'Saving' lights from eBay

[gravelmonkey]

Great finds! This is my recent eBay save/impulse buy - An ex-navy portable lamp. Image from eBay seller as it's not arrived yet:



Auction closed on my £5 bid, plus £5.99 P&P, total of £10.99 :thumbsup:

Once it arrives I'll give it a clean up, and decide what to do with it!

 

[bykfixer]

Awesome!! It looks like a really bright one.
Ancient lights are fun.

 

[Monocrom]

If you've got the money and ability to save those old lights, why not?

I'd love to do that with classic old watches. Especially genuine American Hamiltons (1952 or prior if you want a fully 100% made in America model). But the Counterfeit/Fakes are so damn prevalent and (Despise admitting this) excellently-done, that it's just not worth it.

 

[gravelmonkey]

Awesome!! It looks like a really bright one.
Ancient lights are fun.

Rather lacking on the brightness front by modern day standards! The badge on the front says it was made in 1984, takes a 20w BA9s bulb ... 200 odd lumens? Head is fairly chunky cast aluminium, reflector is thin aluminium, should be a capable host if I can find time/finances to improve it!

 

[bykfixer]

This was the closest to over so far.
It had a minute 20 left when I hit 'place bid', and was down to 14 seconds before confirm was completed.

A Stewart R Browne Army issue from WW2 era. An intrinsically safe light circa 1939 or so it was used in transportation vessels like ships and airplanes. The Navy version has USN on them.

Stewart Browne lights began in NYC in 1918 and the company still exists in Atlanta and is still run by the Browne family who specialize in grounding devices and ground checking devices.
Early Stewart Browne light are in the US Smithsonian as the first plastic flashlights made of a material called Tuffite that is still in use today.

I kept running across these for $50+... as much as $100. The price of this one was less than the shipping cost. It is made of "bakelite" plastic. They were mostly black for civilian use such in the mining industry, by phone company workers, gas and oil pipeline workers along with railroad yard workers. A brown 'woodtone' look was used for the military. There were other colors like gray but black or brown are the easiest to find. Currently a black with yellow ends is being made.

The F-81x was the model number.

 

[Minimoog]

That looks a really interesting light with some tangible history too. The whole look and design looks pure US military and it's easy to imagine that your light did it's bit in action.

Been winning a few more sad cases and some surprising good ones with no bids. In the vein of your light here is one for the GPO in the UK from the 50's. Made by Ever Ready it has a special low consumption lamp and would have used a No.800 battery. I don't think you has the 800 in the US, it was an unusual looking thing. I adapted it to run on 2 AA cells.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8wl1wvflglrsv16/20170625_093228.jpg?dl=0

 

[aginthelaw]

I actually was going to buy a rayovac sportsman from the local thrift shop. They weren't open for business when I made a delivery there so I went back at the end of my route and checked it out. It was pretty beat up and half the reflector was missing

 

[LiftdT4R]

Lol, better question is, who doesn't do this?!

I'm always on the lookout for parts for Maglite restorations and I found an old TM bezel and tail cap. I bid on it and after it was over I asked the seller like I usually do if they had any other lights. She said she actually had the whole light so I paid an extra $5 or so in shipping and got this:

Bent, corroded, not working. I'm an fairly confident this light was about to be thrown away. I completely went through it, removed all of corrosion, straightened it, fixed the threads and voila! It's as good as new on the inside.

I know I've shown this light before but I love it. I have a brand new bulb in it and use it around the house all the time. It's a 1980 ~70,000 serial Paten Pending 2D from Mag's second year in business. An oldy but goody. This old use Mags just have soooo much character.

So to answer the question. Yes, I save quite a few that are destined for the scrap heap.

 

[bykfixer]

Not a last second no bid yet light, but definitely scrap heap potential...

This old relic was in bad shape.


Some work with a wooden dowel later...


Before


After


The nickel plating cleaned up nice


Or this old thing that screamed "parts light"


About 2 hours later.
Being old and fragile, it is a display item these days.

I'm really looking forward to the arrival of that Stewart R Browne light, if for no other purpose just open it up and see how they got electricity from point a to b in a plastic tube without the potential for static electricity being an issue.

 

[Kavajava]

If you do regular checks or saved searches of 'vintage flashlight' or 'old torch' then the jems come right along - at a low price.

Its a great time to be into this hobby - I'm really enjoying it here too!

Wow...you are not kidding...there is some pretty cool stuff out there...

 

[Minimoog]

Take a look at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAMP-wooden-old-road-bike-vintage-torch-/201962981109?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=8i8Rc6YScrQngAR%252FDTNDjdOXVgg%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc and I was the only bidder. A REALLY old light from about 1910. spent the last week working on it. All the added wire and wood removed, cleaned and beeswax polish applied, metalwork carefully cleaned, reflector polished, switch and internal electronics repaired (was open circuit), reculator added, 6 AA holder fitted in custom high density foam insert, halogen 6 Volt 3 watt bulb installed and now is working better than new and gives a lovely beam. I'll take some photos this evening of it now.

 

[Monocrom]

Looking forward to those pics.

 

[Minimoog]

Looking forward to those pics.

Here you go. Was quite a tough restoration but well worth it. I thought I'd aim to make it better than new after decades of inactivity.

Here is the completed lamp post restoration: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bpcr5iiw676nf9x/20170714_175303.jpg?dl=0
And another view: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r2hnbj6mdutpwv0/20170714_175326.jpg?dl=0 you can see how really old it is by the fine woodwork and old fashioned switch
Here is the rear sliding panel: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4r87lkijfbg8l96/20170714_175225.jpg?dl=0
And the insides after I had finished: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6oxpiy45mtnyw7l/20170714_194317.jpg?dl=0
And with foam: https://www.dropbox.com/s/p8igf9pffdjpnpa/20170714_194253.jpg?dl=0

And hey presto! https://www.dropbox.com/s/ktgs7qk8kbr209n/20170714_175339.jpg?dl=0

Now instead of being off and completely non functional it's now a fine thing indeed and with the deep reflector and lensed glass - along with regulated halogen bulb - it can be used as intended by the makers once again.

I've been saving loads of lamps - one arrived today with the most unusual bulb I have ever seen. I'll write about that another time.

 

[Monocrom]

Nice pics., thank you.

 

[Minimoog]

Nice pics., thank you.

Glad you enjoyed. Wooden torches from 1900-1925 period are historic and yet still useable - and good value. I also won eBay item 382056586228 unchallenged which is a GEC lamp. Got that running fine too. I dont know why vintage lights are not more popular.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2359lxkurnzdtj7/20170714_231027.jpg?dl=0 GEC up and running

 

[bykfixer]

While searching for one of these like my dad had... circa mid 1970's this much newer one popped up...with like 3-1/2 minutes to go.

 

[Minimoog]

Right time right place! Looking forward to the review when you get it.