G'day all, I recently fettled this Best Light Co student lamp and while it isn't a pressure lamp, the burner used was to be later used with hollow wire lamps. The burner has a pricker. I thought some members might like to see it. I am thrilled to have this lamp and another slightly newer on in my collection. I think if I had of used one of my larger mantles the light would have been even better. There is simply no doubt that a student could see quite well to attend to their nightly homework. Nan, would have had a good light to knit by and mum would have been able to sew by. Of course dad probably did the raceform on a friday night. The lamp is large is stature though I have just realised my other one is even larger. The lamps are very heavy, courtesy of a weighted base. The ad for the Student lamp is from 1895. My lamp is a few years newer, probably 1898/99
Great job on that early beautiful lamp, Matt Nice shades too! Kind of odd angled "on/off" fiber knob. I recon it is original? /Conny
Thank you all. I do encourage anyone that comes across one of these types of lamps to add it to their collection, you won't be disappointed. Conny, The construction of the wheel is troubling. I personally think it is a later replacement wheel. Considering the original valve would have been brass or bronze, I would have thought the only reason to replace the wheel/valve in the first place is because the original somehow got misplaced. I cannot recall seeing this type of wheel on another Best lamp, of which I have quite a few different types. I think it is possible that I may have seen a similar wheel on a Welsbach gasoline lamp once upon a time. I had made up my mind that rather than care too much about the wheel, I would leave it on as a result of the natural history of the lamp.
Isn't this a gravity lamp and therefore it can go in the gallery. It's certainly stunning and well documented, so deserves a place.
@Nils Stephenson Yes, gasoline gravity with upright mantle. The following photo shows essentially the same burner used on a hollow wire bracket lamp of which I have stripped the burner of it's decorative cowlings. You can see where the hollow wire screws onto on the wall canopy.
Thank you @Darryl Durdin I tend to get nostalgic when working on the old timer lamps. I find myself trying to imagine the household the lamp resided in. I think of how the lamp may have been used and by whom. I often think of the workers that created the lamp, wondering how they got on in life - could they ever afford a lamp that they helped create etc.
That hollow wire wall fitting is very interesting. Yo could mount that on a pressure tank and make it into a neat wall lamp. I also love the way that the fittings back then had all the added decoration.
Nils, That is a very interesting idea of yours. Now you wouldn't believe it, I have a Best Light Co table lamp tank that is missing the burner. I don't have it at home yet, it will be here in the new year. I also have two of the bracket lamps so I could use one to make a Best frankie wall lamp. I suppose it would depend on how the fuel tube set up in the Best tank is. If the tube is removable and I could put a bend in it that would be ideal. Otherwise, if the tube is left straight, once the fuel reached half capacity the fuel tube would no longer be immersed and hence, would not be able to pick up fuel.
A new pick up tube should be easy enough to make from a length of HW tubing. The biggest challenge could be the thread size for the tank fitting.
Nils, I had forgotten about your suggestion until a member linked to this topic today. I now have the tank with me, one that was used by best and others. I will look into using a hollow wire fixture lamp or this hollow wire wall bracket and see if I can marry the two. I have had the franken stove/lamp working so I know the tank is sound. It actually works pretty good and I'm a little reluctant to separate the burner from the lamp even though it is a franken lamp. I've imagined the bloke that put this frank together sitting in his shed doing what he could to get a working burner. So, nostalgia sets in. I think the franken lamp was put together sometime between the World Wars. That is a guess but being logical, I doubt anyone would pull two perfectly good appliances apart to make this. So, there has to be some age prior to the marriage but not too long because I believe the tank and burner are contemporary of each other. Perhaps the burner is a bit earlier than the tank. That is a sink in my garage, I wasn't test lighting the unit in the home perse
