One of the more unusual items to come into a Repair Cafe recently was this vintage oil lamp, which had been picked up by myself from an auction as part of a job lot of oil lamp spares. The problem with this one was that it had been converted to electricity and in the process someone had cut a hole in the brass font for the cable to pass through.
I hate the practice of converting vintage items into electric lamps. It devalues the item and often looks incredibly silly. I also have a 100 year old candle stick telephone that had the lamp treatment which I’m in the process of converting back into a phone.
Obviously this hole would need to be patched up before the lamp could hold oil again, so using a bit of scrap brass, Gordon set about a solder repair. It’s not the prettiest fix ever. But I was more concerned about practicality and it not leaking than aesthetics.
I’m pleased to say the Repair was a complete success and the lamp is now awaiting the sourcing of a genuine vintage burner, glass chimney and shade.
