Hi all from NZ I thought a few would appreciate me sharing this find from a garage sale ( yard sale in the US ) The funny thing was , I bought the lamp and also some boxes of general brass stuff ( basic bowls and ornaments that were destined for the scrap bin , ) these boxes were from the other side of the sale , It was no where near the Veritas I did not realise until I was sorting through things later in the day, at home what the mesh cover was for . As I had seen one of these in a pic before and had only seen one with no cover. I am going to do a very basic cleanup and still undecided if I will polish the reflector . I had been a member of this site years ago and as happens got involved in work a little too much . Now I am enjoying my collection more and restoring some items that have been out away .
@Steve Lawson An excellent example Steve. Hopefully the jet will be unworn to give good combustion. I wonder if I could ask a favour and that’s to provide a closer close-up photo of the Veritas label? I’d like to reproduce it to replace the non-specific decal on my bowl fire. Thanks. John
Email me at fernleighbooks@gmail.com I will send a pic there for you Thats an amazing restoration on your one . Your label is 90% the same , maybe just a different shape and colour shades . But you have done a pretty good job of that from here . Regards the wire front , is your one earlier than the one I have , as they must have changed the design at some stage . I think mine is 1953 as it has B53 on the base.
Another question , as I am a bit out of the loop with this sort of thing , roughly what sort of money ( USD ) would something in this condition fetch . Or is that the question your noT allowed to ask here ?
Ha ha - yup that is not permitted here . However these are pretty rare so there is little reference about (ebay etc) for what they go for. But there are not hoardes of people that collect such things. Welcome onboard ! If it was mine I would polish the inside of the reflector as this directly affects how well it works. It has probably been polished in the past. Good luck !
Now that you mention it , I think I asked years ago whe i was here and got a rap over the knuckles then . I have a friend arriving in a couple of weeks who is into polishing , so will get his opinion , But I am a person who goes for the old look , maybe to match what I see in the mirror each day . I am going to dismantle it and do a basic clean up . I am looking forward to taking it apart to see whats inside that bowl
Consensus after a discussion HERE is that the guard on yours is original, mine probably not, though it fits and looks well. The stamp on the base of the tank of mine is A53, so if that indicates the year of manufacture it can’t be said mine’s an earlier or later pattern of guard. Regarding the label, Steve, what makes yours an improvement is that it incorporates the model type, Bowl Heater, which mine doesn’t. Great, thanks, I’ll take you up on your kind offer of a photo of it for me to print off. Values have risen dramatically in just a few years. The Veritas isn’t the rarest of heaters but it’s a charmer, with its lantern-like generator and fuel/air manifold configuration. John
I decided to give the heater a cleanup today , My initial thoughts were that I would not polish the inside , but as there were paint spots of various colours , I spent an hour doing the inside , I feel that I have made a mistake with the painting the guard as it was rusty in spots . But now I have to live with it unless I can come up with a more rustic colour ? I am open to being hauled over the coals for my mistake . I have yet to polish the back of the reflector , as I wanted to put it back together and then decided if it looked OK yet . But , normally i would do nothing and leave it weathered with anything like this , but very pleased that i have done the inside . I may even have a crack at firing it up tomorrow .
Hi Steve, It’s cleaned up well I like the contrast with the front and back of the reflector.. the back keeps its years old patina while the front will, in time come to match it. The good thing about paint is that if you are not happy then you can change it? I hadn’t realised that they plated the air tubes.. they make it a really distinctive heater
I would leave it as is, apart from seals and keeping it clean. But no harm in keeping the inside of the bowl shiny as this affects its function. You can lose the rust spots on the guard by soaking in mild citric acid. You could of course re-plate it or just put a bit of light oil on it after use to hold back the rust. Paint can be removed using the right stripper. But - it is your heater and you can do what you want - and the above is just what I would do if it were mine
