It is done! Finally.
My darling little Anglepoise 1227 is fully restored!
Some of you may recall the drama when I started tallying up the costs of restoring my eBay ‘bargain’ and realised it wasn’t really going to be a bargain at all, but a labour of love.
And when I say labour, I truly mean it! Many months later and a lot of hard work, and I am ready to share at long last.
(I will be posting this in 2 parts so that it isn’t too long, and those who are interested in the process for their own project can follow it through more easily.)
Some of you may remember the eBay shot from back in September of 2011 that started it all:
anglepoise before - eBay shot
This was the state of affairs at the start. No hinge or hinge parts, dings, lots of grime and scratches, some rust and ALL electrical bits needing to be replaced.
The shade was a bit wobbly, so I spent some careful time with pliers and some card to keep from scratching the paint further, gently squeezing it straight.
It worked amazingly well, and you can barely see the wobbles now, when looking straight on. I also gave the inside of the shade a brush finish to clean it up.
shade after straightening and brushing
THEN.
I replaced bulb holder (and had a lovely reader buy the original, so I didn’t have to feel guilty for buying the shiny new one! Thanks again, Jim.)…
…added an inline switch and new plug – which I got from the recycling depot, so free – and pirated the springs off my Type 75, as I figured the older 1227 has seniority.
I also replaced the cord with twisted silver flex from Urban Cottage Industries which I felt would blend a bit instead of contrasting like the black.
I also had to fix the little spacer plastic bit you can just see at the lower left of the picture above, as one of the plastic pegs had snapped off, so had to drill into it and glue a piece of pen into it to hold it in place.
So… that is the simple bits done.
Later this week I will post on the brutal hinge reconstruction – which was an utter bi-atch.
Stay tuned if I haven’t lost you on all this technical stuff!
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
February 6, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Andrew Millea (@millay_2009)
Great to see it coming together. You might find a jewellers set of tool useful in the future, My pack came with long nose non serrated pliers and a normal set of pliers with nylon ends. both brilliant for working on metal objects without damaging the finish. Surprised you replaced the original bakelite bulb holder. they look lovely. Have a look for polishing paste number 5 on ebay developed by the GPO and the best polishing cream for bakelite objects. These are a labour of love. i have acquired a 75 for restoration now. anglepoise addiction.. is there such a thing?
February 6, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Winston
Thanks Andrew! I have to say, I am quite pleased. It was a lot of hard work!
I actually have a full set of jewellers tools, as I used to be one…! But don’t have the nylon pliers, which would be super useful, so had to improvise. Should really get some one day.
Yes, there is such a thing as anglepoise addication. and kaiser idell addiction. and hadrill horstmann addiction…
heh.
It is a harmless one, though, as such things go!
;-D
February 7, 2012 at 7:00 pm
jim glen
The job you have done looks great – congratulations,
I look forward to seeing how you did the hinge.
And thank you again for the old bulb holder – I have fitted it to my lamp and it looks great.
February 7, 2012 at 8:05 pm
Winston
You are most welcome, Jim. Feels pretty good to have the old girl up and running, as I am sure you can relate to!