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Lamps Underground

Started by AL_as_needed, October 04, 2017, 08:56:07 PM

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19and41

On your 1917 page, it shows 2 Delta lights.  They made those about 10 miles from where I grew up.  For those of you who had or wanted to have a headlight on your bike, Delta made jet age looking units to mount on the handlebars.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

TelePlay

Quote from: 19and41 on October 19, 2017, 04:34:34 PM
On your 1917 page, it shows 2 Delta lights.  They made those about 10 miles from where I grew up.  For those of you who had or wanted to have a headlight on your bike, Delta made jet age looking units to mount on the handlebars.

Must have been the cross over time period where battery lamps were competing with the carbide stuff.

I was surprised to read the "Brilliant Search Light" text on the lower left corner of this 1915 ad saying the carbide lamp would "throw" a light up to 200 yards and the small generator would work for 8 hours. Don't know what they mean by "throw." Could mean seen 200 yards away or illuminates the surface 200 yards away.

I have several 3000 lumen T6 LED flashlights (18650 4.2V battery) that can be seen for miles but I doubt would illuminate a surface at 200 yards. Just tried it outdoors and it barely lit up trees 100 yards out, nothing more. 200 yards for a small flame must mean can be seen up to 200 yards away.

AL_as_needed

Quote from: TelePlay on October 19, 2017, 04:19:10 PM
Here are a few more ads that got caught up in my search for kerosene lantern ads. Seems bicycles in 1900ish used them as well as miners.

Careful now, that's exactly what I was doing and a week after the fact an ebay bid was placed...resulting in a carbide lamp arriving at my door. The Lamp Bug evolves!  ;D

Nick: Nice collection you have there! I assume the large on the shelf are hand lamps or lamps for more general illumination other than head lamps? Also,do you light any of them up?

Been busy last week, too much going on with the change of the seasons. However will be swinging through PA next week, might be an opportunity to pick up another lamp  ;)

TWinbrook7

Nick in Manitou

Al,

Yes although one could actually put a large reflector on a lamp mounted on a cap or helmet, I believe that the larger reflectors were mostly used on lamps carried in the hand.  I have attached a photo of a cap lamp with a large reflector on it and I think it would be scraping on the roof of the tunnel a lot!

I have also attached a few photos of the Justrite lamps with the large reflectors on them.  These lamps are equipped with a hook and also with folding hand loops so that they can be used either on the hat or in the hand.  The reflectors could be swapped out for smaller ones depending on what the user wanted.

Also shown are a couple angles of an AutoLite showing the hook and the stabilizing wire. The blade mount (or flat hook) and the round hook were both common for years, so a lot of the headgear was designed to accept either.


Nick in Manitou

#34
Now, I am posting a photo of a lamp I know nothing about.

We picked it up because of our interest in mining lamps but don't know for sure if it is a miner's lamp or not.  It has quite a fat wick in the "spout" and we assume that it burned lard-oil. The long handle makes me guess that it was intended for being carried for a notable distance...perhaps an attempt to keep the flame/smoke/soot away from the user's hand/arm? Does anyone here know what it is? I have found no makers marks on it.

It measures about 16" from spout to the end of the handle.

The person at the shop thought it might be railroad related, but I have no information one way or the other.

Thanks,
Nick

19and41

Is that a hollow handle?  If so, might it be a lighter for boilers?  Put it in through the access door on a rod?
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

Nick in Manitou

The handle is hollow, so that is a possibility!

TelePlay

#37
Quote from: Nick in Manitou on October 23, 2017, 11:12:51 AM
The handle is hollow, so that is a possibility!

Quite possible. That style of wicked lamp has been around for several thousand years with the Egyptians using clay lamps and olive oil. Here is a miner's cap lamp with hooks rather than the long handle.

   https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-G-Anton-Coal-Miner-Teapot-Helmet-Lamp-w-Shield-Markings-/362138699941

The fuel font has too small of a diameter to be a stable table wick lamp such as this original style lamp.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Clay-Lamp-Home-Decors-Aladdin-Oil-Lamp-20-wicks-Free-Home-made-Separate-Lid-/272436932997

AL_as_needed

Very nice lamps  8)

The more I read into carbide lamps and other mining equipment, the more variety I find. I figure these lamps were personally bought by the miners and as a result carried a lot of pride with them. Some I have seen are quite ornate, others plain to the point of looking home made. Equally fascinating are the real early candle holders. Imagine having a candle pinned to your hat or overalls to see by! Tough men in those days for sure.

Some early mining lamps were also of the style of that hollow handle "pitcher" style lamp you have there. Small versions were used on caps before carbide could be massed produced. Not much better than a candle but progress.  ;D
TWinbrook7

AL_as_needed

After over a year, I finally got around to buying some carbide and testing out the old Autolite head lamp. First attempt was a bit touch and go. The gasket I had used between the two halves leaked quite a bit which made for some excitement  :o

After some adjustments and a better fitting seal, the lamp works very well. With a smaller flame it ran for about three hours on a single fueling. It did need more water after two hours however. Testing it against my '50s era Big Beam 6v flashlight I was surprised to see the carbide lamp could easily out shine the battery light.
TWinbrook7

TelePlay

     Regular Member Post

Nice, very nice. And nothing like a bit of stray acetylene around a flame to get the adrenaline going . . .  ::)

Now that you have a life time supply of carbide, you can pick up another dozen or so of similar lamps for that collection . . .

19and41

Nothing like bringing old tech back to life.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke