Replacement HD44 Syle Hood Cap

Thanks again to Keith (KNP), for allowing me to show his 1942 300X fitted with one of my replacement brass hood caps. It looks splendid Keith Well done. Steve.

 

Lots of polished brass. Looks like a shelf queen

 

Is that a Bialaddin tank..?

 

It is another man's lamp. If he wants to polish it, it is his choice. I recognise this and hope that other CPL members do likewise. Not everybody is into restoration for the "let's keep it as it was", and "if you don't use it, it is wasted" attitude. It is good that there are other collectors out there that will protect their precious lamps as "Shelf Queens". One day the "Shelf Queens" may be all that is left. Steve.

 

The hood may be 1942 but the rest of the lamp is certainly later...

 

Unfortunately you might be right, using a rare lamp regulary causes wear and tear and some parts that will need to be replaced won't be available any more. Especially steel parts like the chimney on my OL51 rust and every time I light it I find some rust particles in the globe, some day it will be gone. I'm thinking about a replacement or at least heat resisting protection...

 

Well, to my mind the answer to that one is simple - don't use rare lights 'regularly' i.e. frequently, as I think you mean.

Light is light and it usually hardly matters what the source is. You wouldn't use a vintage Roll-Royce (or whatever) as a runabout; neither should rare lamps be used in the same way...

 

OK, I see. Regularly, frequently, repeatedly, daily is the correct order

I don't use it every day, but sometimes to enjoy the bright light it produces.

Of course I have several lamps I don't use at all because of their good condition but the OL51 is an exception because I had to do some repairs until it was in working condition again.

So why not enjoy it working as it has in former times

 

Exactly! After all, that's what they were made for! I have 1 (one) shelf queen, a virgin Coleman 238B. Knowing its value I don't intend to light it but if ever I need money urgently, that's the first one to go... After all, the only pleasure I get from it, is looking at it . I have 2 sons, that show no interest at all in my stoves & lamps so I intend to enjoy them as long as I can. What happens to them after I'm gone to the eternal fettling fields will no longer be my concern nor problem . So, each to his own, but I'm with Stephan on this one! 8)

All the best,

Wim

 

This is always a hard call. The truly rare ones need preserving and documenting for posterity as part of our industrial and domestic heritage. Brand new in box should perhaps be preserved as new but I for one can never resist firing a lamp up at least once. I also know that keeping a lamp in a box might slow down deterioration but it does not stop it. I have a brand new unfired Ditmar here that was in a sealed box when I got it and the steel has rusted slightly and it does not look "new".

The other thing to remember is most of these lamps were made to be used for several thousand hours and once a lamp is restored to function the few times we light it for display are not going to destroy it. So keep them looking good but don't be afraid to run a golden oldie once in a while. Got to have some fun now and then. ::Neil::

 

No, I don't think you do and that isn't what I said.

Regularity and frequency are two different concepts altogether. If you have a series of events and the time interval between them is constant then they occur regularly. Thus a clock ticks regularly (hence the saying, as regular as clockwork), Christmas comes around regularly and so does Halley's comet. The time interval between these events remains constant and is one second, one year and 76 years respectively.

However, the frequency of these events is very different - once per second, once a year and once every 76 years. You might say a clock ticks frequently but Halleys comet appears infrequently.

Here endeth the lesson...

 

Here is another angle. Light what you want when you want but be prepared for disappointment when something gets broken. Like a glass shade of mine that I won't mention.

 

Hi Steve it looks beautifull a fantastic job,and the hood cap is the bees knees.
And some very good points there regarding polishing the brass,or leaving it original.
As mentioned it is down to the owner what they like.
to be honest i personaly like the items IE lanterns stoves and blowlamps with all its brass polished and looking as good as they used too.
But still use them fire them up etc.
There are certain materials like bronze, that look better with a patina, but brass i think looks its best polished.
Through out the collectorble and antique world nowadays there are a lot of people like things unrestored,saying it is part of its history,but where a lot of things are concerend like our lanterns and stoves etc they can be at least 40 or 50 years old and most likely used for a few years,and left out in a shed or cellar or attic etc and forgotton about and neglected,
and left to rot so a full restoration to bring its beauty back and working how it did when it was at its best to me is good.
But there are times and examples, where i would leave a lantern stove or blowlamp as i found it,if say it was over a hundred years old and rare,and had been looked after very well,or a lantern etc that had been passed down the family from father too son and used on a regular bassis and was cared for,then to me that has some history i would leave it as original provididing it worked.
I personaly think there is a time when our lanterns etc,should be either left original or fully restored, to how they looked when at there best,

 

Thanks a lot for your explanations, David

It's not always an easy job to find the right english words if you are not a native english speaker.

I think I took the wrong word to describe what I meant, instead of »regularly« (which implies regularity as you described) I should have better used »every now and then« which (hopefully) implies a rather »irregularly« use...

I hope I got it right this time

 

No, you mean 'infrequent' use...

But I wouldn't worry too much - many native English speakers also get it wrong...

 

I'll try to avoid these words in the future

 

Having read the posts prompted by the photograph of my Vapalux 300X I feel obliged to reply, particularly to the comment that it looks like a “shelf queen”.
I purchased most of this lamp from a car boot sale 2 years ago for £5. The lamp was missing the glass, vaporiser and hood cap. The tank and frame had been brush painted with what appeared to be white gloss paint. From the outset this lamp was never going to be an out of the box museum piece!
Having removed many layers of paint with stripper I discovered that the brass tank was in pristine condition and so I decided to polish it rather attempt to repaint it in “approximately” the right colour.
Purchases on e-bay of a vaporiser, glass and mantle plus a new set of seals put the lamp back in full working order. The only thing missing was a hood cap.
I was therefore delighted when Steve offered for sale two versions of hood caps manufactured out of brass.
I purchased three caps, one for this lamp and two more for lamps where the steel caps had rusted through beyond repair.
I was very impressed by the quality of Steve’s caps and in order to offer my support for his venture suggested he might like to post a couple of photographs of my lamps with caps fitted.
As the cap was in unpainted brass I decided to give the old lamp its annual service including 20 minutes with the polishing mop so that it would show off Steve’s hood to the best effect.
So is the lamp a “shelf queen”. I would say not. I would describe it as something of a mongrel, made up of parts from 3 or 4 lamps plus one of Steve’s caps. It is in full working order and is regularly lit. Altogether the lamp gives me a great deal of pleasure and I think I have done a pretty good job on it !

 

Yes it is a Vapalux tank but not necessarily off the same lamp as the hood and burner. It is typical Ex Air Ministry stock put together from more than one lamp.

 

Hi Keith,

it was me mentioning the term "shelf queen" as the first.

Be assured I didn't want to use it in a devaluating or offending manner.

It is always a great piece of workmanship to get a lamp in such a bad condition as you described it back to life.

The only thing that puzzles me is: Do you use the lamp now "regularly" or "frequently"?

David...? David...??

 

Sorry if I'm moving the discussion in a different direction but.......How is that cap attached? I can't see any screw heads in the photo.

 

It wasn't my comment so you may be justified in asking , 'what's it to do with you?', but for the sake of accuracy, the original comment was...

"Looks like a shelf queen "

...which is, of course, a horse of a different colour. In my book (and obviously in Stephan's book, too), there's nothing at all wrong with a shelf-queen. 8)

 

As David said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a »shelf queen«. A highly polished lamp always leads me to the conclusion that it is rarely used, so I was a little bit hasty this time.

The lamp is used every now and then (I am trying to avoid regularly/frequently ) and as you decided to leave the brass unpainted it is normal to polish it from time to time to keep it shiny.

Personally I prefer a »protected« brass to avoid any damage like stress cracks caused by environmental issues like ammoniac in detergents etc. Further on it is less work than keeping the brass shiny

 

With so many lamps to play with I think regularly would be the most accurate descriptor.

 

Well spotted.The aim of the photograph was to promote Steve's brass caps. I intend to spray the cap in black high temerature paint and then screw fit it to the lamp.In the photograph the cap is simply sitting on top of the hood and is not fixed on.

 

Nope, don't think so - if you light your lamp once per hour, per day, per week, month, year, decade, century or millenium, you light it regularly.

Hence 'regularly' tells us nothing about how often you light the lantern, which is what we are trying to establish.

Or not - I'm rapidly losing the will to live...

 

I try to work through all my lamps at least once a month.So that amounts to 12 times a year give or take.

 

Well I also have one of these caps from Steve and I am very pleased with it. I have shown it on this lamp although that is not where it will stay as I have another one of these lamps awaiting restoration which will be finished in the maroon paint and topped off with this cap. Incase you are wondering how often it gets lit since restoration, NEVER would be the correct term to use. Thanks Steve great work.

 

So it's definitely a »shelf queen«

 

Yes this one definitely is. Although one who is showing her age slightly under the layers.

 

A nice looking lamp. Is the tank brass or steel? I have a similar looking steel tank off an E41 which could do with repainting.Which colour have you used?