In addition to my never ending quest for the best and the brightest
(why else would I buy an M6?) I'm also interested in antique flashlights. For the princely sum of $13.56, I recently purchased, via ebay, an antique Ray-O-Vac flashlight. This is a really interesting bit of history. It dates to the mid 1920's, by markings, and the fact that the lens is a very thick, domed, magnifying piece of glass. What makes this flashlight interesting is it is marked 'pure copper'. And it is. Originally, it had a coat of clear lacquer(sp?) on it. The barrel has long shallow ribs, and the lacquer had worn off the high spots, and the copper was very dull. The lacquer in the grooved had yellowed, making the flashlight look pretty ugly. Hence, the low price. But, it's in perfect operating condition, down to it's screw in bulb, marked 'China'. I kinda doubt that's original
Since this is my toy, now, I decided to do what you aren't supposed to do to an antique flashlight: I decided to 'restore' it. OK, I just wanted to make it look nicer. A trip downstairs to my workshop, where my tripoli buffing wheel lives (you just know this is coming... :eek
And I had removed all traces of the yellowed lacquer. The little 5 1/2" flashlight now looks like a new penny. It's really pretty. There is hardly a tiny dent in this little gem. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to use to keep it bright; a synthetic clear lacquer seems likely, although I'm not sure how to get it on without brushstrokes.
But what you are really wondering is: how does it work. In a word: awful! I know the older bulbs were larger, at least double the diameter of a current 2 cell screw in ones, but that thick glass spreads the light like you wouldn't believe! At a distance of about 12" from a wall, it puts out a circle of light about 20" in diameter. Larger distances give larger areas, as you would expect. So I don't know who is the rocket scientist that designed and built this thing, but it is a *really* bad design! Shine it across a room, and it looks about the same amount of light as you would get from a candle
Damn! A one candle power flashlight! Probably visable for about 1/3 mile or so.
But I imagine it now looks pretty much like it did when it was new: really neat! Pure copper is much more attractive, to me, at least, than brass. Try to imagine a small, art deco flashlight that looks like a new penny.
Strange thing is, *all* flashlights from this era had the magnafying lens. This flashlight has a rather badly tarnished reflector, but the magnifying lens disperses the light with amazing efficiency, it makes little difference. What were they thinking???
Batteries must have been relatively expensive in the 20's, with a short useful life, and relatively short shelf life too. OTOH, this light would be *good* to read by. Anyone who has tried to read by the light of a Surefire 6P knows what I'm talking about! Strange thing is, these lights, with the magnafying lenses, were available in 2 C cell (like mine), 2 D cell, and 3 D cell sizes. Now, I have to wonder: was the 3 D cell type really any brighter?? Or did they just have longer battery life? Probably never know the answer to that. Another curious fact: flashlights that look just like mine were available with the body made out of cardboard. Hard to believe, but true. Metal end caps held on by rivets, with threads for the head and tail caps. Probably cost less than one made out of pure copper
But they worked the same! And a final bit of antique flashlight history trivia: Winchester was a pretty big name in flashlights back then. I've seen pictures of dozens of different models. Winchester's name was also on flashlight bulbs and batteries, as well.
Last point: can anyone think of anything other than a flashlight, in common use in 1925, that used batteries? I can't. Not with what the cost of batteries must have been back then. I remember reading that after the electric light bulb was perfected enough to compete with gas lights (and competition was fierce, back in the early days of electric lights) the next item that used electricity was a small electric space heater, that was very prone to cause fires, bith from melted iron heating elements, and by overloading wires. Electricity must have been very expensive in the early days; think how much it must have cost to run an electric space heater! But I can't think what was the next invention to use dry cell batteries, after the flashlight. (Do I get a star for this post?
)
Since this is my toy, now, I decided to do what you aren't supposed to do to an antique flashlight: I decided to 'restore' it. OK, I just wanted to make it look nicer. A trip downstairs to my workshop, where my tripoli buffing wheel lives (you just know this is coming... :eek
But what you are really wondering is: how does it work. In a word: awful! I know the older bulbs were larger, at least double the diameter of a current 2 cell screw in ones, but that thick glass spreads the light like you wouldn't believe! At a distance of about 12" from a wall, it puts out a circle of light about 20" in diameter. Larger distances give larger areas, as you would expect. So I don't know who is the rocket scientist that designed and built this thing, but it is a *really* bad design! Shine it across a room, and it looks about the same amount of light as you would get from a candle
Damn! A one candle power flashlight! Probably visable for about 1/3 mile or so.
But I imagine it now looks pretty much like it did when it was new: really neat! Pure copper is much more attractive, to me, at least, than brass. Try to imagine a small, art deco flashlight that looks like a new penny.
Strange thing is, *all* flashlights from this era had the magnafying lens. This flashlight has a rather badly tarnished reflector, but the magnifying lens disperses the light with amazing efficiency, it makes little difference. What were they thinking???
Last point: can anyone think of anything other than a flashlight, in common use in 1925, that used batteries? I can't. Not with what the cost of batteries must have been back then. I remember reading that after the electric light bulb was perfected enough to compete with gas lights (and competition was fierce, back in the early days of electric lights) the next item that used electricity was a small electric space heater, that was very prone to cause fires, bith from melted iron heating elements, and by overloading wires. Electricity must have been very expensive in the early days; think how much it must have cost to run an electric space heater! But I can't think what was the next invention to use dry cell batteries, after the flashlight. (Do I get a star for this post?
