Flashlight Friday

Yes its Flashlight Friday again!

To change things up a bit not only am I going to feature an new flashlight but I am going to

reveal my new method for cleaning rust.

This flashlight you see below was given to me tarnished and rusted. 

I proceeded to disassemble it and put it through my home made "electro bath" before polishing.

This "bath" for cleaning rust has to be one of the best things I have ever discovered how to make on the Internet ever!

By immersing rusted parts in this tub with a water and laundry soda mix.  rust can be removed electrolytically. Rust is turned into iron and just washes off!

I made this setup with a piece of rebar, a battery charger, a plastic tub and some lengths of copper wire!

The "Delta Powerhead" lantern went through it in parts which were dried and polished with
moms mag polish

You can see the reflection of my  camera in this  shot!

-Martinhttp://www.amazon.com/Mothers-5101-Aluminum-Polish-Paste/dp/B0009H519Y

Flashlight Friday

Its Flashlight Friday Again!
(Yes I know! Its actually thursday isn't it - see todays FIELD NOTE? )

Its starting to seem like friday has become the only time I can get to the computer to post.

The summer has beome a "series of endless fridays"

Well I can think of worse things to reflect on than "cool retro flashlights"!

Here is a flashlight that a friend recently rescued from the local dump.

It was sitting in the recycle bin destined to be crushed and melted.

Luckily there was an intervention and it has since been added to the collection.

This light was manufactured by the 

Tang Fun Lee company in Hong Kong under the Navy brand.

My guess is that it was made in the 1960's

-Martin

Flashlight Friday

Its Flashlight Friday again.

What's this....another Coleman Lantern?

Well sort of.....

This is a "Coleman Flashlight" I recently came across.

Its a departure from my usual retro Friday flashlight pick

but I thought you might enjoy this novelty light for a change.

-Martin

Recent Finds on the Coleman Trail

Its been a long summer. The chainsaw hasn't been getting much rest cleaning up from the last big storm and now the electric start on the ATV has given up the ghost. 

Taking some time off to recharge I hit the garage sale trail on the weekend in search of Coleman's.

Here are a couple of recent finds!

This 228e was sitting in a pile of things by the roadside with a "free" sign on it!

Here is a Coleman "G.I." Pocket Stove Model 530

It comes nestled in two cooking pots.

Six "Grate Bars" unfold to hold a cooking pot

This stove is missing a pot handle / wrench  and funnel that 

came with it originally but is in mint condition. It will burn either coleman fuel or gasoline.

The 530 is a civilian version of a military stove that Coleman designed for the U.S. forces in 

world war two.

It's my most amazing stove find ever!

-Martin

Searching for Coleman

So where was I on Flashlight Friday?

Out at yard sales while driving north on an errand.

The errand was the mission but the yard sales were an added bonus that I built into the the task.

The big score of the day were a few old Coleman lanterns that I found along the way.

This is one of the most beautiful lanterns I have ever seen!

I am teaching myself how to take them apart and restore them.

If you look close you will see that one of the burner tubes is broken off. 

I need to figure out how to replace it.

Here is whats called a "Sunrise Mark" on the lantern tank or "Fount"

See the stamping 27    6 

This means that this lantern was made in 1927 in June

Here is another lantern. 

I don't know if the red top or "Ventilator" is original.

I think this one was made in Feb. 1929?

Now that I know the dates that these lanterns were made I can find out what models they were and look for their schematics online.

"Hunt to live....Live to Hunt"

-Martin

Flashlight Friday

Yes its Flashlight Friday again!

I have been busy researching Coleman Lantern Restoration for an upcoming post but took a break to bring this sleek light out of the archives to share with you today.

This is an Eveready 2 cell light circa 1950.

It has a wide boat switch and is all chrome. 

The logo has vertical lines.

The design of this light reminds me of an Airstream Trailer.

-Martin

Summertime reading

Well the summer has truly come. 

Early morning I was sitting on the front porch having a cup of tea and the early day air was  already "you don't need shoes on" warm.

Time to do some fishing and read some books.....

I haven't added any titles to "the library" in a long while so I thought this might be a good time for us all to have a good summer read.

My pick today is Jack London's THE CALL OF THE WILD

The book is a classic  wilderness adventure.

Don't have this book in your own library?

Click here

Enjoy!

-Martin