircraft Metal Polish. Removed the rust from the triangle and since this will be a cooker stored outdoors, sprayed it with clear Rustoleum. The original wheels were in such bad shape I replaced them with new wheels.



Soon as the restoration was complete I put it into service.



Really starting to blush now.  Gotta love the color change of a yellow kettle.



Just a couple of fennel sausages on the grill.



I've named it the Yellow Ladybug.




Thanks for looking.

For those interested, here is the link to the story of my never used Yachtsman:

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=29473.msg292091#msg292091

[bladz]

Congrats on a great score!   Nice job on the clean up and restore. I've had a few of those pain in the ass lid scrapes myself


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[ReanimatedRobot]

Congrats!  It does have a fair amount of porcelain pops, but over all it looks pretty solid! Enjoy!

[1911Ron]

Nice rescue congrats!  I love how the yellows turn orange when they get hot!

[bamakettles]

RRR!  Man, you really brought that one back.  Amazing job, congrats and enjoy!

[JEBIV]

Awesome RRR a sweet cooker the ladybug will make

[WNC]

Looks great!
Love the idea of clear on the triangle


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[solidgoldstein]

Looks good Jim! Nicely done!


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[Kain]

Awesome work!


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[charred]

I love these happy restore stories...you did a great job giving that bug a 2nd life. Bravo!

[fedex]

Congrats!!! Looks great. I found one a couple weeks ago and had the same issue with the lid.  Nice job on the clean up.  Great cookers.

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[smokeyjoe]

Nice score!


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[502BBQ]

That's a seriously impressive restore. I've had a couple of lids give me a fit. But nothing like yours. Awesome work, and enjoy her!

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[Walchit]

That handle looks nice too!

[Cellar2ful]

That handle looks nice too!

For some reason I didn't get a photo of the handle before restoration. Rivets are tight but the wood was really weathered with deep splits.  I sanded it with 220 then applied three hand rubbed coats of Tung oil.