Newbie Help Identifying Tilley Lamp/Heater

Hi all, I am hoping some of the experts on here can help ID my lamp.

A few years ago I rescued what looks like a Tilley lamp with a heater shield on. I have no intention of putting it back into service, but I recently decided to convert it to a table lamp and have a couple of questions about the type and age of the lamp it is so I can source the correct spares. I have looked through the galleries on here, but cannot find one that matches, so I guess it could be a Frankenstein cobbled together. It seems to have a little of this, a little of that, etc.All I know for sure it is definitely a Tilley "lamp" (engraved "Tilley - B/R - England" on the side) (Does the B/R mean British Rail?)

I apologise in advance for any wrong identification/mislabelling of the various parts. This would be the first lamp I have dismantled and I am still learning the terminology.

-Has "659xa" stamped underneath it.
-Is brass. When I got it, it was painted a dull yellow colour, seemed like enamel paint, not sure if it was original. Now stripped back to bare brass.
-Has the four threaded posts.
-Brass Pump and cylinder.
-Brass centre nut and control cock.
-Brass 3 armed burner.
-It had a vaporiser, but so I can run wires in it, I have replaced it with a length of 10mm brass tube (for the burner end) and 8mm brass tube (for the control cock end) joined by a brass reducer coupling. Obviously not original, but it looks the part.
-Black enamelled hood.
-The original globe was rounded, but I dropped it a few years back. I replaced it with what I thought was the same one (182?), but the top 'lip' of it is slightly too small and falls out of the hood even if the securing screw is fully inserted. I slightly modified the hood so it now fits and looks the part.
The globe has a cage that rests on top of the hood and is secured by the three burner 'arms'.
-What looks like a normal insect guard with securing clip.
-It had a clip type, pre-heater thing on it.
-A reflector, looks the same as the one from the R1 (2 screw holes for the handle,with a cutout along one edge). The reflector has a chrome finish, although it looks like copper spots underneath it. It has a dull enamelled style white/grey finish on the back.
-It has an upside down "J" shaped handle that attaches to a plate that is fixed to 2 of the threaded mounts via 2 nuts. I can't seem to find another example of it. Others seem to be a bit more ornate or with a wood handle. This seems bare bones functional, but not hand made.

Basically, I need to replace the nuts that secure the reflector/handle plate to the base. But I cannot find anywhere that mentions these nuts, or the size/thread of them. Or if I am missing anything visual, like I said, I'm not restoring to working order, but converting it instead.

Also, is it worth trying to polish up the chrome if I am getting copper flecks showing through, or is it possible to strip it back to copper and polish that instead? I think the copper would give a nicer glow than the chrome.

Any help would be great!

I can post pictures if necessary.

 

Always add pictures!

 

Sounds interesting, a few pictures would help?

 

I will take some pics now, but it's dismantled at the moment. Give me a few minutes.

 

Blimey you're treading on thin ice mentioning converting a Tilley BR lamp on here......

 

@Rhoobarb2005

Hi and welcome to the forum. Looking forward to seeing the photos...

 

Hi @Rhoobarb2005 is this a conversion that can be reversed?
Or are you drilling holes at all?

 

Discrete holes was the idea.

Pictures are up, but the post is awaiting moderation.

EDIT: I just noticed you are a fellow Wirrilian. Small world.

 

Well, how is a hole discreet?
With one turn of the drill you render a piece of history totally unusable

 

@Rhoobarb2005

Before you start drilling holes, please let us give you a possible alternative....

Stevie

 

i.e. electrification

i.e. electrocution

 

Low voltage DC, for mood lighting/display purposes, no electrocution here

 

A 1959 yellow British Rail Tilley is possibly a Southern Rail lantern. They are not all that common but they do turn up now and then so not really rare. However it's likely to take a fair time and cost to reduce its value by half with further destruction to run cable and add light fittings. Your lamp and you can do what you like of course but I can't say I like the idea much. ::Neil::

 

The cost is negligible really, it was rescued from being scrapped, so it cost me nothing. And I hadn't thought about getting rid of it or selling it. Time I have plenty of at the moment (the reason I started looking at this project in the first place). I was looking at fitting low voltage DC led lights, so no real fittings to sort out, just very thin wire. I just thought it would be nice to make a practical, visual use out of something that would have been destroyed. But I can understand some people's feelings that conversions are 'sacriligious' to some degree.

 

. I can’t do this anymore

 

I thinking your on the wrong site mate.

 

@Rhoobarb2005

Perhaps if you considered the value of the lamp if you restored it as a pressure lamp? You could make a few quid and keep us all happy at the same time!
All joking apart, if your lamp is what we suspect it might be, it does have some potential value......

 

Directed to the proper way to upload pictures. Thank you Carlsson.

 

Cheers!
Glad you could sort it out.

 

@Rhoobarb2005

That lantern certainly poses a question or two, and I’m sure someone here would like to take it off your hands and give you something more common, but just as pleasing, to electrify.

You Tilley is from June 1559.

Edit: I've edited out my question because it was answered in the original post.

Tony

 

Hi Tony. I mention that part in my original post. It's a length of 10mm brass tubing connected to a length of 8mm brass tubing via a reducer so it would be a decent fit in both top and bottom. The original vaporiser was kinked and split. I saw no point in buying a proper vaporiser as tubing suited my wiring needs much better.

 

@Rhoobarb2005

We crossed in the ether...

I noticed that and edited my post while you were typing yours.

My apologies.


Tony

 

No worries, thanks for the info, although I am curious as to what questions it poses.

 

Yowser!

That lamptern is a right mish-mash of parts - some lantern, some radiant heater and some home made; granted, with a fair degree of thought. One cannot help but wonder why anyone except a steampunk 'bodger' would go to all that bother to produce something that will never work in that state. It's clearly meant for display, I suppose - a "conversation piece" as I think they term it...

 

Fat bloody finger again! 1959!

Tony

 

Well, apart from removing the old paint, replacing the glass and replacing the broken vaporiser with the brass piping, it is how I rescued it. But yeah, I suspected a Frankenstein job when I couldn't find anything that looked the same. I would guess that would be the reason why it was thrown away in the first place.
So if it's basically junk and not remotely useable without major work, I can at least sleep tonight knowing I'm not 'destroying history'.

 

You only have to pick up a cheap Tilley R1 heater lamp, it would be a R1 conversion lamp like this one.

 

I don't think so.
Sure it isn't an original out of the factory Tilley but i'm sure this is not the first one i've seen like this.
I think it was probably a railway modification and therefor does have historical value.

 

There is a thread entitled monstrosities somewhere on this forum, maybe having a scout through it might enlighten you as to the majority of members thoughts on the idea of 'up cycling'

 

Even if it is to make something useful out of something already bodged?