Luckiest guy in lighting or old fixtures live again

ship

Senior Team Emeritus
Premium Member
So today I was asked if I would rent some of my antique lights for a show. No kidding, in not having to sell them to make money off them. A client wants some antique pre-40's lights for a show in his house.

Ok, it's a bit conviluted in what era they are going for as they also want my 1962 Kliegl Dyna Beam in use for a follow spot during the show. You know, that one that's in the front lobby - yep... that belongs to me thank you... - No the shop don't own it! The owner of the company has a old Strand PC on a stand, I have the follow spot the size of a small motor cycle with working lamp and origional gel. They went from there with rhumer that I have a collection of such things which I do. Gonna be a cool project and show!


Need to field at least 12x antique lights or ones of a style that seem old, I count 37 between the shop, myself and the local theater with some of its old lights on my shelf waiting for budget for me to re-wire. Between 2Kw Molelipsoidals and the Ovalite, lots of fixtures to choose from. Yep, as part of rental, this would about cover both some cash for me and re-wiring a large amount of fixtures that have not been in use since before I cut off the asbestos whips. And I don't even have to do the show, just gotta tinker with the old lights during working hours and with supplies and lamps supplied by the shop. Can't think of anything more fun.

Brass tacks. The 3Kw Dyna Beam will be a bit too powerful for this show. Looked at it today and remove three screws, add longer ones and it can be re-lamped to 1K as needed to make up for a 2" difference in LCL. The four 1920's box spots I already re-lamped to 50w MR-16 will be tremendously useful in being as bright as a 400w incandescent lamp for lighting the scene, and a truck is on the way to another lighting company that found and offered to me three more antique fixtures for the cost of picking them up. This plus the local community theater will get the last of their lights re-wired. I have one more source dependant on how pure we want to be for either more 1920's fixtures or another Dyna Beam that's currently under an audience at a place I know. All lamps will be provided - not offering up for use my very discontinued either 3K followspot lamp or the various 1K or 2K Mazda lamps for the antique fixtures, I'll modify base seat positions instead to fit other lamps. Other stuff will be lamped as needed by the shop for the show though 250w Fresnel lamps will be a bit more difficult to get or do instead of 500w ones. Heck, even the execuitive dining room's dish washer will be put to use in washing lenses.


Love this career.... Just a year ago I was during shop time servicing my Dyna Beam for use as lobby sculpture, now given it works as well as or better than a Lycian 1271, it's going out on its first show in at least 45 years. This much less the Ovalite and 1920's box spots plus PC's will get wired and lamped plus optimized for optimum function. Got a project I'll really love in tinkering with.

Beyond this, another task is lamp stringers. Lamps on a string of lights with just as much coolness. Spend a few hours searching about today for the coolest in lamp shapes and types for the show designers to decide. Came up with at least 50x different options between 1900's nestolgic reproduction and LED inside a globe and lots between.
 
Ah, ship, anyone who knows you knows thats just got to be awesome fun. I'm jealous. If this keeps up you'll be in charge of a new department, Antique Lighting. How many times have we talked about doing a show just with antiques. Pics will be required. PC box spots and Olivettes, good times.
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Stringer lamp strings are awesome! Seriously one of my favorite old skool looks and feels. I love the huge number of lamps available for them. From S11 and S14's, to G30's and A19's, and everything in between. I know you order from Bulbrite, and they have some good options for stringers. Also look at Welcome to Action Lighting- Your one stop lighting shop!
 
Ship - I wanna be like you when I grow up.....

Everyone his own future/self. This is what with lamps and older fixtures and or custom gear is what I became following carpentry over the years in interest. Still do carpentry but mostly furniture type stuff for relaxation. Instead of designing shows - mostly scene design I once thought I would for a career, these days I more design lighting fixtures or power distros and or modify and upgrade what I am faced with. Can look at a screw and about tell it's threading, type and metric, standard or other etc. Can look at a lamp and mostly recite it's specifications by memory. On the other hand put me in front of say a Hog PC or something like that and I see buttons and knobs to screw with in messing with people's minds. DMX channeling is beyond me etc. in my advantages and limitations we all have - master or some or ... We all find our nitche after a few tens of years in the field if we don't get smart and find another career. Me, I get a certain amount of time in my career or off time to specilize as part of my field in older fixtures and or things others wouldn't touch or wish to deal with any longer. Good for me, not for all. Can convert the say 3M/T32/2 to what it would take to make it work as a modern lamp in a fixture or convert Euro to standard in all. Nuts and bolts, lamps and bases all about details similar to shell/fuse combinations I had to memorize in the military, just more extensive. Again, to each his or own field. Old lights are cool but on the other hand think about stuff like a MR-16 source to a 3" Fresnel / Inkie. Also based in them concepts.

So tonight I did research into more of my fixtures and lighting history in general. Did a google search into the various 1926 to 47 companies and didn't find much beyond the Kliegl Kliegl Bros. Universal Electric Stage Lighting Company website and Strand The Strand Archive old fixture sites that are not all that useful in detail good image in identifying etc. Went thru a stack of old stage lighting books and the Photometrics handbook and did the best I could in further identifying my fixtures but didn't get far.

Finally contacted the current owners of the addresses to Major and Chicago Stage Lighting be it realitor or some by chance sound studio and asked my questions about the former owners. Even went further in contacting the chamber of commerce about Major to their theorized last known Cury, Il. address. Yet to contact Hub but they no doubt would know all about such companies.

Beyond this found out more info. Theorized in the past the stage Fresnel was a late 1940's creation which is perhaps mostly right but corrected as a Kliegl 1930s type of thing to market but probably didn't take off until than. Same with the Leko as it were. Kliegl also in the 1930's for all intensive purposes had it but realistically it was not around in any way we know until the 1950's.

The Radial fixture was of course first due to cooling of the lamp/fixture mostly in that design. Something about "useless" part of the reflection. After the various quartz halogen type lamps - did you know there was a cloreen type halogen lamp? And double ended halogen lamps that about 1967 were said to be starting to be affixed vertically into tubes - which later became our more modern halogen lamp, made for the axial halogen Leko. 1967 was the start of the second generation in Leko, no axial Lekos one would assume existed before that. Various books from 67 and 68' as sources.

Century, Kliegl and Times Square all had 3.5Q type RSC based 3.1/8" Lekos and or Fresnels and or one thinks 6" on the market at the time. Believe they all origionated the axial fixture. Got a Kliegl RSC double ended halogen lamp based Fresnel. Unfortunately upgraded it to 65Q standards but I still have it's reflector/base assembly. Very curious as with the cursed but history 3.5Q series Lekos I have serviced over the years with that style lamp socket.

PAR 64 fixtures are first for the most part on the market about 1967.

Beyond that is my fixture list for this project to choose from. Gonna be a cool project to research and or equip for show. This much less, hopefully following this project, the work museum will be getting closer and closer though my garage won't look the same in not having it's lighting grid full any longer.

(options in lamping the fixtures for instance, there is a 300w Fresnel lamp available or the DynaBeams could easily have the lamp sockets jacked up 2" for a more modern 1 or 2K lamp.)


My Inventory:

1) ?Kliegl Olivette c. early 1920’s; 1Kw Mog. Screw (Can be 100-2Kw.)

1) Chicago Stage Lighting 6” PC Spotlight c. 1920’s; 2Kw Mog. Screw (Can be 25-2Kw)

1) Major Lighting 6” PC Spotlight c. Pre-1926 (Shortened Modification); 1Kw Mog. Screw (Can be 25-2Kw)

1) Bantam Superspot 4.1/2” PC Spotlight c. 1950’s; 500w P-28s (Can be 300w.)

2) Century #1560 8x16? Leko Light c. 1950’s; 2Kw G-38 (Can be 1-2Kw)

2) ?Century Strand or Century w. brass/bronze side plate ribs 6" Leko c. before or during Strand buyout???; 500w P-28s (can be 500w.)

4) 4.1/2” Box Spot c. 1920’s (MR-16 Upgrade); 50w/12v MR-16 G-5.3 (Can be 25-75w)

2) 4.1/2” Box Spot c. 1920’s ; 400w Med. Screw (Can be 25-400w)

1) Kliegl #53 4.1/2” Box Spot Oval Beam Fresnel c. 1920’s w. stand side mount; 400w Med. Screw (Can be 25-400w)

2) Misc. (Non-Altman) 6” Fresnel c.1950’s-early 1970’s at best; 500w P-28s (Can be 300w)

1) Century/Stran #3312 6" Fresnel c. 1967 or before; 500w P-28s (Can be 300w.)

1) Kliegl 6" Fresnel c. mid-1960's had RSC base now P-28s; 500w P-28s (can be 300w.)

1) Altman 1KAL 6" Fresnel c. mid- 1980's; 1Kw P-28s (can be 300w.)

1) ?Century Strand or Century w. brass/bronze side plate ribs 6" Fresnel c. before or during Strand buyout???; 500w P-28s (can be 300w.)

1) ?Century 6” Fresnel round c. 1950’s fixture; 500w P-28s (Can be 300w)

2) Strand #8736 PAR 64 c. ?1967; 500 PAR 64 EMEP (Can be 500w or low voltage)

1) Kliegl Dyna Beam Follow Spot w. Boomerang c. 1962; 3Kw G-38 (Can be 1,2 or 3 Kw.)



Shop's Inventory:

2) 8” Berkey Colortran 8” Leko 5 degree c. late 1970’s; 1Kw G-9.5 (Can be 400w)

1) Century 8” Leko 8x16? c. Late 1950’s – 1960’s; 1Kw P-28s (can be 500w)

3) Mole Richardson #8021 8” Molelipso 8x21 degree c. 1970’s; 2Kw G-38 (can be 1Kw)

3) Reiche & Vogul Linnebach Projectors “Leuchtkunst” c. 1960’s; P-48s (U/K lamp)



Owner's Inventory @ shop:

1) Mole Richardson #2046 8” Fresnel on stand c. 1940’s; 2Kw G48/18 ANSI type DVF G-38 (Can be 1-2Kw)

2) Strand #73 6” Leko c. 1940’s; 500w P-28s (Can be 300-750w)



Stagecoach Player’s Inventory @ shop: (waiting to be re-wired)

1) 6” Fresnel matching ?Century brand to Brian’s above round c. 1950’s fixture; 500w P-28s (Can be 300w)

3) ?Century Strand or Century w. brass/bronze side plate ribs 6" Fresnel c. before or during Strand buyout???; 500w P-28s (can be 300w.)



Stagecoach Player’s Inventory:

x) Century Radial 4.1/2” Leko 4.5x6 c. early 1960’s; P-28s 500w.

x) Altman 360 Radial 6” Leko 6x9 – 6x16 c. mid-1960’s; P-28s 500w.



Athanaeum Theater Inventory:

1) Bantam Superspot 4.1/2” PC Spotlight c. 1950’s; 500w P-28s (Can be 300w.)

1) Altman #101 4.1/2” Box Spot c. late 1960’s ; 400w Med. Screw (Can be 25-400w)

1) Kliegl Dyna Beam Follow Spot w/o Boomerang c. 1962; 3Kw G-38 (Can be 1,2 or 3 Kw.)

+8) Kliegl #1340 3.5Q5 Leko c. mid-1960’s; 400w R-7s (can be 40-650w.)

x) Misc. c. 1920’s 6” PC Spotlight - Incandescent & Carbon Arc, (Can be 25-2Kw)

1?) Olivette c. early 1920’s; 1Kw Mog. Screw (Can be 100-2Kw.)

+30) Misc. c. 1950’s and 1960’s Radial 6” Leko’s; P-28s, 750-500w
 
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