HANDI Lantern

Discussion in 'Handi' started by AussiePete, Aug 24, 2020.

  1. AussiePete

    AussiePete United States Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2015
    Messages:
    3,643
    Location:
    Toowoomba Australia
  2. Nicholas Aslanides Australia

    Offline
    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2021
    Messages:
    7
    Location:
    Queensland
    Thanks Pete, I'll check it out and grab some.

    Nicholas
     
  3. bonza Australia

    Offline
    Joined:
    May 29, 2021
    Messages:
    94
    Location:
    Victoria, Australia
    I enjoyed reading this thread and found a lot of interesting info.
    a Handi pressure lamp is one that I have long wished to obtain
     
  4. AussiePete

    AussiePete United States Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2015
    Messages:
    3,643
    Location:
    Toowoomba Australia
    @bonza
    The Handi lantern is a good runner and when service/restored will give years of service.
    I hope you find one soon.
    Cheers
    Pete
     
  5. Paul Aslanides

    Paul Aslanides Australia Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2020
    Messages:
    230
    Location:
    Ferntree Gully, Melbourne.
    @AussiePete
    @ROBBO55

    Hullo fellers. I'm curious to know how the cleaning spindle in the Handi is sealed. Just in case I need to address any future problem there.
    Are there O rings on the spindle, or should I pack the long nut with Graphite ?

    Also, any details on how to make the crimping tool, please ? What is the function of that piece of copper over the angle iron in the vice ?

    Thank you.
     
  6. AussiePete

    AussiePete United States Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2015
    Messages:
    3,643
    Location:
    Toowoomba Australia
    Hi @Paul Aslanides
    The copper sheet is just a shield to prevent the small file marring the top of the steel die blocks as I file the edges of the pricker.

    The die blocks are made from 1/2” steel angle iron.
    5C420719-8F70-449C-A8AD-BEDE5823D264.jpeg
    The blocks have 2 lugs, rounded 3/16” screws threaded and installed into one half and a corresponding holes in the other half, that precisely locate both half of the dies together when crimping.
    The blocks were then clamped together and 2 holes, channels one 2mm the other 1.5mm, were drilled between the clamped faces. 43A45120-9C9A-4DDB-9960-45E546A54912.jpeg DEBD377E-23AC-48BD-AC8C-6DC00265597B.jpeg
    The drill bits have brass sleeves so that my pedestal drill’s chuck can tighten and grip them.
    The 2mm channel is basically a holder and doesn’t distort a 1/16” brass tube. This holds the brass tube whilst I thread it.
    D1D63701-F69E-43C4-915B-BF1E8601C87A.jpeg FE22C276-C773-454B-A240-63387C508273.jpeg
    The inner channel hole, 1.5mm, is the crimping hole. The vice is tightened up when the threaded brass tube, with the pricker wire installed, is inserted to the required depth.
    D97EF3EC-D635-47B4-8D6E-1ADE2A49ACF2.jpeg
    After the first crimp the brass tube is rotated 90 degrees and crimped again.

    the freshly crimped pricker is then put back into the holding 2mm hole
    15EAEF83-379D-4DB0-B0AB-E17E0A583F8E.jpeg

    A copper keeper or shield is placed over the pricker and the sides are tapered with a very fine file. AC968FE3-4B51-4290-BA3C-0DB1BE851208.jpeg

    The result is a very nice pricker.
    8AD36254-DB04-4A2B-AB33-F6EB045023C2.jpeg

    Note .... the actual prick wire is knotted first before it’s installed into the brass tube to be crimped.
    517AC256-83E8-4CC3-A1F2-5BD4629B3691.jpeg

    Hope this helps
    Cheers
    Pete
     
  7. AussiePete

    AussiePete United States Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2015
    Messages:
    3,643
    Location:
    Toowoomba Australia
    Hi @Paul Aslanides
    Ooooooops .......... the holes stated as the holding 2.0mm and the crimping 1.5mm are incorrect. :cry:

    The following is correct: holding 1.5mm and the crimping 1.0mm

    It was early in the morning and I hadn't my coffee at the time ........:shock:
     
  8. Darryl Durdin

    Darryl Durdin Australia Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2018
    Messages:
    1,500
    Location:
    Whyalla. South Australia. Australia
    Great display @AussiePete , thank you for sharing , others will try making there own
     
  9. ROBBO55

    ROBBO55 Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2014
    Messages:
    3,698
    Location:
    Somersby, New South Wales, Australia
    Paul, If I remember correctly the seal is a compressed fibre material (Asbestos?). If I remove the spindle I usually replace the seal with graphite.
     
  10. Paul Aslanides

    Paul Aslanides Australia Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2020
    Messages:
    230
    Location:
    Ferntree Gully, Melbourne.
    ROBBO55 Thank you. Found this recently. Asbestos Cord. Haven't used this stuff since 1971 when I had a leaking fuel tap on the Indian Scout. PTFE tape is much safer. I'll try a cutting of one strand as a wick, in the spirit cup on a lantern.

    Asbestos Cord.jpg
     
  11. Paul Aslanides

    Paul Aslanides Australia Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2020
    Messages:
    230
    Location:
    Ferntree Gully, Melbourne.
    @AussiePete Thank you, Peter. Much appreciated.
     
  12. AussiePete

    AussiePete United States Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2015
    Messages:
    3,643
    Location:
    Toowoomba Australia
    @Paul Aslanides
    No worries mate, only too happy to help.
    Cheers mate
    Pete
     
  13. Barry Purkins Australia

    Offline
    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2021
    Messages:
    2
    Location:
    Kenmore
    I have inherited an old Handi Kero-Pet pressure light.
    I dismantled for cleaning and looking at the generator it looks different to the generator shown on parts list for Kerosene.
    Anyone know how to tell if generator has been changed from Kero to Shellite.
     
  14. Darryl Durdin

    Darryl Durdin Australia Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2018
    Messages:
    1,500
    Location:
    Whyalla. South Australia. Australia
    @Barry Purkins
    I believe there is a stamp
    Number or letter on the jet or gen,
    If you have pulled the vaporiser apart.
    Shellite has a fine brass mesh as the flow restrict or, kero has a curly spring like restrict or,
    I hope this helps
     
  15. Nils Stephenson

    Nils Stephenson Founder Member

    Offline
    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2010
    Messages:
    3,215
    Location:
    Copenhagen, Denmark
    Outwardly there should not be any difference between the kero or shellite generators. As Darryl has said, there is a difference in the packing and the jet is different. The shellite jet has an O stamped on the top. Here you can see a shellite and a kero jet side by side. A bit out of focus, but you can see the O.

    Handi_jets_2_cropped.jpg

    I have seen one example of a Handi with a different generator. It was more the size of an Austramax generator. I don't know any more details about it.
     
  16. Barry Purkins Australia

    Offline
    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2021
    Messages:
    2
    Location:
    Kenmore
    Thanks Darryl and Nils
    It has a fine brass mesh. I will look for a number on jet
    Regard
    Barry
     
  17. Julian Whittaker Australia

    Offline
    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2021
    Messages:
    195
    Location:
    Greendale Vic
    Thanks for this thread...excellent stuff. I've started refurbishing my Handi, and I'm interested in finishes.
    My tank/container was painted - over factory plating I think, (good paint, took a bit to get it off!) There's some plating on the controls and bezels - which looks like Cadmium. The other steel parts look as if they would have been painted. (Would they?) I wonder what they would have used. Paint technology has come a long way since the lamp was made. I have a really good 2K SS (2-pack Single Stage - means it doesn't need any primer - can apply it straight onto the steel) that has rust preventing properties, and is hard when cured properly. I assume the top cap would have been stove enamelled originally, but what about the other steel parts? On one hand I'm tempted to just clean the steel parts and leave them as is.
    What do 'we' do with the pressed steel parts finish?
    What are hi-temp rattle-cans like?
     
  18. Nils Stephenson

    Nils Stephenson Founder Member

    Offline
    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2010
    Messages:
    3,215
    Location:
    Copenhagen, Denmark
    I have seen painted tanks before, but they are not common. What you usually find is nickel plated. Actually, most of the brass parts were nickel plated. The cage base was also originally nickel plated and the collar was either tin plated or galvanized. I'm not sure which. You can get some really good metal spray paints that look good. I use an aluminium paint and like the finish.

    The hood is enameled and there is no substitute for that. You either live with what you have or try to find a better replacement. Yours doesn't look too bad so if it was me I'd leave it as is.
     
  19. Julian Whittaker Australia

    Offline
    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2021
    Messages:
    195
    Location:
    Greendale Vic
    Yes plating is the way to go I'm sure. The paint on my tank has been a past owner 'deprovement'! (My lamp has led a long and difficult life I fear), but it's coming up ok so far.
    I wonder what nickel plating costs, (if you can still get it done), chrome plating is horrendously expensive. And really, I don't think I want newish-looking parts on it. The hood is the easy part as 2K paint looks just like traditional stove enamelling, and I can do that easily.
     
  20. Nils Stephenson

    Nils Stephenson Founder Member

    Offline
    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2010
    Messages:
    3,215
    Location:
    Copenhagen, Denmark
    So far, no one has good experience with any paints that can handle the temperatures of the hood. There have been lots of attempts and no successfully reported results. There was a reason they used enamel originally
     
  21. MYN

    Offline
    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2018
    Messages:
    3,070
    Location:
    Malaysia
    That's a great outcome, Pete.
    The fettle as always, so well presented and documented.

    @Julian Whittaker
    The 2K paints are vastly superior(toughness, chemical and solvent resistance, etc) to most paints you'd find in rattle cans.
    However, even the high heat-resistant versions of those won't come close to match the heat-tolerance of vitreous enamels as far as the hood is concerned.
    No matter how advanced these coatings have been developed thus far, they are still organic-based. That means to say, the base binders would chemically decompose and further oxidize when subjected to higher temperatures (250° to 300°C range is about the upper limit of the most heat-resistant organic substances). On a typical lantern hood, the temperatures attained are way higher than that.
    They might still survive for a limited time on the hood since they might contain heat-resistant fillers such as aluminium oxides or other ceramic powders. However, their toughness and protective properties would have then degraded far below their original specifications after, a few heating cycles.
    They are, nevertheless, still good for the lantern frames and other parts such as the fount.
    Chrome-plating should not be that expensive. It is so extensively done almost everywhere now. Perhaps they have to include the additional costs that come with more stringent OSHA regulations these days.(chrome-plating involves the use of hazardous hexavalent, chromic acid).
    I'd say nickel is rather, a more expensive metal than chromium.
     
  22. Firestarter United Kingdom

    Offline
    Joined:
    May 29, 2020
    Messages:
    13
    Location:
    Plymouth United Kingdom
    I believe from watching car restoration programs that when chrome plating parts they are first nickel plated and the chrome is the final layer. I have considered getting a lamp re-plated but not found a local plater yet.
     
  23. Fireexit1 United Kingdom

    Offline
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2020
    Messages:
    3,141
    Location:
    Brighton UK
    A quality job would be Copper first, polish then Nickel plate, and then Chrome plate. I suspect that's why Nickel plating is deemed acceptable for most lanterns and simlar.
    You can do it yourself with kits from classic car restoration supply places.
     
  24. Julian Whittaker Australia

    Offline
    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2021
    Messages:
    195
    Location:
    Greendale Vic
    Interesting that chrome plate is porous so would rust easily. That's one of the reasons nickel is used under it, I was under the impression that copper is used in the middle because it can be plated thicker to allow for heavier polishing underneath the chrome. -Called 'triple-plating'. The DIY plating kits are ok, but it's all in the prep of the parts, -wet 'n dry and lots of polishing on the mop. I've used it, it's a lot of work unless you have plenty of parts, - maybe better as a 'club' activity.
     
  25. Kiwiboy00

    Kiwiboy00 Subscriber

    Offline
    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2018
    Messages:
    255
    Location:
    Gold Coast, Australia
    Pete what an amazing detailed post, hat off to you mate. It was an enjoyable read…… out of interest, do you get better results using vinegar or citric acid, AKA…like from Woolworths or Coles, and what ratio mixture works best for you.

    Cheers
    Kiwi
     

Share This Page