Today, I finished the fettling of a Coleman L228 Slant. This L228 is date stamped 9 1 representing January 1929. I purchased this one from the US for a cost ........ just don’t ask me ....... This is the before photo. You can see it’s in relatively good condition for a lantern that’s over 90 years old. After completely stripping the lantern down, the fount, inside and out, and all the parts were cleaned. The winged fuel cap is an earlier replacement and although the correct type was bare brass, with my nickel plating setup, I plated the cap to emulate what the original would have been. The new mica chimney is one of Fred Kuntz’s reproductions, they’re excellent and really finish off the fettle well. The frame is in very good condition, the top of the frame and bail handle needed the only attention. All corrosion was removed with 00 grade steel wool and then degreased before being spray painted with a clear high temperature gloss paint. To cure the paint, I baked the complete frame at 200degC for one hour. I reused the R55 generator that came with the lantern, understanding that the L228 would have used a Q99 generator. The original leather pump cup was oiled with neats foot oil and successfully reused. I like to reuse as many of the parts that came with the lamp. The pump cap that secures the pump shaft assembly into the pump bore was excessively worn. I used a later type cap for a replacement. The later type was thicker in side elevation, so to the lathe and I machined it to the exact dimensions. I then replated the nickel giving a very good finish and an undetectable replacement. The parts were then assembled back into a L228 lantern. Now the money shot ...... This lantern was a joy to fettle. It was easy to light and runs very well. It’s a keeper. Thank you for looking. Cheers Pete
That is a beautiful lamp, you have done a top job with fettling it. I like these old colemans, the quality is superb. Good work.
