An Old Inspection Lamp

[darkzero]

Well that's what the seller said it was. I wonder what it was really used for but for now I will use it as an inspection lamp.

Found this at a flea market & it caught my eye. All it really needed was a replacement foot & some cleaning since it was in really good condition.


I decided to keep it's original finish.

Missing foot.

Did a quick search on the company but came up empty. Patent comes up as "Portable Bed Lamp with Adjustable Shutter" filed by Theodore Matson in 1949.

Here it is all disassembled. I gave the inside of rotary shutter a new coat of flat white.

I replaced the old tired non polarized cord with a polarized plug for added safety. Installed a 13W flourescent bulb.

Replaced the feet.

With the small flourescent bulb it's just about as bright as a the 60W incan that was in it. I went with a cooler 3500K color temp. Here are before & after shots.

I'm happy with it now, maybe I'll try a slightly larger bulb for an additional 200lm.

Thanks for looking. Can't wait till the next flea market.

:wave:

 

[precisionworks]

Nice find :) Industrial art deco.

 

[darkzero]

Thanks Barry. :)

 

[gt40]

Great find and it's in good condition too

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Nice find! That is so wonderfully old school. I really got a good sense of the craftsmanship that went into it from the photos. :cool:

 

[PhotonFanatic]

So, Will -- are you into knife making now?

 

[precisionworks]

That looks like the titanium "back" of a ZT0550. Probably modding a knife :)

Some look nice with a trit:

 

[will]

'I replaced the old tired non polarized cord with a polarized plug for added safety. Installed a 13W flourescent bulb.'

Dumb question - Did you figure out which part of the lamp assembly the large prong of the plug goes to? This has been one of those thing I have always meant to look into, but never did. My guess is that ' the black wire of the outlet goes to center part of the lamp assembly, the white wire would then go to the outer part, the threaded part. The thing is I have never taken the time to verify this.

By the way - nice find on the inspection lamp. Some of the old stuff has character that you don't see in newer products.

Added - the wider plug is the neutral side, the narrow plug is the hot side. Any switch should be connected to the narrow (hot) side to turn off power before it reaches the lamp (or other item). In a lamp, the hot is the center part of the bulb, the screw part is the neutral.

Today I learned something.

Hope I did not hijack this thread....

 

[darkzero]

So, Will -- are you into knife making now?

Fred, nope, I've been trying to stay away from knives as much as possible. It's not working though. I'll just stick to modding if anything. :)

That looks like the titanium "back" of a ZT0550. Probably modding a knife :)

Good eye Barry! Since the frame is Ti, thought I might play with it. :D

I satin finished the face only, then anodized it bronze. Also made a tapered LBS out of Ti to replace the stock flat SS LBS. Here it is next to a stock 0550.

The bore on the LBS is only 0.170"ø. The boring bar I used is the one in the middle.

'I replaced the old tired non polarized cord with a polarized plug for added safety. Installed a 13W flourescent bulb.'

Dumb question - Did you figure out which part of the lamp assembly the large prong of the plug goes to? This has been one of those thing I have always meant to look into, but never did. My guess is that ' the black wire of the outlet goes to center part of the lamp assembly, the white wire would then go to the outer part, the threaded part. The thing is I have never taken the time to verify this.

By the way - nice find on the inspection lamp. Some of the old stuff has character that you don't see in newer products.

Added - the wider plug is the neutral side, the narrow plug is the hot side. Any switch should be connected to the narrow (hot) side to turn off power before it reaches the lamp (or other item). In a lamp, the hot is the center part of the bulb, the screw part is the neutral.

Today I learned something.

Hope I did not hijack this thread....

Yup, that is what I do whenever changing the cord/plug on old lamps. Guess that's why they say to always unplug the lamp before changing the bulb on the older stuff. :poof:

I think it's also standard that the neutral side of the cord (wider prong) will have ribs running along it. Well that's what I look for & all the polarized cords I've used have the ribs.