CENTER DRAFT LAMPS

Center Draft Lamp Wicks - Lamp Fuel - History  -  Kerosene Heater Wicks

See also Care and Feeding of Center Draft Lamps & Installation of Wicks

I have tight weave English-made wicks in stock for almost all circular wick, center draft lamps, including B&H, Rayo, Rayo Jr., P&A, Royal, Juno, Manhattan Student Lamp, etc.  See wick photo at the bottom of this page.

Bradley & Hubbard and Plume & Atwood Lamps & Wicks

Bradley and Hubbard (B & H, Rayo) as well as Plume and Atwood (P & A, Royal) made some of the finest lamps ever manufactured anywhere.  Primarily, B & H lamps used a thin 1 1/2" circular wick, whereas P & A Royal wicks were also 1 1/2" diameter but thicker - the wicks are not interchangeable.  B&H and P&A (and others) made beautiful lamps both larger and smaller, using wicks from 5/8" to 2 9/16" in diameter.   Beware of inferior loosely woven wicks - the gear raising mechanism may catch on loose cotton fibers and strip the gears, ruining a wonderful lamp.

Three different circular wick lamps illustrated above.  At left is a B & H "Trophy" lamp, quite unusual and ornate.  In the center is a silver B & H desk lamp shown without the milk glass shade.  The P & A "Trophy" lamp on the right has been electrified, but in an emergency the socket can be pulled out, the flame spreader put  back in, the lamp fueled, and in less than an hour it is again a working fuel lamp: This particular P & A "Trophy" lamp is extremely rare, undated, with only "Patent Applied For" on the wick raising knob.  P & A made many circular wick lamps, but few so large and elegant.

Please note these lamps were primarily designed as reading lamps, not area lighting lamps, although some of the banquet lamps were very tall and designed to light up a huge banquet room.  Most of the center draft lamps with a removable font were tall so they would spread light down and around a whole table so reading was possible from every side of the table.  This feature is best illustrated by the scene in the movie "Gone With The Wind," where just after the intermission the women are all sitting around a table reading while waiting for their men to return from cleaning out shantytown.  That is why these lamps are often referred to as "GWTW" lamps even though the movie "set" was wrong - the first of these lamps were not designed and manufactured until ten years after the Civil War.  

Circular wick, center draft lamps should be burned at near maximum light output to properly heat the flame spreader to burn up all fumes.  If used turned down to minimum light output, they will produce an aroma when burning, but not when properly adjusted for maximum light output.  For simple area lighting, a standard #2 burner flat wick lamp is sufficient, and the old "Eagle" and "Banner" burners made by P & A are by far the best designs.

 

At left, my B & H "Imperial" banquet lamp, designed for placement in the middle of a long banquet table to not only light up a formal banquet room, but reflect well on the owner.  This lamp is well over 2 feet high excluding the chimney.  Patent date  1884. The Imperial burner unit is extremely rare, actually being a Kosmos-Brenner type flat wick burner using a 3 5/8" wide, 40''' (line) wick. This is an extremely rare non-circular wick B&H lamp.

The P & A Royal lamp on the right has a 14" high hand painted ceramic base.  The yardstick shows the size of this lamp, but it is still less tall than the lamp on the left.

Kosmos-Brenner lamps can be considered as center draft lamps because of the end result, but the wicks are flat. There is a separate page for Kosmos-Brenner lamps.

 

 

The size of these lamps is deceptive in the photographs...the ruby glass shade on the lamp at right is 14" wide!  The lamp itself is over 16" wide.  I just cannot make the beautiful ruby color of the lamp shade appear correctly with my cheap digital camera. The silver B & H parlor lamp has a beautiful 8" shade, the right size for the design. Click on the photos to enlarge.

These large center draft lamps will burn kerosene, but they were actually designed to burn "low odor mineral spirits."  The same "lamp fuel" is available today, but marked "Paint Thinner with Low Odor Mineral Spirits."  ["Low Odor" then meant low sulfur content.] It works just as well in center draft Kosmos lamps with the #15 burner with flame spreader or an Aladdin lamp.  Virtually no odor, no tar buildup, wicks seldom have to be trimmed, the flame is a nice bright white (see lamp above on the left), and it's less expensive than hardware store kerosene!  It also stores extremely well.

Handlan Buck #30 Caboose lamps, made in St. Louis.  The lamps fit into a special bracket for wall mounting when the train was moving, then the lamp could be moved to a table for reading - and heat, as these lamps produce about 2,000 BTU/hr.  These lamps used a 1 1/2" center draft wick in a special gallery made by P&A:  Note that the stem for raising the wick is on the gallery, not on the font.  These lamps were made of heavy galvanized steel and are almost bulletproof.  There is in inner sleeve for the wick, and about a quart of fuel is in batting in the round font, so no fuel could slosh or spill as the train was moving. I have restored the lamp on the left and it is burning for the first time in over half a century at least.

 

OTHER CENTER DRAFT LAMPS

Center draft lamps came with wick diameters of "Baby," at 5/8", to huge "store lamps" requiring a 2 9/16" diameter wick.  Many of these lamps were works of art and survived the lack of suitable wicks simply for that factor.  Now I have wicks for almost all of them!

 Miller Finger Lamp, owned by Alex Muzyka

Click on any photo below to enlarge it.

Requires wick #0L.

Assortment of miniature lamps using wick #0L: From left to right: Rochester mini finger lamp, Plume & Atwood "Little Royal", Bradley & Hubbard finger lamp, Guadard 15''' Matador lamp and cut off a little in the picture, a Plume & Atwood nickel plated "Little Royal" with 6" shade. Owned by Alex Muzyka.   Wick #0L.

At left, Rayo Jr: Flame spreader; lamp lighted. Owned and photographed by Alex Muzyka.

Wick #1L.

Junior lamp lineup: Far left: Rayo Junior; 2nd from left: Miller Juno Junior; 3rd from left: Bradley & Hubbard Junior; Right: Plume & Atwood Royal finger lamp (As far as I know, the only size #1 finger lamp. Everyone else made only size #0 finger lamps). Owned and photographed by Alex Muzyka.
Wick #1L.

Lempereur & Bernard (L&B) Brevette lamp, unlighted, lighted. Owned by Alex Muzyka. 

Wick #1L

At left is a Success Stand Lamp #2.  In the "Pilabrasgo Success Oil Lamps catalogue #13 this is referred to as an "S-Success, Stand Lamp Solid Brass, Nickel Plated, with Success Centre Draft Burner and Chimney.  Height to top of Chimney, 22".  It was just Pittsburgh Brass Co. from 1889 to 1898, then became PIttsburgh LAmp, BRASs and Glass CO or "PILABRASGO".  So this Success lamp most likely dates from sometime in the 1890's.  It is in perfect condition.    The new wick is shown at right burning brightly.      Wick #2L.

From left:  Veritas 20''' table lamp: Veritas 20''' lamp with drop-in font; Unknown lamp very similar to a Success Stand Lamp, maker unknown. Owned by Alex Muzyka.

At left, rare B & H Model 89 "store" lamp, and unlit. Owned by Alex Muzyka.

Note the very unusual 4 1/2" fitter, wasp-waist chimney.

Wick #5L

Juno #3 store lamp, similar to the Rochester #3 store lamp. Owned by Alex Muzyka.

Wick #5L

Far left; Rochester Tavern or Store Lamp, center, Photo of measuring lamp central air pillar. This lamp is owned and was photographed by David W. in Florida.

Wick #5L

Above, left:  Globe Incandescent No 2.; Center above, Flame spreader indicia. Made by The Standard Lighting Co., Cleveland, O. U. S. A.   Above Right; Globe Incandescent No. 2, Photo courtesy of Dick Stauffer.  At left, my Globe Incandescent No. 2 burning brightly for the first time in over 70 years!!!  The flame is a little ragged because this is the first burn.  To protect that ultra rare, 4 1/2" wasp-waist chimney, the flame is adjusted down considerably from the light output designed into the lamp.  The heat output of this lamp is sufficient to warm a room all by itself.  Requires wick #5L.

INSTALLING WICKS IN CENTER DRAFT LAMPS 

BRIEF HISTORY

Plume & Atwood (P & A) lamp lines included Royal, Plumwood and Naugatuck. Their burners included Banner, the Moehring and Harvard burners for finer student lamps, the Hornet, Nutmeg and Acorn burners often found on night lamps, etc. Though not now as well known as the B & H lamps, their product line was vastly more diversified and their Banner tip-over burner was extremely well designed and clean burning. P & A’s Risdon facility in Danbury, CT made some particularly outstanding flat wick lamps, including bicycle lamps and brooder house heaters of exceptional high quality. P&A made all the brass parts (founts and burners) for all Aladdin lamps through 1963.

Bradley and Hubbard (B & H) is the most widely recognized name in circular wick, center draft lamps, producing these lamps beginning in 1875. B & H may have purchased lamp bases made by independent artisans (the "Roycrofters" movement) to fit their standard 4 15/16" burner units, as some of the bases are incredibly unique and unsigned or unmarked: by 1888, however, the company employed over 1000 people, so they also had their own in-house artisans. Due to the extremely high quality and unique beauty of these lamps, many have survived the past century in excellent condition. B & H produced the Rayo brand center draft wick under contract to Standard Oil Company. In about 1940, the Parker company purchased B & H and continued production of some less ornate B & H lamps and Rayo lamps until the early 1950's.  A flood in 1955 destroyed the factory and machinery.

Parker center draft lamps were manufactured from approximately 1870 until approximately 1931, but in less quantity than P & A or B & H due to their diversity into a wide variety of other products (Just try to buy a Parker side-by-side shotgun!). In 1939 - 40 Parker acquired B & H, moved their operations to B & H’s much more efficient production equipment at Meriden, Connecticut, and continued production of some models until the early 1950's.

MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

Parts for the B & H and P & A lamps are not interchangeable.  B & H often used a burner with inside threads, whereas P & A burners quite often had outside threads, the diameters were different, etc.  "Spider" shade holders for B & H lamps are a little too large in diameter for P & A Royal burners.  Flame spreaders were of a different diameter, etc. They lamps may look identical, but they have definite subtle differences which preclude interchangeability of most parts.  As both companies manufactured many different models, parts are often not interchangeable between lamps made by the same company only a few years earlier or later.

The construction techniques used to make the lamps were also different.  Many B & H lamps are found today with dents or creases in  the body or top of the font, as the brass used was quite thin.  P & A Royal lamps, on the other hand, used brass about twice as thick, so it is rare to find a dented P & A lamp.  There are experts who can unsolder the center draft tube from the bottom, gently smooth out dents, polish the parts while disassembled, then solder the parts back together, making an old dented B & H lamp look like new.  Stress cracks in the body of B & H fonts are another matter all together, as the brass tank on the font inserts was a stamping and too thin for easily repairing the stress cracks...a new (old) font in good condition is usually required to salvage and use an exquisite lamp base designed for a 4 15/16" font insert.

WARNING FOR LAMP REPAIRS AND RESTORATION!

There is a link on the Links Page for lamp restoration, and other quality, HONEST restorers are listed by Lanternet.com.  There is a tendency for honest, decent people to assume that others are also honest and decent.  Bad assumption, as there are always crooks, thieves and swindlers that will take an opportunity to rip people off if they can.  That is particularly important with lamp repairs, as usually the lamp or lantern must be sent off to a distant location for repairs by someone you have never met nor are likely to ever see.  

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QUESTION FROM READER CARL:

Thanks for sending the wicks so quickly! I wondering if you can give me some insight, I have a Rayo lamp that I can get the burner apart I have tried WD40. but it doesn't seem to be working... I was wondering if I soak the whole burner in kerosene if that might free the frozen part. the wick moves up and down fine. it just where its suppose to separate. that I can't get it to move. and i don't want to pry on it too much. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Carl

ANSWER:

There is a close fit on the sliding parts, with a detent on the inner part requiring the outer assembly to slide up and to the left with the detents in a groove. You should be able to see the slight ridge of the groove at about a 60 degree angle up to the left. When kerosene evaporates it leaves behind a waxy film which can harden over the years, and the evaporation also leaves a residue which is sticky.

Kerosene is not a solvent, so soaking in kerosene is not the solution. Gasoline is a solvent and can dissolve the sticky residue left from evaporated kerosene, but as with any solvent it is flammable and must be used with care. WD-40 is a water displacement oil (WD stands for water displacement), and is not really a solvent, though it is thin enough to act as one on thicker greases... which is not the problem you have.

No solvent on earth will dissolve wax, so generally heat is applied with a small torch, then the parts separated when hot with the aid of heavy leather gloves. Wax melts at approximately 150 degrees F, so not much heat is needed, certainly not enough to discolor the brass.

One of the simplest ways that often works to separate the parts is boiling water with some laundry detergent added. The detergent will dissolve any sticky residue while the boiling water will dissolve or soften the waxy residue. Detergent lowers the boiling point of water from 212 F to about 180 F, but that is still sufficient to melt the wax. Just put the burner assembly minus the wick into boiling water with detergent, boil for 15 minutes or so, then remove with tongs and separate the parts while hot and wearing leather gloves.

Once separated, scour with auto polish/cleaner, which will remove any residual traces of foreign matter, and the auto polish seals the pores of the brass so reassembly is easy.

The next step, of course, is to avoid the problem in the future by not using kerosene as a fuel. Paint Thinner - Low Odor Mineral Spirits, will work wonderfully well as a fuel and is clean, leaving no residue.  Miles

RESPONSE:

I can't thank you enough for your email, I tried the boiling water with detergent and it worked just like you said it would. Came right apart after a few minutes. Then I went over to the neighbor and got some gasoline and cleaned off the rest of it. now it work like its suppose to. so Thanks again that was a big help... I would of never guessed to do that, and probably would have bent it trying to pry it apart. that would have never worked. you got a friend in Pa... Carl

CHIMNEYS

The chimney holders should be adjusted (bent) so they only gently hold the chimney in place - NOT TIGHTLY!  These lamps produce a lot of heat and glass expands with heat - if gripped too tightly, the base of the chimney will break.  To avoid breaking the brass fingers which hold the chimney in place, use a smooth bladed paddle pliers to bend the fingers, holding the base of the finger with needle nose pliers. 

Many P & A Royal lamps used a 2 1/2" fitter for the chimney, whereas B & H usually used 2 5/8" chimney fitters.  The fit of the chimney to a center draft P & A lamp is quite critical.  The height of the glass chimney from the base to the bulge should be 1 1/4" and the opening at the top of the chimney should be 2" minimum.  There are quite a few cheap 2 1/2" chimneys for sale which have a height from the base to the bulge of 1 5/8" and an opening of 1 3/4": the flame spreader is not in the bulge, but within the 2 1/2" base diameter.  These lamps generate a considerable amount of heat, and the combination of a restricted airflow with a 1 3/4" top opening and the flame spreader not up into the bulge often results in the chimney cracking horizontally at the base of the bulge on the first burning!   Those $4.10 chimneys that appear to be a good buy turn out to be not so charming when they break the first time you use them!

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Pages on this web site:

Lamp wicks:  Many widths of flat wicks for regular lamps, and wicks for P & A center draft lamps.  Wicks for B & H 1 1/2" center draft lamps coming soon!
Alphabetical list by model of all kerosene heaters - and wicks to fit them, including the price of the wicks and "Add to Cart" buttons for credit card orders.
List of wicks by their number and the heaters they fit - a helpful list for buying heaters on eBay.
List of igniters and the heaters they fit, including "Add to Cart" buttons.
Mail Order Form for ordering wicks using a cashier's check or money order.  See the wick number to order (and the price of the wick) on the alphabetical list.
Photo Album of kerosene heaters, kerosene lamps, etc, from my collection.

Information on Kerosene Heaters and Wicks

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