Hi fellas, following on from my old Coleman thread from open forum, I’ve basically mapped out what it took to make a mica globe, I must say it’s more than meets the eye, the craftsmanship, the tooling, I hope my pictures give it some credit to the making. I’ve had this globe for a fair while, thought I would share it with others who may want to venture into making your own. Mica must have come in small sheets, they all seem to overlap, The joint between sheets looks like a Z the mica goes in the top and bottom and is pressed very tight It’s a repetitive process until the slide door, the door slide looks more like a W or M the small v part holds the mica panel, 1/2 the W holds the mica panel above the door, the other 1/2 of the W is bent out enough to allow the door to slide up and down. The door was mica, it to had been folded top and bottom hard tight, the top and bottom rings are simple folded over but all the bits covered by the top and bottom rims have like a pop indent and are flattened hard it’s a work of art, my next part to this post is I’ll be making a globe to suit a Coleman 327 I have restored, Thanks fellas
I hadn't thought of the flat strips being folded like that. Thanks Darryl, for the details on the construction.
For what it's worth, there is a fellow in the US who makes reproduction mica globes for just about every lantern that came with one. He does excellent work and prices are reasonable. If you are just making one it might be worth considering buying a globe from Fred. Even with shipping it may be less than the cost and effort to tool up for a single globe. As you say, they are not as simple as first appears. He is available by phone or email. Fred Kuntz 440-352-9630 fredkuntz@adelphia.net
A most excellent presentation @Darryl Durdin ! Any idea what the metal strip is made of ? and how thick is it ?
Just a thought: was mica really short in dimension or has the overlap in the centre to do with expansion due to the heat?
Largely to do with the size of mica chunks they got. I've seen full length panes and split panes on the same lanterns. Worked with what they had/what the suppliers produced I imagine. Alec.
Do you have a good source for mica? I've got an old 427 that needs a couple of pieces replaced. I've also thought about trying my hand at making a mica chimney.
@Rustytank, these are just two sites which came-up when I did a search for Mica for sale in the U.S.A. USA MICA, Leading Importer & Stockest of Mica & Mica Products in USA Stove Plate Mica | Asheville Mica Company
