World's Largest Selection of Wicks!
      Wicks for virtually every heater, stove and lamp made since 1850

How to Identify Center Draft and Kosmos Lamps

Installation and lamp operating instructions are supplied with every wick and chimney order. Online instructions, click here.

I am doing what I can to keep Victorian era lamps in use, for they are not only works of art but functional lighting devices.  Wicks have not been available since the 1930's for many of these lamps.  The demand for wicks for century-old lamps is not great, but I have had small lots of the wicks made to my specifications, which included sending original, unused vintage wicks to England so Hattersley had the original wicks to use as a comparison.  These wicks have been thoroughly tested in my lamps as well as by some well recognized lamp experts.  The small production lots are expensive to make, but the wicks are of top quality and will last for a long time.  Below you will find wicks to fit virtually every center draft lamp ever made.  Wicks for Victorian era flat wick lamps, such as B&H Student Lamp Duplex burners and British Duplex lamp burners, are here.

Beginning in March, 2009, I had rare chimneys duplicated in sturdy, heat-resistant borosilicate glass so that proper burning characteristics can be achieved.  These absolutely perfect chimneys fit Success lamps, Belgian 20''', Radiant #5's and Miller's Liberty and Dresden lamps,  Imperial/Vulcan lamps and the unusual "mammoth" chimney for the B&H #89, Globe Incandescent #2 and the Pittsburgh Mammoth requiring a wasp-waist 4 1/2" chimney as well as 4" store lamp chimneys. I also often have common sizes of center draft chimneys available in Junior ("0") size, 2 1/2",  2 5/8" fitter sizes.  In early 2012 I had the fabulous "Sans Rival" 14''' Kosmos chimneys and Student Lamp chimneys made from borosilicate glass. 2014 saw Globe Vulcan chimneys in 24''' and 30''' and the tiny 1.445'' fitter for "Tiny" center draft lamps.  In 2018 I introduced a fabulous new chimney of my design for 20''' Matador lamps - a NeoVulcan 20''' Matador.
Miles Stair  

Wick Measurements for B&H, P&A, Manhattan, etc.
Wick Measurements for Miller lamps, click here.
Lamp manufacturers and lamp trade names.

See CARE, FEEDING (and minor restoration) OF OLD KEROSENE LAMPS
and
Burner Venting, Candle Wicking

The Safe Use of Kerosene Lamps

Now you can get all your old lamps working properly again!  I have wicks for virtually every center draft lamp ever produced, regardless of age.  My wicks are manufactured exclusively for me by Hattersley in England, the oldest (and best!) wick maker in the world.

[A MORE COMPLETE LISTING OF OBSCURE LAMPS IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE]

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WICK THICKNESS AND OTHER MEASUREMENTS

Wick Measurements:

The measurements below are some quick reference measurements for lamps made by B&H, P&A, Manhattan, etc.  Below this first chart is another with more lamps listed.  For measurements for Miller lamps, click here.

CENTER DRAFT LAMP CHIMNEYS (Click here)

MEASUREMENTS AND COMMENTARY Begun by ALEX MUZYKA, continued by Miles Stair - Click here.  Please note that these measurements sometimes reflect a single sample, when a production run of a single series could have run for a decade or more.  I have tried to list them from smallest to largest.  The list is incomplete and more lamps will be listed as I find the time.  If a P&A Royal is listed as using a 2 5/8" chimney, for example, it does not mean that all P&A Royal lamps used a 2 5/8" chimney.  Those underlined in blue are links to the chimneys and wicks I have.  More photos are available in the Photo Album.

MILLER DRESDEN AND VESTAL WICKS

Note from the Miller advertisement below that Miller had a distinct category for both Dresden and Vestal wicks.  Dresden wicks were thicker than standard #2 size wicks whereas wicks for Vestal burners were thinner.  Wicks for Dresden lamps are #2B, above.

Wicks for Miller Vestal lamps were thinner than wicks for earlier (pre-1903) Miller lamps as the wick adjusters were in the burner rather than in the font and they used a thicker, more standard type of wick sleeve.  With the draft tube and outer wick tubes being the same dimensions, fitting in the larger, thicker wick sleeve left less room for the wick itself, hence the wicks had to be thinner. The standard thickness wicks work in #0 and #1 Vestal burners but the #2 does require a wick no thicker than 0.075'' thickness.

A thinner wick means less capillary action which translates to less fuel being delivered to the top of the wick for burning - fuel starvation.  Trying to force a full curl flame from a #2 Vestal with a thin wick will result in burning down the wick at an accelerated pace: a lower flame, no higher than the top of the flame spreader, can be maintained without excessive wick consumption. Wicks for #2 Vestal lamps have to be custom made from thinner wick material as the wicks are no longer commercially manufactured.  For availability of custom-made #2 Vestal wicks, email Miles@MilesStair.com, also available on the Custom Wick page (click here).

 

The image below was scanned from a reproduction of an old catalog.  Sorry it is blurry, but the image from the catalog itself appeared to be a reproduction.

Photo Images of center draft lamp wicks
Click on any image to enlarge it

	#0L.  3/4" Center Draft Circular wick (1 1/4" x 7 3/4" flat).  For Miniature Table Lamps, some "Finger Lamps,"  Manhattan Student lamp, the tiny Juno, Royal metal miniature lamps, etc.  Click on any image to enlarge it.
	#1R.  1" Rayo Jr. Center Draft Circular wick (1 11/16" flat x 7 7/8", 16 "line"').  For Rayo Jr. lamps and other circa 1900 lamps which use a 1" diameter wick.  Some references call this a #1 wick.
	#2L.  Rayo, B & H, Miller, Parker and other "GWTW" lamps taking a 1 1/2" diameter circular wick, 7 1/2" long (2 1/2" flat, 30 "line"').
	#2B.    Slightly thicker and longer than the Rayo wick above,  1 1/2" diameter circular wick, 8 3/4" long (2 1/2" flat). 30 "line"'.
	#3L.  2 9/16" diameter. Store Lamp. Center Draft Circular Wick..  When measured flat, wick is approx 4 3/16" wide and 8 1/2" long.

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No Commercial Wicks Available for the lamps listed below.  See Custom Wicks for Rare Lamps

Acme or No. 11 Postal Student; L 6"; 2 1/16" flat
Cleveland Student; L 4"; 1 7/16"
Moehring Circular; L 6 ½"; 1 7/16" flat
Large German Student, 3 ½" L, 1 3/16"
Small German Student; L 3 ½"; 1" flat
Hinks Coronation Hand Lamp 
U.S. Lighthouse Service Tubular lamp
Veritas "The Reader",  draft tube 0.0791"
W&W 14'’‘ Central Vulcan, draft tube 0.682"
W&W 16''' Central Vulcan, draft tube 0.082'

 

Lamp Collector’s Resource Library  in SEARCHABLE Adobe  -  Click Here

Lamp fuel caps - click here

Center Draft Wicks - many available only from this Wick Shop. #0C, #0S, #0L, #1B, #1M, #1R, #1S, #1BS, #1BT,  #2M, #2L, #2R, #2 P&A, #2B, #3L.

Flat lamp wicks:

• Lamp wick by the roll, foot or package, 1/4'' to 4 1//2'' wide. + round wick fiberglass wicks.

Aladdin Lamp Wicks, parts & pieces, Aladdin history, exploded burner views - every model

Kosmos Lamp Wicks history, photos & information.

Kindler Wicking for stoves and heaters, 3/4'' to 1 1/2'', 5 1/2 foot rolls.

Lamp Chimneys:

Now many more chimneys!

Pixie to Kosmos, Duplex, center draft lamps up to store lamps and Angle lamp chimneys.

Premium Custom made Center Draft Lamp chimneys in borosilicate glass from Junior "Tiny" to Mammoth lamps.  #0M, Rayo Jr., 2 1/2", 2 5/8", 2 15/16", 3 1/8", 4", 4 1/2"

20''` neoVulcan Matador

Globe Vulcan (Central Vulcan) Chimneys - 16''', 18''', 24''' & 30''' CHIMNEYS AND WICKS

Fabulous "Sans Rival" borosilicate chimney for 14''' Kosmos lamps

Student Lamp Sans Rival Chimney with 1 7/8" fitter!!!

Angle Lamp chimneys

Sonnenbrenner Lamp Chimneys

Incredible list of chimney sizes and the lamps they fit, from an early Macbeth catalog

Lamp Chimneys - Dimension of nominal base diameter by make, model and "line".

Information on lamps:

Aladdin Lamp History

Aladdin Lamp Wicks & Chimneys,

Aladdin - Exploded burner views

Beginning Lamp Restoration

Lamp Repair & projects

Center Draft Kerosene Lamps
(Photos, information and history, etc)

Center Draft Lamp manufacturers and brand names

Kosmos-Brenner lamps

Miller Lamps - a photo album

Photos of restored center draft lamps 

Victorian Era Student Lamps

USE, CARE and WICKING of CENTER DRAFT LAMPS

Early American Metal Font & Specialty Lamps

Flame Spreaders and "Smoke Consumers" from Alex Marrack

• Vulcan, Imperial, Veritas, Belgian, Hinks, Messenger's, Young's Court, etc.

    Articles by Alex Marrack:

•      Centre Draught Oil Lamps English and European Models
•      The L&B Lamp Belge or Belgian Lampe

Registered Design Numbers For British Lamps

GERMAN PATENT LETTER CLUES - DRPs AND DRGMs, 1877 to 1945

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Site Index for all things Perfection

Links to web sites for parts, information and restoration. 

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