Bullseye lantern

[irishrifles]

Re: Bullseye lantern

I've been thinking about picking up one of these lanterns for use at events. Would they have actually been in camps?

[Hank Trent]

Re: Bullseye lantern

Since this thread has been bumped, I'll just add further information from experience on sweet oil. It burns fine but if the lantern is left to sit without use for a few weeks, it tends to gum up the wicks and they won't draw. Mineral oil will sit in the lantern for months without use, but you can light it right up afterwards and it will work just fine. And the little oil container holds enough to burn a long time, probably 10-12 hours at least. Never timed it exactly, but on the six-day event we talked about earlier in the thread, I used it several evenings, and came back with oil still in it.

As far as how common they were in camp, no idea on that. They're reasonably heavy, due to the lens, and hard to pack since the oil will spill, so they're very handy to wear on the belt but that's pretty much what you have to do, unless you can pack it upright in a box or drain the oil. For traveling on foot after dark, or shining a light up ahead, they can't be beat. The couple of mentions in Harpers above in the thread indicate they existed, but they had an association with police work, patrolling, searching, and the examples are in that context in the army too.

Looks like heavy artillery would have no problem justifying them, probably due to the need of working the guns in the dark and needing to find what you dropped or illuminate different areas as needed on the gun. Here's a list of what should be issued, and a list of what was issued to artillery around Washington, both including dark lanterns.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[irishrifles]

Re: Bullseye lantern

One thing has caught my attention as to what period would it be is the difference in the lenses.
I see some have the smooth conventional lens:


Where others have lines in the glass I assume was for a more concentrated beam of light and less material needed like on a Fresnel lighthouse lens:


Would this difference have mattered for it to have been made during the civil war?
In buying one, what should one look for to make sure your getting a civil war period model?

[irishrifles]

Re: Bullseye lantern

Anyone? I ask because I'm on the verge of buying one and want to make sure it is before I go through with it.....

[Hank Trent]

Re: Bullseye lantern

Honestly, so many hundreds (thousands?) of these were made in the post-war period into the 20th century, it's going to be almost impossible to buy one that's actually pre-1865. The best you can probably hope for is to find a later one that doesn't have attributes that date it too obviously to the later period. Do you have a particular one in mind, that maybe folks can comment on? For example, the "boat signal lamp" lettering on the two images above strike me as post-war, since the later ones were often sold as boat lamps, but I can't recall all the stuff I was looking at when I bought mine a while ago (also probably an early 20th century model). Also, don't know if anything at the link below might be helpful:

http://books.google.com/books?id=2RJErirX0vYC&pg=PA198

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[irishrifles]

Re: Bullseye lantern

So if it says 'boat signal lantern' on it then it is not of the period regardless of the lens?

What about this one? I'm told it's a civil war railroad lantern (Holmes Booth and Haydens Waterbury CT).

[irishrifles]

Re: Bullseye lantern

Does anyone know?

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Bullseye lantern

I don't think its a RR lantern. RR lanterns are made more for signaling than seeing stuff.

[irishrifles]

Re: Bullseye lantern

But would one made during the civil war have the writing "boat signal lantern" on the front or not?

[irishrifles]

Re: Bullseye lantern

How do you refill (open), and replace the wicks on a bullseye lantern cartridge like on this one?

[Archie R. Lib]

Re: Bullseye lantern

First you have to remove the burner. Then toss away the old wick remnant. Trim your new piece of wick straight across. Feeding it is a little tricky, but if necessary you can apply a strip of masking tape to one end of the wick, then fold the tape back onto itself and the wick, making a leader. Insert that into the underside of the burner using it to guide the wick. Once the wick is through the burner remove the tape and retrim the wick straight across. You can use this method for round wick also.

Thx.
R

[irishrifles]

Re: Bullseye lantern

First you have to remove the burner. Then toss away the old wick remnant. Trim your new piece of wick straight across. Feeding it is a little tricky, but if necessary you can apply a strip of masking tape to one end of the wick, then fold the tape back onto itself and the wick, making a leader. Insert that into the underside of the burner using it to guide the wick. Once the wick is through the burner remove the tape and retrim the wick straight across. You can use this method for round wick also.

Thx.
R

But how do you get the burner out? It won't unscrew.

[Archie R. Lib]

Re: Bullseye lantern

Yeah I guess that would be a problem! It has probably either corroded tight or (looking at the photo) locked up with rust.

Do you use it regularly for events? I'm guessing you do if you want to change the wick. If you are not concerned about working on it or keeping it in its current condition then use some good old WD-40, let it soak and gently work it open.

The only way to change that wick is to take the burner out unless you find some way to fill it with oil and then feed all the wick through the top side....

Rich

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Bullseye lantern

But how do you get the burner out? It won't unscrew.

I have a French lantern of the era with a brass burner that screws into a steel reservoir. It, too, wouldn't unscrew at first, but I drenched the connection with Ballistol and eventually it gave way.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Bullseye lantern

What everybody else said. It should unscrew by rotating the lip while holding the main part of the reservoir, so it's just stuck and needs something to loosen it. That bend or dent in the edge of the lip may be a sign that somebody tried pliers at some point, if there's a corresponding one on the opposite side.

If you need to replace the wicks, I found that 100% cotton shoe laces work perfectly.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com