That was a riveting restoration! Sorry, couldn't stop myself. Still using your wonderful techniques on axe heads, but I'll be darned if I'm going to start restoring railroad lanterns!
Loving that you're still using that technique! I'll be honest, after this one I wouldn't recommend getting into the railroad lentern restoration business! The final product is beautiful and I'm very proud of it, but man was it a lot of work.
Nice work on the lamp. It really turned out great. A couple tips on soldering. Get some flux and apply to the joint being soldered. It will help the solder flow. Also, heat the parts being soldered and touch the solder to parts, not the soldering iron. The beading solder was caused by the parts not being hot enough. Again, great job on the video and lamp!
Thanks for the great feedback!! Back when I did this I *thought* I was using flux core wire, but obviously that wasn't the case (and it could've used extra flux any how!). Good lessons learned for next time - and there will be a next time! Another railroad lantern restoration is coming up in the next month or so - make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss out! 😁👍
The flux core will bead up like that as well if the pieces being soldered aren’t hot enough. Just remember to heat the connection not the solder. Then touch the solder to the connection. If the connection is hot enough the solder flow almost instantly. Looking forward to the next video. I gave you a sub this morning.
Thanks! The soldering was especially tricky in this case because there are two little black spacer rings for the sockets and they're made of plastic and actually started to melt when I heated up the socket to solder it, so I was forced to just use the soldering iron's heat to prevent the spacers from melting more!
I looked up the battery, it’s from the General Dry Batteries company, a battery invented and sold by a man Diebel. With investors he opened the business in 1920, making these “internal zinc” batteries for rotary phones, automobiles and railroad signals, as the Great Depression came into status, the company soared, from 1937 to 1958 General Dry Batteries, mass produced dry batteries aka radio batteries for 50 different brand names and companies, your battery was from the late 1940s.
Wow Travis, thanks for tracking down the history lesson that I never could find!! Awesome digging!! I still keep this battery on display in my workshop because it's such a cool glimpse in the 1940's and also it reminds me of how surprised I was to find it inside the lantern!
I'm glad you were able to fix that disc of what appeared to be Bakelite. I love the stuff and it kills me to see it break. The whole product looks great! Subscribed!
Thanks for the sub! I also thought it might be Bakelite, but another commenter said it was a phenolic insulator and I think they're correct. I do love Bakelite though! As a metallurgical engineer whenever we need to examine samples of metals under a microscope we mount them in Bakelite! I use almost everyday!
It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all miracle solution, but for something like this that just needs to be moderately structurally sound it works very well. For minor pitting and such you can also try Bondo. Less durable but faster and easier to cover imperfections.
Love your work !!! Great job restoring everything...I recently restored an old Hobo pocket knife on my channel last year, but you take the cake !!! I'll never measure to your expertise !!!
Thank you so much for the kind words, Marc!!! I don't know if I can call myself an expert quite yet though, but maybe someday! I totally watched your pocket knife video back when I was figuring out how I should restore mine! You were an inspiration. I could never forget it, the narration and editing/sound bites were hilarious. I really enjoyed it. You also play some great music too on your channel!
Very nice restoration. FYI, I have one of these lanterns in original.condition. Not a big deal, however, the case is silvery, light blue with a crackly finish. My pop was a long time railroad engineer and this was one of the many lanterns he used a long, long time ago. Once again, nice restortion.
Great job. Very interesting to see rebuild from ground up. Surprised that given their intended use and environment there was not a lense cover to protect the bulbs. Seems like they would break off all the time. Is the bent bracket inside with two holes intended to hold spares? Nice job!
Thanks for watching! It is surprising, considering many other models and manufacturers have covers for theirs. I thought there was a chance this one was just missing one, but they were actually just made like this. You are spot on with the bent bracket inside the lid - holds two spare bulbs!
Thank you! Great catch on the handle connections. In the video they are indeed on the inside of the springs but should be on the outside! Thankfully it didn't affect the mobility of the handle, although it bothered me so have since corrected this in the time since the video first aired.
An anvil is much more versatile than a vise for shaping metal. The vise is ok but not as good because it doesn’t have the bounce back that the anvil does
Really nice. Railroad collectors are crazy for all stuff like that. But I wonder about the blue color. Is that the color of the railroad that I noticed something was stamped on the side of the canister. Otherwise the baby blue might not be such a good idea
Most railroad lanterns that were made by Star Headlight & Lantern Co. were produced in just a select few colors (and many were just polished metal, not even painted) and the railroads just stamped their name on them when they purchased them in bulk. This particular lantern was owned by B&O Railroad, which colored their engines mainly dark blue and yellow. This particular lantern however, based on its 'patent pending' stamp on the lid indicates it was probably made in the 1940's or 1950's and the vast majority of Star's lanterns in this period were either plain metal or a 'hammerite' muted light blue finish. The blue I chose here is certainly more vibrant than the original color would've been, so I took a liberty there. Otherwise, it's about an authentic as you can get!
No finger rivets to speak of, but definitely some struggles with riveting that spring-loaded handle in place! You need some serious hand grip strength! 😂
Thanks! Definitely always try everything I can to keep as many of the original parts as possible because it's more authentic and also I don't have as many means as other restorers (lathes, welding, etc).
Sanding with a lubricant keeps the sandpaper from "clogging" up with the sanded particles so it not only gets the job done faster, but you also can use the same piece if sandpaper for longer before it's fully "worn out".
1000% this! I used the cheap flux-core soldering wire that came with my soldering kit, but clearly it was woefully inadequate. Lesson learned! Thanks for the tip!
Hi Alan, I'm assuming you are referring to the split in the side of the reflector housing that was entitely re-polished and nickel plated? The simple answer is that entire piece is made of an aluminum-bronze alloy and a crack of that nature can only be truly seamlessly repaired via brazing or welding. I do not have any of that equipment at my disposal (nor the financial means to just buy it all), so the next best solution is to drill out the crack tip to ensure it does not propagate further (a rounded crack tip will not propagate as opposed to a sharp crack tip) and then fill it with JB weld metal epoxy. I'll admit it's nowhere close to the prettiest solution, but by far the most practical for what I have the capability of doing with the equipment I own.
It's certainly possible. I wear a respirator during disassembly and asbestos is 'fine' unless you kick up particles of it, which didn't happen here. They were sealed and painted as well so it also lowers the risk of any particulates becoming airborne.
I have 3 more rusty railroad lanterns waiting to be restored next! They're all different! One of them has the switch vertical like yours. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss it!
So the original bulbs just say "TUNG SOC USA", which I assumed meant tungsten filament and socket made in USA. But they are just E10 type bulbs. If you search that on Amazon, you can buy a 10 pack of LED ones for around just $6.
@@CatalystRestorations I was able to read the Tungs letters but no more. The reason was a little different. In Hungary was a bulb factory Tungsram. It was the 3rd biggest bulb factory in the world before WW II. My first thought was those bulb came from there.
That's a perfectly fine method. But Evaporust is $30+ per gallon and an electrolysis setup can be built at home for under $20 one time and then only costs pennies to run forever. I use electrolysis when I can monitor the setup (because of hydrogen release and electricity and water together) and Evaporust when I can't give it my undivided attention.
That's the beauty of TH-cam Martin! Watch as much as you want and skip the parts you get bored with. Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings. I include chapters on every video so you can just watch the parts you are most interested in.
It is mostly due to the lighting that it's hard to see on camera, but I'll fully admit it is a bit harder to see than on the original because I had multiple paint layers.
Yup, for sure! This part was super tricky - if you remember from the video there are two small, black spacer rings that go under the socket on the reflector side. Unfortunately they are made of plastic, so if you dump a bunch of heat into the socket for soldering then the plastic just melts. The plastic actually started getting tacky in just a few seconds of the soldering iron in contact witn the socket. Still not a pretty job, but even more of a pain in the butt with restrictions like that!
Thanks! Luckily the solder work is hidden inside because it is indeed hard to look at! Check out my latest railroad lantern restoration for a slight improvement on the soldering! 😁👍
That was a riveting restoration! Sorry, couldn't stop myself. Still using your wonderful techniques on axe heads, but I'll be darned if I'm going to start restoring railroad lanterns!
Loving that you're still using that technique! I'll be honest, after this one I wouldn't recommend getting into the railroad lentern restoration business! The final product is beautiful and I'm very proud of it, but man was it a lot of work.
Beautiful work! You brought that lantern back to life!
Thanks for watching!
Nice work on the lamp. It really turned out great.
A couple tips on soldering. Get some flux and apply to the joint being soldered. It will help the solder flow. Also, heat the parts being soldered and touch the solder to parts, not the soldering iron. The beading solder was caused by the parts not being hot enough.
Again, great job on the video and lamp!
Thanks for the great feedback!! Back when I did this I *thought* I was using flux core wire, but obviously that wasn't the case (and it could've used extra flux any how!). Good lessons learned for next time - and there will be a next time! Another railroad lantern restoration is coming up in the next month or so - make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss out! 😁👍
The flux core will bead up like that as well if the pieces being soldered aren’t hot enough. Just remember to heat the connection not the solder. Then touch the solder to the connection. If the connection is hot enough the solder flow almost instantly.
Looking forward to the next video. I gave you a sub this morning.
Thanks! The soldering was especially tricky in this case because there are two little black spacer rings for the sockets and they're made of plastic and actually started to melt when I heated up the socket to solder it, so I was forced to just use the soldering iron's heat to prevent the spacers from melting more!
Got ya. That would definitely be an issue if wasn’t thinking of.
Absolutely. Should use rosin flux with anything electrical.
I have 3 of these, my dad worked for the S.P as a switchman from early 50 untill his ret. in mid 70s. great vid
That is really cool - thanks for sharing! I'm getting tempted to collect some from various railroads now.
I looked up the battery, it’s from the General Dry Batteries company, a battery invented and sold by a man Diebel. With investors he opened the business in 1920, making these “internal zinc” batteries for rotary phones, automobiles and railroad signals, as the Great Depression came into status, the company soared, from 1937 to 1958 General Dry Batteries, mass produced dry batteries aka radio batteries for 50 different brand names and companies, your battery was from the late 1940s.
Wow Travis, thanks for tracking down the history lesson that I never could find!! Awesome digging!! I still keep this battery on display in my workshop because it's such a cool glimpse in the 1940's and also it reminds me of how surprised I was to find it inside the lantern!
Great job my friend I just subscribed to your channel keep more coming I’m from nevada
Very satisfying. Great restoration work and video! 👍🏻 Super relaxing to watch!🤟
Thank you! 😊
Also, I noticed your profile picture indicates you are deaf - is there anything I can do to improve my videos for deaf audiences?
Wow, a great job. Like your restauration. All thumbs up. Regards: Alex.
Thanks Alex!!
I'm glad you were able to fix that disc of what appeared to be Bakelite. I love the stuff and it kills me to see it break. The whole product looks great! Subscribed!
Thanks for the sub! I also thought it might be Bakelite, but another commenter said it was a phenolic insulator and I think they're correct. I do love Bakelite though! As a metallurgical engineer whenever we need to examine samples of metals under a microscope we mount them in Bakelite! I use almost everyday!
Very nice... the can turned out perfect. And I never thought of J.B.Weld... interesting.
It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all miracle solution, but for something like this that just needs to be moderately structurally sound it works very well. For minor pitting and such you can also try Bondo. Less durable but faster and easier to cover imperfections.
Love your work !!! Great job restoring everything...I recently restored an old Hobo pocket knife on my channel last year, but you take the cake !!! I'll never measure to your expertise !!!
Thank you so much for the kind words, Marc!!! I don't know if I can call myself an expert quite yet though, but maybe someday! I totally watched your pocket knife video back when I was figuring out how I should restore mine! You were an inspiration. I could never forget it, the narration and editing/sound bites were hilarious. I really enjoyed it. You also play some great music too on your channel!
Very nice restoration. FYI, I have one of these lanterns in original.condition. Not a big deal, however, the case is silvery, light blue with a crackly finish. My pop was a long time railroad engineer and this was one of the many lanterns he used a long, long time ago. Once again, nice restortion.
Very cool! I know exactly what you're talking about with the light blue crackly finish!
The detailing this Man does is phenomenal...
Thank you Jorge! Stay tuned - there is another railroad lantern restoration starting soon!!
@@CatalystRestorations Dude these videos they are relaxing and great...keep them coming...thanks...
Great job. Very interesting to see rebuild from ground up.
Surprised that given their intended use and environment there was not a lense cover to protect the bulbs. Seems like they would break off all the time.
Is the bent bracket inside with two holes intended to hold spares?
Nice job!
Thanks for watching! It is surprising, considering many other models and manufacturers have covers for theirs. I thought there was a chance this one was just missing one, but they were actually just made like this. You are spot on with the bent bracket inside the lid - holds two spare bulbs!
Beautiful restoration just stunning your very talented and was a pleasure to watch
Thank you so much for the kind words, Gaynor!
Love the blue! Good job my friend!
Thanks doc! I went back and fodth on color choices for weeks before settling on this one. The color name is 'Maui blue'!
@@CatalystRestorations nice! I love pastel colors
Looks great but I noticed you put the springs outside of the handles on re-assembly. I really enjoy your videos.
Good eye Mathew, you are 100% correct! Since this video was published I have fixed it! 😊 Thanks for watching!!
Great job. Looks better than it ever looked, even whrn it was new.
Thanks Patrick! Definitely an improvement to say the least! 😁👍
That really looks amazing very beautiful work
Thank you, Don!
If I'm not mistaken,it looks like you attached the handle the wrong way. Still an excellent job 👍
Right you are, Frank! Got 99% of the way there and then got too excited to pay close attention for that last 1% 😂. Thanks for watching!
Top job mate!
Thanks!!
Very nicely done ✔️ Thank you
Just subscribed. You do great work!
Thank you so much!
Another beauty.
Thanks! I just love the variety of railroad lantern designs out there.
Great job!!!!
Thank you!
You did a good job, however you did reassemble the handle connections not the same as before. All in all, it looks very nice.
Thank you! Great catch on the handle connections. In the video they are indeed on the inside of the springs but should be on the outside! Thankfully it didn't affect the mobility of the handle, although it bothered me so have since corrected this in the time since the video first aired.
Комментарий в поддержку канала и ролика, а также труда мастера.
"A comment in support of the channel and the video, as well as the work of the master."
Thank you very much!!
Amazing 👏
Thank you very much!
An anvil is much more versatile than a vise for shaping metal. The vise is ok but not as good because it doesn’t have the bounce back that the anvil does
Can't wait for the Evaporust Sponsor!!!
Haha, that'd be the day!!
Great Job overall! did you notice that the washer/spring handle things were on the INSIDE in the before and are on the OUTSIDE of the handle after?
Yup, you are 100% correct! It was a mistake on my part. Some other nice commenters noticed as well 😁
May be in Orange or red cuold look better.
Good job
Thanks David! I agree orange or red would've looked really nice on this too.
Really nice. Railroad collectors are crazy for all stuff like that. But I wonder about the blue color. Is that the color of the railroad that I noticed something was stamped on the side of the canister. Otherwise the baby blue might not be such a good idea
Most railroad lanterns that were made by Star Headlight & Lantern Co. were produced in just a select few colors (and many were just polished metal, not even painted) and the railroads just stamped their name on them when they purchased them in bulk. This particular lantern was owned by B&O Railroad, which colored their engines mainly dark blue and yellow. This particular lantern however, based on its 'patent pending' stamp on the lid indicates it was probably made in the 1940's or 1950's and the vast majority of Star's lanterns in this period were either plain metal or a 'hammerite' muted light blue finish. The blue I chose here is certainly more vibrant than the original color would've been, so I took a liberty there. Otherwise, it's about an authentic as you can get!
@@CatalystRestorations Yes mini were just the polished metal thanks for the response
Nice job! You put a lot of work into that. Did you rivet your finger though? 😉
No finger rivets to speak of, but definitely some struggles with riveting that spring-loaded handle in place! You need some serious hand grip strength! 😂
What a meticulous restoration of something I would have given up on
It took a tremendous amount of patience and learning!
A good idea to fill holes in steel sheet is to put masking tape to the inside surface. Congrats.
Great tip Luis! Definitely will use this on future projects - a real timesaver!
@@CatalystRestorations You are welcome.
Thatis cool you actually try to repair the original parts before just making new ones, thanks
Thanks! Definitely always try everything I can to keep as many of the original parts as possible because it's more authentic and also I don't have as many means as other restorers (lathes, welding, etc).
Does wet sanding with a lubricant make the sanding makes less precelant?
Sanding with a lubricant keeps the sandpaper from "clogging" up with the sanded particles so it not only gets the job done faster, but you also can use the same piece if sandpaper for longer before it's fully "worn out".
Why did you put the cups and springs on the outside of the handles. Those parts were originally on the other side of the handles.
Yup, and it was a mistake.
Use solder that has flux in it, or buy flux separately. Much easier to solder with flux.
1000% this! I used the cheap flux-core soldering wire that came with my soldering kit, but clearly it was woefully inadequate. Lesson learned! Thanks for the tip!
Why didn't you fix that split in the top?
Hi Alan, I'm assuming you are referring to the split in the side of the reflector housing that was entitely re-polished and nickel plated? The simple answer is that entire piece is made of an aluminum-bronze alloy and a crack of that nature can only be truly seamlessly repaired via brazing or welding. I do not have any of that equipment at my disposal (nor the financial means to just buy it all), so the next best solution is to drill out the crack tip to ensure it does not propagate further (a rounded crack tip will not propagate as opposed to a sharp crack tip) and then fill it with JB weld metal epoxy. I'll admit it's nowhere close to the prettiest solution, but by far the most practical for what I have the capability of doing with the equipment I own.
@@CatalystRestorations Thank you for the detailed explanation. I was just curious as to why the crack wasn't repaired and you explained it in detail.
Mmmmmmm asbestos. Those washers for the bulb sockets looked like asbestos.
It's certainly possible. I wear a respirator during disassembly and asbestos is 'fine' unless you kick up particles of it, which didn't happen here. They were sealed and painted as well so it also lowers the risk of any particulates becoming airborne.
I have one but the switch is placed vertically on the side of the lantern
I have 3 more rusty railroad lanterns waiting to be restored next! They're all different! One of them has the switch vertical like yours. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss it!
I'm surprised you were able to turn that collection of holes and pits into a solid object again.
Honestly, you and me both. I had my own doubts several times as I was first counting just how many holes and pits there were to fill in 😰.
Great job!
Can you tell me the brand of the bulbs?
So the original bulbs just say "TUNG SOC USA", which I assumed meant tungsten filament and socket made in USA. But they are just E10 type bulbs. If you search that on Amazon, you can buy a 10 pack of LED ones for around just $6.
@@CatalystRestorations I was able to read the Tungs letters but no more. The reason was a little different. In Hungary was a bulb factory Tungsram. It was the 3rd biggest bulb factory in the world before WW II. My first thought was those bulb came from there.
@@SKL137 Ahhhh gotcha! That's super interesting, I learned something today!
Some things weren’t really intended to be taken apart
Why nobody uses evaporust in ultrasonic bath?
That's a perfectly fine method. But Evaporust is $30+ per gallon and an electrolysis setup can be built at home for under $20 one time and then only costs pennies to run forever. I use electrolysis when I can monitor the setup (because of hydrogen release and electricity and water together) and Evaporust when I can't give it my undivided attention.
So you are trying to say that those two bare bulbs are standard? Something is wrong!
Some were bare bulbs, eventually they had lenses/covers!
It could easily been 10-15 minutes shorter and still shown everything you did
That's the beauty of TH-cam Martin! Watch as much as you want and skip the parts you get bored with. Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings. I include chapters on every video so you can just watch the parts you are most interested in.
ficou legal
Thanks!
I feel like the paint used makes it so you can't see the writing anymore, maybe it's just the lighting and the video can't show it well
It is mostly due to the lighting that it's hard to see on camera, but I'll fully admit it is a bit harder to see than on the original because I had multiple paint layers.
@@CatalystRestorations makes sense
... aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeesssssssome!
Thank you very much! And thank you for subscribing! Lots more great restorations are on the way! 😁👍
@@CatalystRestorations 😀😀😀 I'll be there!
Soldering is a bitch, but you gotta heat up the parts themselves!
Yup, for sure! This part was super tricky - if you remember from the video there are two small, black spacer rings that go under the socket on the reflector side. Unfortunately they are made of plastic, so if you dump a bunch of heat into the socket for soldering then the plastic just melts. The plastic actually started getting tacky in just a few seconds of the soldering iron in contact witn the socket. Still not a pretty job, but even more of a pain in the butt with restrictions like that!
Great work except for the horrible solder job !!
Thanks! Luckily the solder work is hidden inside because it is indeed hard to look at! Check out my latest railroad lantern restoration for a slight improvement on the soldering! 😁👍
Esperamos que o povo brasileiro entenda.
Varvar.