Birthday Lantern

Lanterns, stoves, etc... anything old!

Birthday Lantern

Postby kookenotes » Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:38 pm

I finally got my 1946 242C, in very nice working condition, with a ventilator that is in almost pristine condition. The fount is green paint or laquor over brass and it has a fair amount of paint loss but no scratches or dents. I plan to make this my user lantern and I'm trying to figure out if I should: A) strip it and repaint it green, B) strip it and polish the brass, or C) leave it as it is in its original condition. I burned it on my birthday this year and it works flawlessly. Not bad for a 68 year old. It has less dings and flaws than I do. Any advice or suggestions? :scratchthinking:
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Re: Birthday Lantern

Postby sodajerk » Fri Sep 05, 2014 1:40 pm

A picture would help make a decision. I would leave it in original condition. I am one year older and have lots of dents too.
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Re: Birthday Lantern

Postby doug hodder » Fri Sep 05, 2014 6:58 pm

Option D....nickel plate it...Doug
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Re: Birthday Lantern

Postby kookenotes » Fri Sep 05, 2014 10:17 pm

Thanks for the responses. Leaving it original is certainly the easiest way.

Doug - I never thought of option D. I assume I would need to strip it and polish out the brass before sending it to someone to have it plated. Do you have any contacts that do that kind of work? I really like that idea, especially on a lantern that I am going to use regularly. Thanks for any help you can give me.
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Re: Birthday Lantern

Postby doug hodder » Sun Sep 14, 2014 9:25 pm

It's a brass fount and if there are no dents or creases or a rotten bottom in it...just drop it off at a plater...they will do the stripping on it and prep it for the nickle, you don't want to do any polish on it as that will remove material around the stampings. Just check with a local plater...and they can be tough to find at least here in Ca....but it's a small fount so the postage on it wouldn't kill you to ship it off to someone, and you'd have a pristine fount. All the vintage Coleman founts, if plated, were done in nickle...don't be fooled by someone saying it's in chrome...it ain't. Doug
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Re: Birthday Lantern

Postby kookenotes » Thu Sep 18, 2014 4:33 pm

Hey Doug,

Thanks for the response and advice. I have found a couple of local plating companies in the Atlanta area and plan to take it in for an estimate. The fount is in great shape so I think it is worth the effort unless the cost is prohibitive. I hope you are a long way from the fire danger zone out there. We lived in the Benicia area for about seven years and I remember how scary it was to watch the fires get closer and wonder if they were coming your way. We saw a lot of Crockett and Martinez burn back in those days. I sure wish I had had this Teardrop back in those days. Stay well, Bill
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Re: Birthday Lantern

Postby Wolffarmer » Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:36 pm

If you make it to nice you will not want to use it. I did that once to a motorcycle. Now I have a $10,000 door stop.

:cry:

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Re: Birthday Lantern

Postby KCStudly » Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:08 pm

Sounds like a nice door stop, but why not ride it? If that's what you want, do it. Do like Jay Leno, make it 100/ct then ride it back to 90/ct. Wash, rinse, repeat.

I say make them as nice as you like, but use 'um.
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Re: Birthday Lantern

Postby Wolffarmer » Wed Oct 08, 2014 11:11 pm

I really ought to sell it. My riding days are numbered anyway. Get a trailer and go full time.
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