Kerosene Lamp and Lantern Workshop
Making and Repairing Kerosene Lamps:
Wall Sconce |
Table Lamp |
Mae West Lamp |
Angle Lamp Repair |
Putting an electrified Angle Lamp back "in oil" |
Swing-arm Lamp |
When I was about 14 I purchased a brass boatman's lantern at a narrow boat chandlery in Nantwich England while on a canal boat trip with my family. Since then I have acquired several more oil and kerosene lamps and lanterns and my interest in 19th century oil lamps and kerosene lighting has grown.
Below is the boatman's lantern and at the right you see one of my most recent acquisitions, a W.T Kirkman No.0. The No.0 is a reproduction of an early Dietz hot blast tubular lantern made in the mid 1800s.
Not content to simply collect lamps I've started constructing them from bits and pieces of discarded electrical fixtures. It's often surprising how much of the hardware still used today has it's origins in 19th century gas and kerosene lighting.
Most of my recent lamps were built to provide light for my school bus conversion project, but I also have a couple of Angle Lamp Company two burner hanging lamps that I've been working on. I consider the Angle Company Lamps to be the pinnacle of kerosene wick lamp development, they are unique in design and fit the Steampunk aesthetic.