Hello everyone. I have enjoyed many posts here for a few months, and learned a lot along the way. My father, 92 years, took a bad turn, a stroke just before Christmas 2025. He has recovered and doing well. I thought about his old Tilley lamp hanging in the shed, something he will never fix himself. I remember him having it on Rottnest Island in the 70’s, spearing cobbler and flounder in the shallows at night. Since then it has been to Tasmania, then South Australia….never lit as far as I remember. So I got it home and started watching everything I could to help me understand and repair this old lantern. I bid on a few Tilley lamps for ‘spares’. I ordered some seal kits. I bought a preheater. I bought kerosene and meths. The burner was bent oddly, and I also damaged it getting it apart. The domed part I mangled a bit. The steel insert inside it snapped off. So…new burner ordered. I cleaned, heated quenched and polished the generator. I tried polishing the fount but it was the speculum plating, suffering the green patchwork ugliness. I decided on paint. The ventilator was in poor shape, enamel chipped off and rusty. Exhaust paint is what I used. Anyway, I did the best I could. Her it is ready to give back to him tomorrow night. It lights, holds pressure, and I have run it for 8 hours twice already. The ‘reflector’ was on it, and always has been to my memory. I think he made it himself, back in the day I knew absolutely nothing about kerosene or pressure lanterns before this project.
Welcome @LesRiekie Nice history. He should be pleased. Flounder lights were definitely a common use in the past. Good job on your part too. Now to restore one of those others!
I bid on a few tilleys….for parts…and I won them all. I have seven now. I fixed four, all working perfectly. And three have minor leaks and issues that I believe can be solved. I will keep one or two of them, the ones with nice founts. Probably gift the others as working, restored, functional lanterns for other folks to enjoy and perhaps appreciate. my hobbies become obsessions, and this is no different. I was shocked at the cost of the igniters/pre-heaters, so I started making my own. I have made five, using a wooden die and punch arrangement Rustic, but functional. I use a small cotton wrap encased in steel wool as the ‘element’. Works fine. I think I have found the best metal to use for the cups….thin metal lids from everyday cans like tomatoes or beans. They can take the forming without splitting. I am currently working on boxes for Tilley lanterns, and some other, smaller lanterns I have acquired (remember…obsessions). I received some amazing, overstuffed boxes and variations for shipping lanterns. I thought a decent box could serve as safe shipping, and also camp duties. I am using laminated cardboard to make a waterproof fitted box, with slim carry handles. I will post on that if there is any interest. ‘thank you for the reply Les
Hi Les and Welcome ! what a lovely thing to do for your Dad that’ll bring back some times, i’m sure :-) i have used fruit and veg boxes from supermarkets to make boxes as they are strong and a glue gun works well if you can keep the lamps down to 7 i think that’s good going but there’s something about paraffin that does get under the skin :/
Thank you I may already be a goner…..I have seven Tilleys…….two Handi Kero-Pet, two Austramax, and two Colemans. One Coleman is a dual fuel. I am already down the rabbit hole. The wooden boxes are tempting, but for now I am aiming for lowest cost for best efficiency and lowest weight. A box suitable for transport, field use, and postage with no real need for modifications. Materials are free, or very low cost. Simple tools. I have the time to mess around with designs and construction methods. I got the idea from a YouTuber NightHawkinLight. Strong cheap, resilient boxes, waterproof, and easy to make. I calculate the actual cost for a finished Tilley box, waterproofed, at about 2 dollars. Low skills task. I’ll have the first one done in a few days. I’ll post with some pics.
Sounds good i made mine really for storage in the loft : i needed something i could slip a lamp into and being stackable was a bonus? all came about as i had made some containers from apple boxes for a couple of lamps i sold on.. i hadn’t realised how subtly different the boxes were and of course all lamps are different so that was fun
Welcome to CPL @LesRiekie Nice work on your dad's lantern. My trip down the rabbit hole started with my fathers Aladdin lantern
I hope your father’s lantern gave you the same satisfaction as I got, especially when it lit up for the first time after your efforts. unfortunately my father had a heart attack on Sunday, so he was in hospital all week. Fitted a pacemaker yesterday and he is home again already, just one day after the procedure. It is quite amazing. He is clearly more alert and bright already. He has been very weak and tired since the stroke. He is doing much better and feeling better too. So, no lantern show just yet…perhaps this coming Sunday evening.
"I was shocked at the cost of the igniters/pre-heaters, so I started making my own." Would love to see a pic of one of your pre-heaters, or your approach to forming the cups. I have used disposable tin foil/aluminium trays for this in the past but the bean tin lid idea evoked an " ooooh...I wonder how he managed that " response from my inquisitive mind. Great job on the Tilley. Well done.
Paul, I will get some pics and maybe video of the parts, tooling and process. hello Paul. I apologise for tardy response, I have been busy doing a lot of things on the house……courtesy of my wife being on holidays …..the list was long. I will get pics out in the next few days, maybe a video of the important steps if they upload. One important item is the hard wood needed for the die. I used a piece of merbau that is used for fence rails and similar. The process requires some beating, so good quality hardwood is needed. The matching insert I used was just some pine I had laying around, and it is doing ok. ‘you must chamfer the top edge of the die to allow the metal to follow down as smooth as you can achieve. Metal splitting and tearing is a common problem. I have found the tin lids from tomato cans…medium sized, a bit bigger than say, a can of beans. The large tomato cans work for me. They form quite well and have not torn. I started out using metal caps from scotch/liquour bottles and they are ok, but not as durable for the second stage of folding the edges over the wire frame. Aluminium and similar alloys tend to split easily at crucial points. THe frame to hold the cups, I have settled on high quality stainless wire, used for garden and general purpose. I have tried a variety of designs, as you will see from the pics upcoming. You need patience to get everything aligned, and still have the springiness to mount securely to the vaporiser and come off in the same shape, The inserts I make from a small bit of cotton cloth, then bound completely in stainless steel scrubber wool…not the fine weave, the curly stuff. I tried one set by binding it with thin copper wire and that works fine too. The cotton does not burn or singe…so far. It just acts as the ‘sponge’ to hold the meths. Tamp them tightly into the cups using the die/mould to support this process. Once they are in tight, they seem to stay put. Trim any stray wire that stick out. pictures coming. thanks for the interest LEs
