ARCHIVED Questions and Answers

From Robert and Beverley Isdale, Brisbane, Australia comes the following images of what appears to be the type of lamp Diane asks about. Quoting a booklet from The Science Museum (London?) from 1967, they also snt, W. T. O'Dea writes; "The Naphtha flare [center] was... for the open air, but it had to illuminate while the slush-lamp [right] only had to warn. The street trader lit his stall by the surging light of these flares, patented originally for use with 'coal tar maphtha' by Reed and Holliday in 1848 and 1850, and surviving well into the 20th century in London. The burner is wickless, and the fuel supply, controlled by a needle valve, was vaporized before combustion by the heat generated at the flames. To start up, the burner was first heated by burning some menthylated spirit [rubbing alcohol]."

Diana...Robert (very active in the Australian "Antique Machinery Restoration Society") would like to know the exact configuration/style of the valves at the burner. He has a similar lamp that he has gotten burning, but thinks that the "...burner/jet system can be improved...". Robert is none too confident on E-Mail, but can be reached at < robev.zip.com.au > for you can help him with more details of your lamp.

• On Oct. 13, 1998 @ 07:34, Diana Marvel wrote:
  Yippie !!! That is it. The image of No. 13 is exactly it. The design may differ slightly, but that's it. We will be getting digital photos of ours soon, which I will gladly forward to you. I am so excited. I'm really not nuts. Now I just need to work on locating information about the manufactor. I will contact Robert & Beverly. Thank you so much, you are great. This web site it the BEST! Keep up all your hard work.
  
  • On Nov. 12, 1998 @ 12:10, Fil Graff, Guild Secretary wrote:
    Friends: Received 3 excellent images today from Diana (which because of resolution problems, unfortunately I cannot post!...she's trying again). We should have them up soon! A similar idea to what the Isdale's catalogue shows, but a more complicated burner. I can identify air vents, a pre-heater cup, and a fuel valve, but the rest is "mystery meat" to this kerosene wickie! Diana's light is definately NOT the old smudge pot! More like a "stall lamp" an outdoor vendor might have used to light and probably heat the area. NOT an indoor lamp! :: Fil ::
    
    
  • On Nov. 12, 1998 @ 19:15, Diana Marvel (posted by Fil Graff) wrote:
    Well guys. . . here goes. Again. . . Fil, by George I think I've got it!! First Image: This picture is the lamp as it is now hanging. Unfortunately you can't see the writing on the top "plate" part. You can see the knob at the top near the ring, which is the fill hole. The pictures on the wall are 8+ x 11", which will give you an idea of size.
    Second Image: This is a close-up of the "carburetor" [burner]part. Notice the hanging square valve control. The only other control valve is the one in the center left of the picture. This [burner part] protrudes from the wall approximately 2 feet. If it's possible to "zoom" in with your software, you will see that the top part is slightly domed, and I don't know for sure if that square knob at the top right actually un-screws. It certainly looks functional, but for what remains a mystery.
    Any additional information would be greatly appreciated. The entire family is curious.
    
    • On Nov. 15, 1998 @ 19:34, Rob Isdale wrote:
      Congratulations Diana, I am duly impressed with those images from a digital camera, and your ability to get them from your camera to my screen. I can now see that I have pre-supposed quite incorrectly as to what "valves in the carburetor head" might be.
      Fil, I would agree with your assessment that the first stop-cock in the middle of the horizontal pipe is a simple on/off control, and lower square knobbed shaft is a fuel metering needle valve to adjust the mixture to the required flame output.
      The priming cup flame, initially, and then the lantern flame, would heat the domed head of this burner assembly, and thereby vaporize the incoming fuel. While vaporizing and expanding, the fuel could only move forward through the “V” shaped manifold to the lowest point, where it could escape past the needle valve, and jet into the lower orifice of the burner head.
      Within that head cavity, the swirling fuel would take up sufficient air to become a combustible mixture, which would ignite as it passed through the pattern of circumference holes in the burner head.
      If the pressure behind the fuel was more than just this gravity head pressure, and if the holes were smaller, it would be the same as a Primus (or other brands) kerosene pressure camping stove, but this is a less sophisticated unit designed to give out a yellow/white flame for illumination, rather than a blue flame for heat.
      The square headed threaded unit at the top right, would be simply a blanking-off plug. In manufacture, the fuel passages through that ”V” manifold may have required machining, or at least checking to see that they were clear. The hole would then need to be sealed off with a plug. In service, this access point would also allow a useful entry point for a cleaning tool, if a build-up of foreign matter had lodged in the passageways. I feel that the same applies to the smaller square headed plug at the base of the “V”.
      With the pressure remaining constant, the needle valve would allow adjustments to compensate for variations in fuel quality or volatility, to produce the brightest clean-burning light. The resulting flame would be many flickering fingers of yellow/white light, like the petals of an open flower, and the artist for the Wells flare lamp seems to have captured that very well.
      I am probably telling you all something that you already know. Sorry to bore you, but it may be of assistance to someone.
      
      
    
    
  
  
• On Nov. 01, 1998 @ 15:43, dave simpson wrote:
  Fill---I have one of those gas lamps shown in the bottom picture (Q47) tht looks like a can--pointed at both ends with an "L" shaped brass tube comming out the bottom. I tried to straighten a bad bend in the tube just above the valve, and brok the tube in the threaded part. I can't find the propper thread size---either the machineists around here are not too bright, or..... I could re cut the end of the valve and a matching cut on the brass tube, but I'd rather just put a proper thread on the pipe and screw in back in the valve. Any ideas---short of look for more competent machiniist shops with a better die sellection??
  
  • On Nov. 12, 1998 @ 12:03, Robert & beverley Isdale wrote:
    

    Greetings Dave,
    I am pleased to see that another of these naphtha flare / campaign devices has turned up. I have been interested in them for some time, and I would like to know the function of the valves in the burner head. Diana Marvel is in the process of organizing a photograph of her lantern, and I look forward to seeing those illustrations appear on the screen.
    You have got an interesting little repair job ahead of you. There is a fair chance that the lantern may have been manufactured before the days of standardized threads, as we know them today. I have heard the comment that in early industrial times, a particular thread (diameter, pitch and threads per inch) might have been commonly accepted in a locality, a town, or even just one particular engineering shop. The need for standardization was imperative.
    However, any thread can be re-produced to the original specifications with a screw-cutting lathe, and that is the way that I would approach your problem. I would start with a solid brass bar of the same diameter as the fuel tube, and cut a thread to the same specifications as the internal thread in the valve body. I would then drill a hole through the center for fuel flow.
    When I parted off this new stub of threaded pipe, I would leave a stepped-down spiggot that would fit firmly into the inside diameter of the old pipe. File the end of the old pipe square, fit the new threaded bit, and float a touch of silver solder though the joint. The final clean-up should leave the joint barely visible.
    I made a lantern of this type some time ago, purely guessing from that illustration. I did not know about the valves in the burner assembly, so I created a very fine jet hole that would allow just a smear of naphtha (in Australia it is called by the brand name Shellite) to soak into an asbestos pad.
    The result was a flickering surging flame, just like that author, W.T.O'Dea had described. If the alternative in those days was a candle or an oil lamp, then you would have to say that it was certainly brighter, but an open unstable flame like that would have to be treated with a lot of caution and respect.
    Whichever way you do the repair, I hope that it is successful, and I would be pleased to know how the lantern performs.
    Regards, Robert and Beverley Isdale

    
    
    
  
  

I think this is the icing on the cake! This has been a long and rather torturous route, but here, out of the blue, is the answer! :: Fil ::

Diana:
I knew I had seen your torch somewhere but it took some time to find it. Your torch is exactly what it appears to be. They came in gasoline and kerosene. Yours is kerosene so you can safely see if it works. The attached clipping from the 1902 Sears catalog gives the details. Sears is in Chicago, not far from your James Laurie Co. so Laurie probably made them for Sears. Glad I could help. -Dennis
Your Kerosene Lantern Connection is at: < http://home.earthlink.net/~pearsond/ >