Hi all This is a project I’ve been working on for many months, an AIDA 214 that I have named ‘Lazarus’. And dead it was. After much searching and a few hopeful moments with donor lanterns (which turned out to be in even worse/unusable condition), I found a strong fount, albeit one without much nickel left or a manometer or manometer plug. Two previously found founts were completely rotted out from the bottom, but they were, so far as I can tell, steel, and had rusted. This one is brass and had no corrosion problems. As I hope you can see, it has retailer markings in Hindi/Urdu (?) script, so likely came from India or Sri Lanka. The filler bung (threaded portion) on this one was entirely detached from the fount, so I had to solder that back in place. Fount was half-full of gummy black junk, but that was simply a matter of a long cleanout with many toxic chemicals. The vaporizer and control rod were welded together in a solid block of carbon — that took some doing to separate them. Made new seals, of course. I found an old pump cup of the right size (a bit larger than average). Sourced a replacement jet and needle. New ceramic nozzle. 500 cp 1111 mantle, sock-style to keep the long vaporizer hot, not globular like Petromax. Now Lazarus is alive again! — and I would classify it in the ‘holy crap bright’ category. I quite literally cannot look at the mantle when it’s going. The photo (obviously) toned it down. In real life it’s painful. It takes only about ten pump strokes to bring it to full intensity. I am running it on 80% kerosene (paraffin)/20% white gasoline (naptha). Calculated flash point of that mix is not so low as to make any leak a serious ‘run for it’ moment. I’m probably going to re-nickel this old lantern, because rang-a-dang-dang, I’m proud of it! If anyone knows approximate age of this, I’d love to know it. Hope you enjoy Ulf.
That tank is marked as Ratanamala which is a retailer from Thailand. They sold a range of German made lamps from the 1920s and later. I have never seen any lamps marked as theirs though so that is a very nice feature you have. I could do with a full on image of that tank stamp for my records please. ::Neil::
Hello Ulf, I congratulate you for your hard work, you have a great reward with this beautiful lantern with intense light. Indeed the "old" Aida N°214 lanterns have the reputation of being fragile, often the brass carries the disease of the stress with important cracks. Often the bottoms are cracked or deformed by pressure. Apart from being patient in finding an organ donor, it is difficult to find spare parts. There is a shop in South Korea on Ebay where you can find needles and jets for a substantial price, but I think it's worth it when you can't find it elsewhere. I am currently working with great pleasure on the restoration of an old Aida N°214, given certain elements I think mine is quite old, I plan to present it in a while. I really like these old Aida N°214. Regards, Titoo.
Neil, I'll be happy to photograph the Ratanmala stamp for you. Should I post the photo or send it to you directly? Titoo, thank you for the kind compliment. I had a lot of fun working on this one and it's the first of three that had a (more or less) intact fount, save for the detached bung. The bottom of this one looks strong & without any meaningful corrosion. I will await eagerly the photographs of your restoration in progress. My best wishes for continued good fortune on that project. I fully agree with you that these old lanterns ... with some work and a little luck ... become a most prized element in one's collection. Every good wish, Ulf.
Why not do both? The resolution on here is just about OK but a larger image would be better for me if possible please. Square on is best and if the detail comes out OK it will end up in the PLC and for that I have to re-sample to 300 dpi and probably tweak to greyscale and play with contrast Etc. and it's better with a big file to start with. ::Neil::
