GruntPuppy

at least we move forward. It's bloody awful stuff. My great-uncle Robert died of mesothelioma, he was a site electrician at a coalmine. I suppose this is possibly why I was so sensitive (snowflakey?) about this. At least the seller was an absolute gem about it. I've been cheered up this morning by the arrival of a set of barn doors for my 123 at least. They're going to be fun to paint, polish and re-rivet, but they are at least in rather nice condition, so should do well.

Humans are very good at good ideas that later turn out to be really, really bad... I'll be sorry to see this go, but not sorry it's gone, if you know what I mean. The seller offered to let me keep the tag with my date of birth on it, I think he was amused at how horrified I was - it belongs to THAT lamp, after all! I also will be surprised if I see a factory static mount like that again, but hey ho. I shall just have to buy a tripod or two as a cheer-me-up.

Well, he finally rang back - as the saying goes, "bloody nice bloke." He's coming down to collect the item himself, so that's one less thing to worry about - and is taking the appropriate precautions. I'll be sorry to see it go, but I'm erring firmly on the side of caution these days.

Did the flame test, it's not rayon :( Seller is going to arrange collection. Gutted. I wasn't particularly looking for a 123n, but one with an inspection tag of my date of birth I couldn't resist. Oh well, the collection reduces to 4 :( That said, if a 123hn comes up... :) or a second 23 that I can convert to a 23w so I can have one standard and one wide throw ;) [edit] I think we're going to have some fun here. Seller is supposed to be sending a courier on Tuesday morning, I've just pointed out to them the regulations relating to the removal of the lamp/associated items from my premises, including receipt for removal, legal docs required, etc. They requested a phone call, but I've tried three times and they're not answering for some strange reason. Shame really, as this is cannot be cheap. I'd take advantage of Cardiff Council's free removal service (the supplied bags are big enough to hold the whole lamp) and photo-document the bagging, collection and paperwork, but that would entail a conversation first, I think.

Thankfully not my carpet - seller's pic :) I've already mopped down and thoroughly hoovered the laminate flooring, thoroughly hoovered walls and furnishings, barely-damp rag dusted off all hard surfaces. I say "I", I mean "we" - my flatmate has helped me immensely. Just as well, since I'm a little bit disabled... Sadly the light age, model and cable appearance do match up with some pics online of asbestos-bearing cable, I'm somewhat gutted by this. I may well take the risk myself and do a removal and scrubdown. So far the strand collection is up to a pair of 44's, a 23, a 23n, and a 123. This 23n comes with an inspection tag from my date of birth, I really don't want to lose it, soppy sentimental sod that I am. I've started an eBay return on this, with the seller warned they will need to be able to organise collection by a courier willing and able to repack and carry asbestos, just in case. I think it's time I bowed to the inevitable, and admitted to myself that I have a Strand problem.

Can't find my NBC suit, but I do have a 6800 series mask with fresh filters, heavy duty vinyl gloves, overshoe covers, and an old head-to-toe waterproof suit. Still in 2 minds about this...

Well, confusion reigns. Having seen a photograph of the cable, a couple of asbestos specialists have come forward with opposing information. One has said "that's asbestos alright", the other "don't worry about it." So I honestly don't know what the hell to think now... from experience, does this look like the dangerous type of cable cover to you guys? [edit] If I do decide to take the risk, Cardiff Council have a free collection service for asbestos. They supply 2 bags - one clear, one overbag - for the purpose.

Wow. I shall be extremely careful. Now where did I leave my NBC suit...

Yep, I have asbestos ridden cables to dispose of. I shall phone the council tomorrow.

I've seen reference in some of the old Strand brochures to asbestosite being present in the tailing and tailings of some lamps - Am I right in thinking that the tailing refers to the power cable? I plan on replacing the electrics end to end on the lamps I'm working on, I just want to know if I need to take any precautions with regards the handling and disposal of older leads? Google has not been my friend on this one... Besides confirming that Asbestosite contains asbestos.

How small is small? My parents have decided they quite like the look of them... and I can't resist my monther's (spelling deliberate - monster+mother) hopeful looks...

I am, for my sins, living in Cardiff. I have at least located a stand for one of the type 44's in the last 10 minutes - an ex fire brigade metal tripod that I'll refinish in the same paint as the lamp. It's a little low at about a metre, but for £35 (Have you SEEN the prices people are slapping on anything vintage? Barstewards!) + £9 shipping, it'll do. By the time I finish with it, it'll have gloss black paintwork, possibly I'll replace the boltwork with brass hardware, although I'm more likely to go with stainless steel. Either way, it'll look a darn sight better than it currently does, and if I don't like it I'll be able to at least sell it on. I now need to find a wooden tripod for the other lamp. I'm planning on using a wooden tripod, so I can strip back, stain and varnish the wood ready for the signwriter's touch on top. That looks like a rather nice conversion. I know from my own experiences that the simpler a conversion looks, the more work has gone into it - and your conversions look "factory" - that, and the contrast between furry aluminium and the refinished cases is night and day. I'm looking at a similar colour (Scania Chassis Grey) but in a gloss "heavy duty" enamel for parts of my 23/23N/123 lamps.

I should have all these bits as I removed them from a batch of 123s I fitted LEDs into for an interior design project a few years ago. They will be in a "safe place" in one of three workshops so may take a while to find. Hi, that would be appreciated - any news on the Patt 23 / 23n bits at all? I still need a metal floor stand or 2, an additional 23 lens and retaining clip, oh and I'm also looking for tripods for my patt 44's :o

Let me rephrase then - a large aluminium pan will be providing the raw material for the lamp tray ;) I agree that it's sad they have become a style icon, but at least many of them are being preserved in some shape or form. It seems a shame that a lot of them have been discarded from theatrical work (I'm assuming) due to the work needed to bring them up to modern PAT standards and (again, assuming) the cost benefits in running more modern, more economical lights instead. I will be partially polishing mine to highlight the beautiful design, but also using a dark grey enamel gloss in places as well - I can't be doing with these fully polished examples I see everywhere. IMHO a fully polished lamp can become lost in a room as it reflects everything else around it; at least with partial painting that gorgeous shape is highlighted. It's the same with the Patt 23 and 23n, they deserve more than just to be polished to a mirror. Someone on this forum has told me of having their lamps copper plated, which sounds absolutely glorious. I'll be going the paint AND polish route again, and the same with whatever stands they end up on. I've gotten hold of the original fixed iris plates that the 23s were supplied with from factory (in needs of a strip back and repaint), plus a few gobo holders (modern aluminium, so I'll repaint them to match the lamp), gel (cel?) holders (again in need of stripping and repainting), the gobos themselves I'll just clean up. The variable iris that I have will initially get an oily rag restoration, I do plan on disassembling, cleaning up, repainting and reassembling at some point. I have managed to get a desktop tripod stand in cast aluminium that has had nickel plating badly applied (it was sold to me as a "second"), so I'll be stripping that back, and selectively polishing/painting to match the 23, I'll do the same with the 23n stand when I find a suitable one, I want a floorstander for that unit. My only departure from this will be with my Patt 44 baby spots. I finally found a picture in an archive that gives a positive ID match for these :) One will be getting a restoration back to original - I wish I knew what black crystalline enamel looked like, I suspect I'll be getting the casing stove enamelled if I can, and painting it with a high gloss "regular" enamel if I can't afford the stove enamelling route. I'm going to see if I can get the holes that were drilled to retro-fit a Klaxon(!) motor on the side welded to fill them. The other type 44 lamp, I'm going to have some fun with. It's going a deep maroon colour, and I'm going to get it signwritten by a traditional showman's signwriter. The same will be done to a period tripod. I'll keep the motor unit on the side if I can get it working (I have 2 to play with at least, both my 44's had these on them), it will have to be boxed in somehow for safety compliance though, as there are loose wires and exposed transformer bits all over the place! Possibly a transformer cover from a valve amp will be modified to suit. I figure it's been Frankensteined enough that I can have a little fun with it, and do the work well enough that it will be in shape to at least perform a useful function for the next 80+ years.

Gutted? Yep, it would appear so - all I really need is the reflector and something to bracket it with, as I'm going to fit a more modern bulb. I have an old 1950's saucepan that is going to supply a nice thick piece of aluminium to act as a mounting plate. Who knows, with a bit of careful design and cutting it may well be bracket and base plate all in one :) I may be in touch at some point about the Furzes, but it will be awhile, as I want to get the Strands done before I do anything else lampy.