A very very lucky find today on FB Marketplace. This KL80 cost little more than than the diesel required for the 3 hour round trip to collect it. Fount In very good condition. Not seen a plated version of these before and can’t see a date on it. Any ideas? The burner looks to have some damage as the air tubes are bent downwards a little. Fortunately the lamp came with a spare burner, its original box, two spare vapourisers, a mantle and an unrelated valve mantle. The shade is cracked but largely in tact. Didn’t think I’d add one of these to the collection but am very pleased to do so. Any information on it would be greatly appreciated.
A splendid find indeed! It's definitely pre 1940 and my best guess is mid 1930's. The burner which is in the plated gallery looks knackered, but the air tube nuts are uncommon and I strip worn out old burners for parts which have come in handy many times. The spare gallery is a great bonus.
Hoping the burner is a straight swap and it should clean up nicely! A good project for returning to the workshop in the spring.
I thought the same. The lamp itself looks to have had such little use I wonder if it’s been bought, rarely used, and then changed hands to someone who didn’t know how it operated who made a mess of it somehow in either operation or repair. Can’t imagine an accidental impact bending all the tubes so uniformly.
Those hexagonal burner nuts have the same thread as the later round ones, so provided they're not seized, swapping the burner should be straightforward.
I’d hoped so. With the presence of a spare burner and gallery someone had intended to repair it but it’s seemingly been lost in time.
It's certainly a possibility. I've seen quite a few distorted Tilley burners but I can't recall seeing one with air tubes bent down as far as the ones on this burner. Looking again; do you think it's possible the burner body became so distorted that it allowed fumes to escape and burn up the outside of the mixing dome?
It’s very likely. The gap at the threaded joint you can see in the image is replicated at the point of each burner tube. Not had chance to look at it properly yet.
I’m looking to stabilise the shade it came with. It will only be able to be used for display purposes and then I’ll use another globe for running. Is there an adhesive that anyone would recommend?
That’s a great find Scott there are a few threads about glass glues I saw after using the search which are worth looking at as it’s vitreosil it may be possible to get it repaired by a specialist or a glass blower by welding then annealing in a glass oven? pb
I have finally had time to strip the lamp down. It looks like it has the letter N stamped on the rim of the fount. Does that mean anything to anyone? Date stamp? Thanks
Yes it’s a filter! Tilley made them from the socks of the faerie folk I think I cleaned mine in paraffin the bit its sitting on comes off like the GF control tap.. watch out for the spring.. ba-doing!!!
Looking at it again I’d say it’s more of a scratch than a stamp. Could just be some form of owner identification.
Away she goes! Just a light clean and a new vapouriser to replace the original one that had a split and she burns well. Very lucky find!
