Anyone into this kind of thing care to suggest resources?  There's the AFCA forums for fans, but I've yet to find a similar resource for early industrial lamps.  My current (haw) knowledge of electronics and wiring is currently nil.

I'm also a huge fan of Toledo stools and chairs, and have a small collection going, so maybe this thread can be a place to discuss old housewares-type-stuff in general?  Hoping there's some other interested bros.

There's about 3 places I've found that sell vintage (new wire) and the like.   I just usually cut down a cheap extension cord and use that, but I'm not going for show quality things, just things I can use.    

Early Toledo stool, this hasa a threaded rod for height adjustment which I haven't seen often.  Feet are missing but replaced with some leather bits to keep the floor safe-ish.

Old Dietz mechanic's light, super bright spotlight on casters.  Not super useful but very cool.

'30s GE whiz with brass blades.  Arrived this morning and runs like a dream!

And my trusty Toledo chair, upon which I now sit.  Beautiful, strong, and super comfortable.  

http://www.lightningclutch.com/Industorial-Style.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.lightningclutch.com/Industorial-Style.html

My appreciation for old and or 'dead' things runs deep.

If you can get a copy of 'the better homes and gardens handyman book' it has a pretty general intro to re-wiring if i am remembering correctly. and a ton of other valuable information in that vein.  Some of it is outdated but the bulk of it timeproof.  They're fairly ubiquitous, truth be told I probably have 3 in storage.

I'll poke around and if I find a copy I'll send it North to you.

Model 1227 c1938 Anglepoise (Herbert Terry & Sons) by George Carwardine

What are the legs like 00?

Anyone on here seen the 'Infinite Space' doc about the architect John Lautner?

If not it is well worth a watch, a lot of his work will be recognisable to any avid movie fans as his houses have appeared in 'The Big Lebowski', 'A Single Man' and 'Diamonds Are Forever.

When I was renting, I always felt a bit reserved about getting too comfortable in one place, but my interest in nesting has exploded since buying my first house about a year and a half ago, and while I know that it can be a pernicious black hole of consumption, I do find that having a comfortable and beautiful space improves the quality of both work and rest. 

Luckily I enjoy just about every aspect of the process, I get nice lessons in the history of industries and designers as I go about researching, I get the thrill of the hunt, and a good deal of philosophical reflection on the nature of beauty/aesthetics/mood/atsmosphere/personal taste, and for me at least it's less about coveting particular objects (though there is certainly some of that) and more about pursuing suitability. It's quite nice to enshrine the bits and pieces of daily life in specific, carefully selected ways throughout the built environment. It seems to encourage better habits and healthy routines, which can be a big struggle for the self-employed.

And if ya read all that babble, treat yourself to a look at another lovely early 1900s lamp (otherwise avert your eyes).

I thoroughly enjoyed this, but it's hard for me to think of his creations as living spaces. The amount of wealth needed to have a home like that is inconceivable to me. I really love a lot of his concepts and I'd love to see them adapted to a more moderate/practical scale. It's fun to imagine a world where (less extravagant but kindred) spaces like that are the norm, rather than being reserved for a wealthy few.

chers 00, that's a nice set of pins.

We have a large antiques quarter in Sheffield (its a grand day out) I used to enjoy vintage furniture shopping because you needed a keen eye for design and a bit of creative flair to make things work in the space you have, now internet sites like Vinteriors does all this for you, all you need is a fat wallet a tape measure and an i-pad.

I have quite a few E.D.L engineers lamps at work, im not sure what EDL stands for but im certain its not the English Defence League.

Thanks Duke, that's probably the best explanation i'll get today.. They can only take a rediculously low wattage bulb.

Any suggestions?

here is our late 1940's Sintrax coffee maker...

and our 1920's ceiling lamp...

My work toaster..

1970's Dualit, from when the brand first started to appear in J.Lewis, Fortnum & Mason ect..

After nearly 50yrs it still works perfectly, the polar opposite of modern Dualit's, if you look carefully you can see some Warehouse in the reflection

To the left is a 1960's era Pifco 'Flying Saucer' fan heater, Made in Holland and still works a charm, although not very cost efficient it looks great hung up in my office.

...of course i spread butter with hollow-wear when you have a silversmith on the street.. who wouldn't?

Nice killer! where's it going?

At the other end of the design spectrum... ive been trying to track down a vintage Braun wall clock for the kitchen without paying stupid ebay money. If you ever find one at the boot sales...buy it for me, i'll make it worth your while.

This kind of thing

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjCqd_Gwc3gAhU7RxUIHedEAVMQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F307792955762053476%2F&psig=AOvVaw0kX-ta4SwNVUUqVxeX2LRb&ust=1550861978004634" rel="nofollow">

When i used to stop over at my nan and grandad's house, we used to sit on the hearth in the dinning room in front of an open fire and cook toast using a toasting fork made from wrought iron, this kind of thing..

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwituPHn287gAhWhxYUKHd7zD24QjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.castinstyle.co.uk%2Fproduct.php%2F2062%2Ftoasting-fork&psig=AOvVaw2hZkvrMsnkKECWOphaFFYF&ust=1550903457340227" rel="nofollow">

I recently got a wood stove in my workspace, maybe I need a toasting fork!

Ive never replaced the heating elements in the 70's Dualit but i'm pretty sure its the same fitting as the modern ones, theoretically it should be a toaster for life.

hollows wrote: I recently got a wood stove in my workspace, maybe I need a toasting fork!

I bought some silver birch logs recently.. they burn super clean and crazy hot, perfect for toast.

When i used to cook on the fire with my nan that would have been a coal fire, in fact their hot water supply would have been coal fired too... good ol'days.

and a roll desk that I use at my station, for my machines and such.

I tattooed a furniture dealer for the the desk. And coincidently I found the same one again a few weeks later at an other vintage furniture place. So now I have 2 stations in my shop with the same desk.

I don't think hollows will mind if we stretch to the exterior...

Back in the late 90's one of my customers, a foundry called C.F.Fieldsend & Co was closing down, it has now been redeveloped into flats (of course it has)

I bought their old 1940's era 'Clocking In' machine from the canteen which i fully restored and sold it on to a friend of mine for his hallway (he still has it) i also bought all of their (60+ in total) old crucible pots, some had been used and were covered in molten metal but most were unused, i paid £200 for the lot.

They are made of clay-graphite to hold the heat and resist cracking, i drilled a hole in the bottom of each crucible pot and sealed the inside with a non-toxic bitumen type sealer and sold them on for £20each as 'industrial garden planters' this was in the pre-internet days so i had a sign in the Post Office window.

I kept the pots which were covered in metal/slag for their character, they were lovely! but they had a strong whiff of amine so i left them outside, they rusted and eventually i threw them in the skip.

20+ years later.... this is my last (albeit unused) crucible, they date from the 1960's

https://flic.kr/p/2dBw4vT" rel="nofollow"> https://flic.kr/p/2dBw4vT" rel="nofollow - IMG_0368 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/100771083@N07/" rel="nofollow - ap ap , on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2dBw4zR" rel="nofollow"> https://flic.kr/p/2dBw4zR" rel="nofollow - IMG_0370 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/100771083@N07/" rel="nofollow - ap ap , on Flickr

The last 8 houses in our terrace (ours being the end) all have a large, chamfered, 3 intersecting circle 'venn diagram' style design carved into the stone lintels above all of the windows, doors, and gennel. Ive had a look on the Internet regarding what this design relates to, there are numerous explanations from The Occult to Borromean to Led Zeppelin but nothing as to why they would be carved into the stonework of Victorian terrace houses which tended to be functional rather than ornate.

If its just a 'masons mark' and he only worked on these 8 houses, why the heck is it so large? no other houses in the nearby streets have them, not even the villa's.

If anybody has a better explanation i would be interested in hearing your musings...

Anyhow.. back to the thread at hand.. i found some Victorian iron bench ends which have the same design cast in and thought that they would mirror the lintels perfectly.

The legs have been bead-blasted and repainted and it's had a new oak seat and backrest, with the 3circles design routered through and chamfered.

Or maybe they sacked him after the first 8 houses because he was fannying around with the details when the brickies wanted to get to the boozer...

These be they

Back around 2000 a friend of mine was fitting out his narrowboat, he bought some 30's/40's era flip down seats from a GP's surgery which was having a re-fit.

Lovely things, beautiful brassware, mahogony furniture and red leather seating, although it had seen much better days...

I stripped the old woodwork away and had the brassware re-polished, i re-furnished them with 1.5" waney edge oak seating, they looked perfect in his narrowboat, flipping up out of the way when not in use.

The deal was, i did the restoration work in exchange for all the remaining seating.

I never made use of them at the old address because the old barn was Grade II listed, the external courtyard walls were also listed being attatched to the barn (the heritage nerds don't take too kindly) Ive saved these bloody things for nearly 20years and i still don't really have a suitable external wall to support seating.

You'll have to use your imagination with this one...

To neatly flip the seat up into the vertical possition you just pull it towards yourself which moves the peg down the slide and they lock perfectly upright.

Lovely simple mechanism.

...

While i'm at it... more nostalgia

Here's my 1970's era 'embossed'  http://www.kzwp.com/lyons1/lyonsmaidlogo.htm" rel="nofollow - Lyons Maid tin sign which ive framed and screwed to the garden fence.

The later versions wern't embossed, minor design changes through the decades ect...

A design classic of modern childrens advertising.

They remind me a bit of the "swing stool" seating used in a lot of cafeteria-style tables (and prisons) in the US in the 20s:

The black version of the (previously mentioned) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Braun-Wall-Clock-Dieter-Rams-Design-No-4833-1979-Made-In-Germany/273765863855?hash=item3fbdb791af:g:8pgAAOSwR2Zcjl-3&frcectupt=true" rel="nofollow - Braun has just been listed on fleabay, dagnabbit! £200 is too rich for my pocket