Wickie question: What happened to http://www.lampguild.org/?

The International Guild of Lamp Researchers appears to have abandoned or in a state of disrepair. Does anyone know what its status is? I have wick lamps and they have always been supportive in the past.

Cheers,

Al Yelvington

RSVP

 

It has ceased to be.
@Mackburner will be able to fill in the details.

 

I am not Neil, but I think I get close to what really happened.

The site was closed.
The Domain was given up but then re-registered by a @!#+!!%§!. He added some stolen content from the lampguild and pretends to be the actual site.
Please do not visit the recent "lampguild" site, it is a security threat for your computer. Also links were added to suspicious sites.
If you still link to the lampguild on your website, please remove the link asap.

Erik

 

Pity, but thank you for the warning. Something seemed wrong with the viaga remarks sprinkled through the text. Such a loss.

 

That said, can you refer me to anyone that could offer some help with a jamming #2 Miller burner? It's a favourite lamp that's decided to act up, and I can't see what's wrong. Al

 

I struggled with Fil Graff, the (self-appointed?) Secretary of the Guild. He had a bit of a 'it's my way or the highway' attitude about him if you ask me. Still, I shouldn't speak ill of the dead and wherever he is, I hope he has a lamp of some sort to guide him on his way. Probably a wickie-crap one, knowing him, but there you are...

 

Welcome back, Al!

Cheers

Tony

 

Thank you all! Yes, it's been a while. I'm doing stats for my research and a bit of fettling keeps me from going mad!

 

@Neighbor Al

Statistics!

I was very lucky to have had three very inspirational professors who were able to teach practical statistics in a way that made sense and was interesting.

One of those professors was the late Allin Hodson who wrote a very good book on the history of Aladdin lamps in Australia.

I wish you all the best in your studies, Al.

Cheers

Tony

 

Thank you! Grateful for Excel since I teethed on Lotus-123

 

Welcome home Al!

 

I think Fil Graff is still with us or at least I am not aware that he isn't and I surely would have been told since I still correspond with several Guild directors and members. He succumbed to senile dementure a few years back so the "with us" is kinda relative.

The Guild still sort of exists although the web site has gone. We suffered from a lack of income and the site could not be afforded. It is a pity because the web site gave a lot of people some good advice. Not really a problem for me since I only ever deal with pressure lamps which is well looked after here and anyway I was normally a responder not a questor. ::Neil::

 

A shame, I'd no clue the IGLR website was defunct. I've spent many enjoyable hours reading there over the years.

Thanks for sharing that info with us, Neil.

 

It seems that a report of his death passed on to me from a fellow countryman may well have been exaggerated. Social death, perhaps.

It's a pity, then, that my suggestion of some sort of 'Associate Membership' of the Guild for lesser mortals such as me, in return for an annual subscription (as here) met with such hostility from FG - might well have been the saving of it. Ah, hubris...

 

There were several of us who might have agreed that a subscription membership could have worked and saved the site but Fil would not be moved and he did own the company so it could never happen. It is a registered corporation and has a board of directors but it has no value so we never "owned" shares and whilst we did vote on matters now and then Fil could veto if he so chose. I always though membership to be a contentious area. Fil wanted it to be an elite and by invitation only. I thought that was kinda patronising and would create a them and us attitude which I never did like much because newer collectors sometimes can bring knowledge and experience which any organisation needs. Hey Ho nothing to be done about it now I guess. ::Neil::

 

Major problem is that nobody taken action towards this new site owner.
Owing the site doesn't make you the owner of the sites content as far as I know. Then you write a letter to google explain the situation and all links to the new site are gone, darn fast and permantly.

Collegue has been there and I have seen it so it is possible.

 

Wim,
The domain is presently registered via a US "privacy protection service" ("PrivacyGuardian.org"). All you just need to do is: get a court order for them to release the registrants details. OK, you get that after a while and you will get the data. Then you will find out the addresses and names are just fake, payment details were: "cash sent via mail".
It might be easier to make Google remove the search results for DMCA violation. But this must be done by the owner of the content.

Erik

 

What are the odds of getting a wickie section here at CPL? Is there one already and I'm just blind?

I only have five pressure lamps, and three of those are propane and don't count. Almost all of my lighting appliances use wicks.

 

@Marc

Oh dear... "Light blue touch paper and stand back!".


Cheers

Tony

 

Yup, in for a good lashing now! I'll take my licks as I earn them. Wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last.

 

Well I would have no objection to a dedicated wicky crap section but there would be little in the way of support from the site owner and founder members. Here we have a fair sized group of people who may be considered to be experts on pressure lighting. What we don't have as far as I know are experts for wick fed stuff. There may well be quite a few who know more than I do but really that wouldn't be hard as I know nothing.

I think such a forum would be better managed by a group who have a serious interest and expertise with wick lighting. There is the Rushlight club in the US RushLight Club - International Association of Collectors and Students of Historic Lighting and the HLC here Home both of which have a membership of experience and knowledge for wick lamps in general and there are the Aladdin Knights Aladdin Knights of the Mystic Light who know everything Aladdin although they no longer have a discussion forum. So I think the answer is to either find a group of people with the same interests and persuade them to create a web forum or create your own perhaps in the same way that Ross created CPL where he found a group of experienced people to organise the detail of the forum and provide the expert background knowledge required. ::Neil::

 

The domain is registered in Arizona but the domain has Russian name servers. That combination doesn't inspire one to think of good intentions.

 

I'm not convinced that is correct. It looks to me like the domain changed hands. It is more than likely the domain was sold to the new owner.

 

I'll not be using the site because I wouldn't want anyone coming to visit the beautiful church in Great Lumley and then leave something nasty on my doorknob. Just sayin'...

 

Wick lamps are very basic - wick; oil; match = light. Some, not a lot.
But for generations they were the only light available, the only variance other than flat wick or Kosmos type was the container, which can be the most attractive element. Technically, they do not inspire - unlike pressure lamps, there's not a lot of fettling to be done save trim a wick. Not boring, just uninteresting. The incandescents are better, but king for output (in the oil lamp world) is the pressure lamp. Wickies are therefore all about appearance. I have a few, rarely lit, and they are quite beautiful, but I won't be looking for wickie threads, forums or such. Just as long as once in a blue moon I can replace a wick - that's enough.

 

Wickies are useful at camp..... to mark the route to the toilet after dark, making the most of the long burn time. The pressure lamps are used while we're up and active

 

I think you should read the book form Anton Kaim about blue flame burners. Then you know that there is more technoly involved in getting a good reliable stable flame the simply putting kersoen in a tank, pump up the air volume and light the gas.

 

Are they lamps, or heaters Wim? I have a couple of Blue flame heaters which do need a little fettling to work as they should, but it's still little more than trimming wicks just right. Then there's the Aladdin incandescents, one of which can be temperamental and has to be kept an eye on. Good light though.

Searched, and found this:

Midnight Oil October 2015

 

@Derek @WimVe @KAB @Matty @David Shouksmith @Tony Press @JEFF JOHNSON


Well........... I started out restoring all sort of liquid fuelled lamps except pressure lamps in the beginning of 2001. I enjoined the versatility of lamps, simple wick lamps, more technically refined wick mantle lamps, both kerosene and alcohol, and also gravity and others type of lamps. My impression of the "pressure lamp community" then was of the focus on performance, the most CP, the best. Later when in 2008 I started out my own pressure lamp "era" with restoring a Lilor 1935 lamp, I understood that performance and nice lamp making could be combined. Hence my focus on French pressure lamps and also the very early American old-timer lamps.

I'm not intimidated by the "wicky crap" remark, (still a kind of boring) but having read the books of Anton Kaim and Tom Small about the mantle wick lamp burner development from late 1880 into the early days of 1900, I am deeply honoured to have small parts of information shared in these books. I am also deeply impressed by the work for decades these guys has devoted for finding information about that type of burners and their development and the way with images that has been displayed in their books.

Saying a lamp is "wicky crap" is like saying "I'm not at all interesting in that type of lighting", OK. I will take that a step further also into pressure lighting, making a category of "pressure lamp crap". In that category, all in my own mind of course, I will put many Tilley and Bialaddin lamps, together with a numerous flood of Petromax clones. I couldn't care less.

/Conny

 

@Conny C I agree, Pressure lamps are great for a lot of concentrated light, but if you need a gentle low output long burn without much adjustment then wicks are great. Used in the wrong situation then may be considered crap

We use both with our Scout Group - demonstration and lighting ..... Beavers (6-8 years old) - match and candle; Cubs (8-10.5 years old) - hurricane wick lamps); Scouts (10.5-14.5 years old) pressure lamps; Explorers (14.5-18 years old) ..... pressure lamp dismantle, seals, rebuild, mantles (OK, mainly Tilley lamps)