Hello, I know this is a pressure lamp forum but I've stumbled upon some old storm/hurricane lamps was just wondering what brands they are? How old they are roughly and whether I can restore them? If so how. Thanks, Ross
I am not familiar with the brands but they certainly look like very old lanterns. Lovely glasses. Would give them the best clean with a wire brush. Be a bit gentle as very aged. A wash possible then dry throughly. A good soak in Evaporust rust converter can work wonders with old rusted lanterns.
There are many brands and there are a variety of types and sizes, the lanterns which you have shown are known as hot blast lanterns, in later years the design was changed and a metal chimney was added and those are known as cold blast lanterns. This link shows more information, Feuerhand Lanterns - The Story.
Be gentle and don't rush. If possible remove the glass and burner. Either with or without the glass give a gentle clean with soap and water. Soak the lantern in vinegar to loosen parts and remove the rust. Periodically remove from vinegar and gently clean with a wire brush. As things progress parts will start to move and you will determine how much dismantling is required.
Got the vinegar ready, will a wire brush be too much? I do have wire wool and a lot of patience! I've removed the glass from both lanterns very gently, was easier than I thought.
That's good, it means the rust hasn't frozen all the moving parts. Depends on how bad the rust is. I'd recommend to Stay away from any of the large motor driven brush . Use one of the smaller wire brushes (or brass if you are worried) that look like an oversized tooth brush. A Dremel style tool is also helpful. To help get the rust inside the tank, through in a handful of small steel nuts and shake shake shake. I'm assuming the tanks are steel , not brass. YouTube is a good place to get ideas (some good , some bad).
Old and I am unsure of your first but in respect of your second hurricane I suggest checking out Kaestner & Toebelmann PANZER-STURMTROTZ' 'La Cuirassee' Regards Iain
Slowly getting there, I'll leave it like this overnight, will turn over the lamp so it gets fully soaked. Also doing my tilley cage! Will show you all the progression
The others are Dietz, Feuerhand...to name a couple of well-known manufacturers. There had been certainly a lot of once well-reputed ones that are no longer in operation. Yours appeared to be a 'hot-blast' lantern as opposed to the 'cold-blast'. Hot-blast designs are older. Do not soak too long in the vinegar or you might risk loosing some of the red paint as well. Soak just long enough to loosen the rust but not that long to totally remove them. Remove to loosened rust with gentle brushing. Total rust removal with purely vinegar soak might take a week or more, which could be enough to harm the paint as well.
Hello Ross, the lantern on the left was most likely made by Sherwoods, Birmingham. Is there still a burner on this lantern? Similar in construction but not the same is this lantern here: WW2 1943 Sherwood of birmingham hurricane latern (History plz?) The second lantern was definitely made by Kästner & Töbelmann, Erfurt. The brand 'Won't go out' was launched in 1905 in England, but not in Germany! If you could post a picture of the tank bottom and the other side of the tank, then I could tell you when this lantern was built. This picture shows a Panzer Cuirass lantern from 1927: Greetings Jörg
This is the other one I have, but this one I assume is quite easy to date as it has West Germany on it. Definitely Feuerhand not sure the model number, I'll clean this one up once I've done the others.
Done some gentle brushing, the paint is just falling off, getting it down to bare metal. There is a couple of small holes in the tank, which metal do I use to braze it?
You're making progress. You don't need to use braze, normal lead based (electrical) solder will work. Having said that, some do prefer to braze.
Hi Ross, your K&T lantern was built between 1924 and 1930. The little triangle with the air holes was introduced in 1924. Kind regards Jörg
