These photos show 8 Tilley control cocks, which date from the late 1920s through to the 1960s. The first photo shows 3 XN., control cocks, the one in the middle is the first version to have the Bakelite knob and it's still held on with a grub screw, Tilley dropped that idea and started to thread the end of the spindle. The next photo shows 2 GF., control cocks which Tilley started to use in 1940, the second control cock is the military version, which was originally painted silver, it has a brass knob and the threads which the gland nut screws onto are made from steel, I have stuck a small magnet to the threads to show that. The last photo shows 2 X-246 control cocks, one has the standard gold painted finish and the other is plated, Tilley started to use that style of control cock in 1946, the third control cock in this photo is a 1960s GF.. There are several more modern versions of the GF., but I do not have examples of those, perhaps someone else will add them. Jeff.
To see more information and photos of Tilley control cocks, click on the link below, Jeff. Has anyone disassembled a Tilley gland nut
Well done Jeff. A good help to date the lamps. The left one in the second image is the same as we discussed in my TL10 post.
Hello Christer, I'm glad that this post is of interest, but it's best not to date Tilley products by the removable parts, as they have often been changed over the years. The GF., control cock is a fine piece of kit, but Tilley spoilt it in the 1960s, when they dropped the screw on knob and brought out that push on knob and over the years the quality has continued to diminish, Jeff.
You should never use interchangeable parts as a dating method, that goes for any lamp, but they can be of help as an indication when many things points to the same dating period. But as with the TL10 you are helped indirectly by the change of control cock by the fact that the older cocks doesn't fit into a later column. What does GF mean, by the way? I intended to ask in the TL10 topic. Hopefully not girlfriend in this case. My guess is that it must mean gauze filter, could that be correct?
This photograph shows the control cock which came with my TL-120, which is dated September 1962. At first glance it looks like a modern Tilley aluminium control cock, but this one is a plated brass example, there are a few more variations before the modern control cock. Jeff.
Me neither, but I tend to think of GF as meaning (metal) gauze filter. I've signally failed to come up with a meaning for XN though!
Hello David, Christer also made that suggestion for the GF., and it makes sense. XN., may also be about the type of filter, but it's meaning escapes me too, perhaps it's a Latin term? Jeff.
This link shows relevant information. https://classicpressurelamps.com/threads/tilley-bakelite-b-knob-1934.17071/#post-136207
hi, i have one control cocks. just first to see it. someone give me which year they produce? i have saw another control GF or XN brass knob no any makers.
@Kawpan I guess that that your control cock is pre-1934. The Bakelite knob (black with white lettering) was introduced in 1934. I think the brass knob, with the grub screw fixing it to the shaft, would be earlier than the Bakelite, and later brass versions. Tony
