Here's my Bialaddin/Vapalux frankenlamp I was talking about. It looks pretty and works well but I wasn't going to post it on CPL because it's not authentic. I also spent a little too much on it because it's for my son. Lantern probably cost around £12 - £15, brass hood was £8 and the enamel hood was £17, so in total, around £40.
Before I give it to him, I will give the tank another polish as it's got a few fingerprints already! I might lacquer it actually.
I think the golden age of collecting was in the '60s, '70s and '80s when these lamps were being thrown out daily and could be had for next to nothing - nobody wanted them. Except Neil, obviously. Incidentally, Trevor and I almost certainly got our lanterns from the same source. The seller offered me the choice of two and said I could mix and match the parts to get the best lantern, which I did as it was to be polished as a present for a non-collector friend. After I gave it to her, I decided I'd like one for myself so I went back and got the sum total of all the really scruffy parts I'd rejected previously! Still, it polished up a treat, although it's been hanging in the garage ever since. It's an unlit example from the Swedish Civil Defence and has their yellow sticker on it still... Well, that's not a Frankenlamp and neither is it "not authentic". Because W&B got the initial design correct from the start and didn't need to alter things much, most parts are interchangeable. That and the way the military serviced lamps in batches means that probably the majority of Vapalux and Bialaddin lanterns are now like yours. Don't worry about it... This is, of course, why the majority of pressure lamps were painted - no need to polish them continually. For that reason, I don't think any lamps were issued with a bare brass finish - painted, enamelled, plated or (brass) lacquered, but not bare...
Well, on the strength of your suggestion I might make a post about my Bialaddin/Vapalux hybrid. I was originally going to give him a spare Tilley X246b I had lying around but what he's getting will be much better and less prone to foul ups as he's new to lanterns - or will be when he gets it!
A neighbour dropped in yesterday and presented me with a Handi stove that he bought new in the 70's. He is a professional fisherman and he used this stove on his boat for 40 years. He came across it in his shed and thought I might just be the bloke to appreciate it. As I mentioned earlier, it all depends on the condition of part/lamp that you are wishing to polish. I can see myself sitting in front of the telly watching an old movie, perhaps Arsenic And Old Lace, and hand polishing a lamp of @David Shouksmith quality. Trying to hand polish/Dremmel this Handi brass tank and burner, forget it. You would be there until doomsday. I couldn't separate the steel burner frame from the brass tank as the screws were frozen solid, even heat didn't help. I dropped the entire unit into full strength vinegar and a 12 hour soak produced results. I could remove the screws with ease. The following photos of the tank and burner are after a 12 hour soak and a scrub with a nylon brush. I decided to put both the steel and brass parts back into the vinegar. I will remove the brass shortly and give it the once over with some 0000 steel wool. I have grave doubts that the fuel stains on the brass tank are going to be easily removed. I suspect I will need to use 1,200 wet and dry paper.
From time to time I have wondered why lamp manufacturers went to the expense of plating or painting their brass founts. I would have assumed it would have been easier and cheaper to simply polish the brass and lacquer it. I have come up with a theory that may or may not ever have any substance. I think lamp manufacturers bought a particular grade of brass sheeting or copper sheeting from the millers. I think brass that wasn't milled as well or had imperfections was significantly cheaper to buy than high grade milled brass. I suspect that by buying brass at a certain price point, painting or plating the 2nd class brass made it still cheaper over all than high class milled brass. I got a bit of a surprise to learn that this Handi tank is copper. What I thought were stains, are actually remnants of paint but also the 'etch primer' they used and that in some areas reacted with the copper to leave etching like imprints. This stove tank I am working on also highlights another reason why it was better to pain or plate brass/copper founts. The soldered joints are pretty rough. When I say rough, I mean they aren't very neat. They didn't need to be neat because the joints would be hidden by paint. I assume it was a lot easier to roughly solder joints than to make them almost invisible if the tank was to be polished. Here is the tank after a further vinegar soak and a rub with steel wool. As suspected, the 'stains' didn't come out and I had to use wet and dry paper. Even after all this effort there are still blemishes. That is why I think this copper tank and other brass tanks I have seen are of a low grade. Now the polishing can begin.
Hi Matty I have read with interest your above posts. Trying to summarise your posts, I think you are saying that Handi made their stove fuel tanks from low grade copper sheeting, did not take sufficient care in soldering the tanks and then painted them to cover the poor workmanship and materials. Have I correctly understood your premise? Trevor
Handi did make a few KeroPet tanks in copper as well. Maybe it was something that is very time specific? A suggestion could be that they had trouble sourcing brass at some point and used copper to tide them over.
You don't see copper used much with lamps and stoves. There are a few though. Tilley do nut tanks are copper and the Pitner parlour lamp is all copper. I think some German do nuts also used Copper. I assume some engineering reason for favouring brass rather than copper but maybe it was economic. From what I have seen the copper items seem to stand the test of time better. Certainly the Pitner is very high quality engineering and maybe copper was used when quality was important? I don't know but I do wonder why. ::Neil::
@shagratork Trevor, In a nutshell, yes, what you say above is correct though your exaggerated spiel is not correct. However, I extend that to brass sheeting and other manufacturers too. Without any research into the subject, I put a theory up that I stated may or may not have any substance to it. By low grade brass and copper, and perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been to the nth degree is, I don't mean the brass and copper was structurally inferior, I mean the finish quality was inferior. I think it is possible that different grades of brass and copper sheeting rolled off the mills. I think it is possible that almost blemish free brass and copper sheeting probably brought a premium over sheeting that may have been left scratched or have roller marks on it. I don't think Handi or any other manufacturer used paint or plating to cover up poor workmanship. I theorised that perhaps in the case of Handi and this copper tank the soldering was done to standard where neatness was not of great concern because the tank was to be painted. So not poor workmanship, just less time worrying about being neat perfect. I can't take photos at this time as it is nighttime here. Once you see photos of the soldered joints perhaps you will understand what I mean, that is if you want to of course. They are less than neat. I do not question their integrity. Am I theorising that lamp manufacturers used a quality of brass that wasn't almost blemish free then used paint and plating to cover it up - yes.
Yes, an interesting thought. The good thing is my neighbour brought the stove to me and supplied me with its history. The bad thing is, my neighbour told me he also had a 3 burner stove that had a separate shiny copper tank. Obviously hollow wire. He had a quick look for it but couldn't see it. I didn't think to ask him if he knew the brand name of the stove. I will next time I see him. Oh, how I wish he didn't bring up the one he can't and may never find! @Mackburner Both Gloria and Kayen used copper tanks though they are by far the minority. The earliest of the Aladdin 1A's used some copper components.
Trevor, the small polishing pads on the dremel i didn't try. i tried the small s.s. brushes, but found that they wore out quickly, then used Autosol on a paper towel. I did use vinegar and kept a close eye on them was was nervous I would forget them. This time around I used a fine wire brush on the bench grinder to remove the heavy oxidation and then used the buffing pad on the grinder with a compound to complete the finish. I am pleased with the results for my first refurbish.
George (@kerophile, a long-time Member of CCS, and also here), has provided very good advice (on stove restoration) that is relevant to this discussion: Stove restoration. Parts 1 to 4 Cheers Tony
Thanks Tony, that was a good read. I tried rattle can clear lacquer on the ML93s but was very disappointed. The finish was very cloudy. I just removed it with a stripper which was no easy task and re-polished. Think I'll stick with the Autosol every month or so. C
