Johnnewby Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 I'm restoring a cast iron hanging gas light fixture. It was painted after some light surface set in. I've removed the paint and the original finish gave a light amber almost bronzy color to the metal. as I polish the surface this colorazation is being removed along with the rust. Could this amber color be a BLO original finish that withstood the paint removal process or is this some other treatment to the iron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 Welcome aboard John, glad to have you. If you put your general location in the header we might be able to help you more effectively. The trend to not paint metal is pretty recent, say the last 20-30 years. If this fixture hung in a home it would've been painted to match the decor. If it was in an industrial setting it would've been as it came. Heck, my parents had gas mantle lights in their home in the Sierra Nevada mountains to save money on the generator fuel. I do not recall the color of the fixtures at all, neither does my Sister who spent a LOT of time at their place as she lived close. There are a number of antique fora out there, I'd almost bet THE way city or large town homes and businesses were lit. There has to be a ton of info available if you search the right sites. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted September 13 Share Posted September 13 Welcome from the Ozark Mountains. The place I remember from when we lived in Florida, called Vizcaya Museum & Gardens had original working gas lights both inside and outside. As best as I can remember the fixtures were painted black, although most of them had been converted to electricity. https://vizcaya.org/ I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.~ Semper Paratus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnewby Posted September 16 Author Share Posted September 16 Attached some photos, the original paint was two tone, senia details on a light umber body, the matching 2 arm version was finished black. I've managed to take the important parts off that would allow with dome drilling electric to be run internally, but I don't like the idea of modifying something in a way that it could never be undone. the top left shows the paint removed, lightly polished and wire wheel polished, the 3 arm has brass gas keys and the 2 arm cast iron keys. The bottom photo has one of the original two 5" fitters and 2 burners Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 17 Share Posted September 17 Beautiful projects I wish I had a good answer. I still believe the owner would paint them to suit. Is there other eyes on the vertical section to match the eyes on the horizontal sections? I assume they are to attach tension reinforcement members, probably wire but maybe a rod, or . . . ? Do you have the mantle attachments? I'm not sure what they're called. The gas mantel lamps in the folks place were all uninteresting modern as of the late 70s and probably still available. Frosty The Lucky. I was doing an image search and realized your lamps may not be mantle lamps. I found images similar to what the folks had in their place(if the new owners still have them) but those were all mantle lamps. My search shows there are lots of the older flame gas lamps and that would explain why I don't see a fixture for a mantle on yours. However the flame lamps don't have the tapered mixing chamber like yours shows. The is getting interestinger and interestinger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.