It's amazing what you might stumble upon when walking in the forest... A perfectly well working Radius 119! Well, frankly I spotted this lantern many years ago on one of my rounds. But it was first until recently that I went back and brought it along. Just to see if it would work. Here's the site of my excavation: It's an old crofter's holding, by a little glade in the forest, that hasn't been inhabited for as long as I can remember atleast. A closeup of a part of the picture above show what are some scattered relics of an old 119. It looked just as the last time I was there many years ago, and the gods alone knows how long the lantern has been laying there before that, exposed to the rage of the elements. Noone has lived or used that little house since the 70's. I carried it home, and here's the pieces stacked up for some fettling: Not too bad, really. The usual splitted collar, but the worst was that the top of the hood and it's spherical nut was missing. And the squared tunnel in the hood had of course vanished since it's made out of steel. Totally rusted away, and the four rods in the cage are pretty bad too. All other parts made out of plated brass or aluminum was actually in very good condition after a good cleanup. All I had to do was solder the collar together, make a new "square tunnel" and turn the nut for the top so that I could use a discarded top I had laying about. The jet, needle and NRV did all work well. I did of course need to put a new leather in the pump to have it going again. Aren't these apparatus just amazing?
Hi Christer what a amazing find.you realy have done a totaly superb restoration i am realy surprised how well the plating is looking at the before pics i would not have thought it would have come up like that and all be intact it just goes to show how well these lanterns were made and how well the plating is on them. i wonder what type of condition a cheaper quality steel plated lantern like the Anchor whould be in if left out side like that for decades
Christer, I am amazed! Not only at the durability of the lantern, but at your skill at restoring it to life! I see that you have a tidy work bench behind you; someday could you share which tools you have found most useful for fettling lamps? I currently only have a grinder/wire wheel along with my wife's Dremel tool.
Well there's me gobsmacked again... 8) I wouldn't have thought four new cage rods would be beyond you, Christer - what have you got planned for tomorrow, eh...
Christer Wow what a transformation, Brilliant job and a testament to a quality made lantern in the first place I must admit im also interested to see your workshop, i can see the tail end of a manual lathe. Maybe another thread i guess, either way christer a good restoration job, Well Done Regards
Thanks for your kind words, everyone. But frankly, there isn't really much to it. Things often look much worse than they really are. The thing is to just see beyond all the grime and dirt. That has given me many good finds on eBay and such places. Actually lamps like this often turn out better than those that have been in someones "care", meaning over polished and with spares exchanged with god knows what... There you have a point. I'm sure they would all have looked like the four rods on mine. At the best... Don't get me started! I never thought about making those. How about taking some 5 mm stainless welding rod, and... nah! It's not worth it. I will conceal my laziness here by saying that those thinned down rods just gives the lantern the character it need to show where its from. Spot on! That's where the main reason for my success in getting it running lays. Not many really. The usual stuff you normally got back home is sufficiant for most jobs. But for making some new details when necessary, it's hard to get around the fact that a good, but small, lathe is useful. Small because the details we are talking about here doesn't really make themself well in a regular, large industry lathe. A good vertical drill is also good to have. Nevertheless, the Dremel you mentioned is actually far more useful for general fettling in these cases.
It's the old plating. It just needed a good cleanup, and careful polishing. It actually looks just as good in reality as in the pictures. The only place that's not so good is parts of the collar and around the vent holes at the hood. The plating there are thinned out, and you can see the brass underneath. The only new of the shiny stuff here is the spherical nut for the hood's top. I choosed to make it out of acid proof stainless steel because it polish up extremely well, and might go for nickel plating at a quick glance. (If you look more careful, you'll see that it is much more white/chromium looking than nickel plating.) Actually I think it's much better for plated things to lay untouched - even outdoor - for some decades, than to be in the hands of people that keep on polishing it regularely!
Thanks Jeff. I think I'll take you on your words there... I'll stick to Fuller's, but the other days IPA will be an ESB today. Cheers!
Wow Christer! Very very nice job. May I ask you what you used to polish the crud off of it? Any special paste, polish or tools? All the best & Happy New Year.
Good job Christer. It's amazing what you find under a layer of grime sometimes. What and how did you solder the collar? I assume it was silver solder as it would possibly get too hot for lead solder. I can't help looking at the details and this vintage lantern (early 50s) would have had a red enamelled top hat. As it's made of steel that's probably why you didn't find it.
EXCELLENT work Christer! Just goes to show that quality will stand the test of time. Even when buried in a junk pile. Bob
"WOW" fantastic restoration work , a real triumph of lamp fettling 8) Well done 8) . Best regards Stu .
Thanks alot Stu, and all you other. Wim! Yes I took a look all over the place. But it was a bit risky with a collapsed ceiling and a floor that threatened to give in as I trod it. There were some wickie crap inside: a large paraffin heater and a Feuerhand lantern. Not really. Hot water, washing-up detergent and a good soak and rub took the most away. Then I might use some hard car wax since it do some dirt loosening at the same time as the surface gets a very mild sort of polishing. Just without the abrasives. Good plating doesn't need much more. But the stubborn parts got a little treatment with Autosol, but I don't like to use it because of its content of ammonia. Not good on brass parts in the long run... This goes for citric acid aswell, which I'm also reluctant to use, but I do use it on burner parts since they get sort of annealed afterwards by regular use. Partly correct guess Nils. I don't use lead solder, but I use a quite soft one. It's a lead-free tin solder with some silver in it. Castolin 157, which I like alot since it works fine with copper alloys, like brass. It also gives a much nicer, shiny look, than the grey lead solders do, which is important when used on nickel plated stuff. Its melting point is higher than the lead solders - somewhere around 220-240 degrees Celsius - but still low enough to allow use of a regular (large) soldering iron and the correct flux. Then I solder the collar on the inside only. I don't think the temperature on the collar will get over the melting temperature for this solder. I have done this repair on a handful of collars, and not noticed that there should be any problems You just see a fine hair line crack on the outside when the surfaces matches well, which they generally do in these cracked collars. Unfortunately it's inevitable to be forced to anneal the collar first. You know how "springy" they are when they have split like this, and it's no good idea to force it together and then solder it. The tensions will still be there, and result in it cracking up again. I have to heat it up as much as I dare and quench in cold water a couple of times. To make it soft enough to be able to roll it tight again, you often must heat it enough to just barely show some dull red. This will mean that the plating gets bluish and ugly, but surprisingly enough this polishes away pretty well afterwards. But then I must use the Autosol I mentioned earlier which I try to use as little as possible. But the brass will get so soft that I can roll it past the fracture, which means that the surfaces to be soldered actually hold themselves in place afterwards when working on them with the iron. (Or heating gun if you prefer that). I have been lucky in my collars just being cracked on one place. When cracked in two halves I guess a fixture of some sort will be necessary. A couple of large hose clamps, perhaps? Thanks for the dating of the lantern! It makes perfectly sense that the top has corroded away completely, just as the "air tunnel" up in the hood. But if it had been attached on the hood when thrown out, I guess the nut still would have been left on its thread on the mixing tube. Indeed. But what surprises me the most, is that all rubber parts still seals! This goes for the pip in the NRV just as for the tank lid. Plus those two thin rubber washers for the fuel level gauge. This seldom happens when getting a lantern that has been stored inside. You practically always need to change atleast the tank lid seal. Perhaps the moist outdoor air and lack of regular exposure to the fuel just do the rubber good?
