Old Fashioned Lamp Case
The North American Live Steamer, Volume 1 Number 11, 1957
With the increase in popularity of "Old Time" engines and equipment, especially in the larger gauges, there is also greater interest in some of the accessoriesw for these engines. For the larger gauge engines of teh 1870-80 period, an operating oil head light adds much and is a touch of realism hardly obtained so easily on any other part of the engine. The soft glow of the little oil flame not only looks good to bystanders as the miniature engines run after dark, but is a real pleasure to drive with.
My lamp "case" or shell was made up of scraps of copper left over from the boiler. Any other material would do as well, for an essential of a lamp is a decorative paint job. Any material you use will be well covered. Once the general dimensions were figured, the various bits and pieces were cut out and silver soldered together. I used this method of construction simply because it was the easiest; soft solder, rivets, or small screws would work as well.
Perhaps the only fussy job with the case is the rim and "bushing" which hold the glass front. I threaded a piece of large brass tubing, cut off about a quarter inch of it, and silver soldered it to the front of the case. If you use this method, try to heat the whole front and the bushing evenly to avoid distortion. As a matter of fact, this job should be done first, so that if the pieces distort there won't be such a loss of work. A brass ring was then made with matching threads and a rim to hold the glass in place. I keep the ring polished for appearance.
While building the case I ran across some decorative "corners" from an old tim box (what its origin was I'll never know) and these seemed to fit in well in the front corners of my lamp. Failing such a "find" you could cut out some brass decorations (which I'll do on my next engine) or paint a decoration in the corners. Another source of ornamentation is the "jewelry" counter in the dime store.
My door and right side panel were flanged over a simple form and were made of thin copper. The panel on the right side was silver soldered in place and the door has simple easily fabricated hinges silver soldered to it.
There are three parts you'll need for a working light, outside of the lamp body itself; a burner and reservoir, a glass chimney, and a reflector.
The reflector is, or should be, parabolic in form, for the simple reason that it will reflect most effeciently the feeble flow of the little flame. There are a number of ways of figuring the parabolic form. You can be real scientific about it and dig back for the equations and formulae you once learned and probably have forgotten. Or, you can suspend a bit of fine neclace chain between to points separated a distance equal to the diameter of the front of the reflector. The resulting loop can be adjusted as "deep" as you want it, and there's the outline of your reflector. The only trouble with this method is that you don't know the focal point--or where to palce the center of the burner. The method I used is illustrated in one of the sketches I've included and is quick and easy to work out. You may find the focus point comes pretty close to the back of the reflector; too close to fit a chimney and burner in. In this case, you'll have to adjust the size and depth of the parabola to suit. The front portion of the reflector can be cylindtrical without too much loss of efficiency.