Spent the last three months in making parts to and even fabricating from scratch copies of antique lights. While waiting to get welded up various other parts I started a new project.
Acquired five Bantam Superspots a few months ago of a style I don’t yet have in already having two other versions. One of the recent ones was fairly complete but painted gold (total sand blasting as with the rest), the others are in various stages of missing parts especially one. Wish there was a catalogue for such 50's 4.1/2" studio lights so as especially to see what was in front of them - screws on the plate but nothing mounted, but there isn’t any such a catalogue. Made a gel frame bracket to the below PC fixture but took it off later because I didn’t know. I already have one without fan that was missing a lens and made into a PC version and a color rotating version that was all factory except for a louvered top I made. Of the intact new bulk of them style, all are of the same type. The gold one had a Fresnel lens and a rear cooling fan which is different than my other ones. These are possibly later because they are rated for 1Kw as opposed to my others for 500w. Perhaps thus the fan. Unfortunately the idiot that painted the fixture gold also lost it’s name plate.
Already replaced a missing louvered top on one of the new style - took all weekend mostly in making jigs to bend the steel and it worked well in the end. Now I’m onto replacing one and fixing a broken part to another of the most spectacular parts - the seemingly bronze or brass Art Deco like top wire cooling fins. On the original ones they were bronze, the newer ones (of this series I’m working on) were steel and painted. Need to fit a replacement front wire to one and make from scratch another.
I’m making the parts out of brass and am so far stuck in how to attach the approximately 1/8" thick wire together or to the steel wire in replacing the front wire of that one that was broken. Welding dpt. is already backlogged in side projects for antique lights - when not already swamped with production projects, so is the special project’s person with a different set of projects for me in waiting. I should be able to do this! Took welding class 20 years ago in college and can solder.
Tried tonight on the replacement front rail to the steel wires. Was with a Weler WES51 at max. temperature able to solder the Brass wire to the steel wire. Than I got out the propane torch and was thinking I could get better than cold solders out of it without clamps etc. (Never have enough clamps.) Re-soldered it up for now but in further bending an arm, broke the replacement and snapped some solder joints as probably the best. Soldering 1/8" wire isn’t going to work unless perhaps there is hope for “the iron” from work. It’s old, big and huge and probably high in amperage as a possibility.
Thinking I can do this still. I have both propane and MAP gas torches, and thinking of switching to 18ga solid copper wire for the welding part or at least plumbling grade non-acid filled solder. Also have tons of forceps that I can trash in clamping properly. I can jig it up at least and am well on the way to bending the brass wire to form. Can I do this? How best to do this?
Flux the joints? What method and is it going to change color when hot enough? Ideas etc? Think I can do this but need advice...
Image of the above Bantam I fitted with PC lens and gel frame. Wire frame intended to fix and make shown & fluited cover below it.
Acquired five Bantam Superspots a few months ago of a style I don’t yet have in already having two other versions. One of the recent ones was fairly complete but painted gold (total sand blasting as with the rest), the others are in various stages of missing parts especially one. Wish there was a catalogue for such 50's 4.1/2" studio lights so as especially to see what was in front of them - screws on the plate but nothing mounted, but there isn’t any such a catalogue. Made a gel frame bracket to the below PC fixture but took it off later because I didn’t know. I already have one without fan that was missing a lens and made into a PC version and a color rotating version that was all factory except for a louvered top I made. Of the intact new bulk of them style, all are of the same type. The gold one had a Fresnel lens and a rear cooling fan which is different than my other ones. These are possibly later because they are rated for 1Kw as opposed to my others for 500w. Perhaps thus the fan. Unfortunately the idiot that painted the fixture gold also lost it’s name plate.
Already replaced a missing louvered top on one of the new style - took all weekend mostly in making jigs to bend the steel and it worked well in the end. Now I’m onto replacing one and fixing a broken part to another of the most spectacular parts - the seemingly bronze or brass Art Deco like top wire cooling fins. On the original ones they were bronze, the newer ones (of this series I’m working on) were steel and painted. Need to fit a replacement front wire to one and make from scratch another.
I’m making the parts out of brass and am so far stuck in how to attach the approximately 1/8" thick wire together or to the steel wire in replacing the front wire of that one that was broken. Welding dpt. is already backlogged in side projects for antique lights - when not already swamped with production projects, so is the special project’s person with a different set of projects for me in waiting. I should be able to do this! Took welding class 20 years ago in college and can solder.
Tried tonight on the replacement front rail to the steel wires. Was with a Weler WES51 at max. temperature able to solder the Brass wire to the steel wire. Than I got out the propane torch and was thinking I could get better than cold solders out of it without clamps etc. (Never have enough clamps.) Re-soldered it up for now but in further bending an arm, broke the replacement and snapped some solder joints as probably the best. Soldering 1/8" wire isn’t going to work unless perhaps there is hope for “the iron” from work. It’s old, big and huge and probably high in amperage as a possibility.
Thinking I can do this still. I have both propane and MAP gas torches, and thinking of switching to 18ga solid copper wire for the welding part or at least plumbling grade non-acid filled solder. Also have tons of forceps that I can trash in clamping properly. I can jig it up at least and am well on the way to bending the brass wire to form. Can I do this? How best to do this?
Flux the joints? What method and is it going to change color when hot enough? Ideas etc? Think I can do this but need advice...
Image of the above Bantam I fitted with PC lens and gel frame. Wire frame intended to fix and make shown & fluited cover below it.
