In the past the Anglepoise that I have restored have been in a condition where they have only required a small touch up of paint, where I can I prefer to keep as much of the original paint as possible. This one however required a full strip down and re-paint.
Anglepoise 1227 – Fitted with brass light fitting and three core fabric flex. In Matt Dark Grey.
I ordered this Anglepoise 1227 quite a while ago now, I think it was while I was still in Amsterdam? Sadly I wont have much time to work on it until probably next Summer, (been busy with work I’m not sure if there was even one this year…).
In an unusual fashion for me, I took photos before I started the working! Everything is there and in one, although it is in a slightly bad state, it’s very greasy for some reason, which may have slowed the rust a little on the springs.
As much as I don’t want to I think all the paint will have to be striped off and started from scratch. I tempted to try another colour to give it a new lease of life. I’ve cleaned all the grease off it now and coated the springs only in WD40, just to stop it getting worse over the year.
This will be a gift to my parents, they know it’s coming, it’s been on an ‘I Owe You’ since Christmas, sadly with going back to University for final year, it may be finished in a few christmas’ time…
After visiting my old art teacher a few days ago, I came back with loads of cool random bits and bobs. I used to enjoy going into the art and the teacher walking off randomly coming back clutching a strange variety or of things to inspire! The most exciting bit was this Adana letterpress, I believe its a 5×3? Along with boxes and boxes of type! Time for some business cards?
I’d like to wish my old art teacher a happy retirement, I am positive that he will be missed at the school, and was an inspiration for me and many other students over the years.
A long time coming but here’s the Anglepoise Lamp I restored over the summer.
Not a restoration as such, Anglepoise mainly a new wire, a black 3 corded felted wire and a good clean up with the polish, all the parts were removed and cleaned throughly, removing all rust from the springs with time a the good ol’ tin of WD40. The paintwork is yet to be resprayed, chances are it will be left in its current state, not risk removing the original paint, as the paint is only slightly chipped, and doesn’t degraded the overall design.
It now has a earth wire so it should be slightly safer than how it was when I bought it.
New thumb screw on the right, and overall adjustment has allowed for a low energy bulb to be used, the extra weight, pushes the shade down, so everything needs to be tighten up tighter. Using a low energy bulb, reduces the temperature making it much more useful if I’m reading in bed, without burning my head!
New rubber grommets, the old ones had degraded so much that they broke apart on removal
Anglepoise, for me one of the most significant pieces of 20th Century Design, and a few days I decided to finally took the plunge and bid for one on eBay, I’m excited to say that I had the winning bid for a pre 1950s Herbert Terry of Redditch 1227 two tier version and the most exciting part is the fact it has the original Crabtree Bakelite switch (how sad is it to be excited by a switch?). This will be the second Anglepoise I now own, alongside a newer Type 75.
It was my original intention of buying to restore, now after receiving the lamp I’ve come to a dilemma, to leave it in the current state or to restore. The lamp isn’t in the best of conditions, but can this be constituted as character that isn’t worth losing?
At nearly 60 years old each mark and dent is a symbol of every owner, to restore would be like erasing, admitially tiny, part of the past. On the other hand, restoring would bring the Anglepoise back to it’s former glory, just as it came fresh out of the box, while allowing me to do something I enjoy. Unfortunately because of the extent of the damage, a touch of under-paint rust and scratches, a simple touch-up is not possible, the whole thing will need to be sanded back to bare metal and resprayed, sympathetic to the original colour of course.
After some research about restoring Anglepoise(s?) I am under the impression that it is frowned upon to remove any paint even if badly damaged; it’s always better to keep all the original. The thing is I have no intention to resell the lamp after restoration, if it all goes to plan, I intend to keep this Anglepoise as long as possible, here’s to another 60 years!
I could go into how people have created this emotional link with an inmate object because they believe it is the link to past generations, which I do completely agree with and often find myself staring at objects because of this very reason but I’ll be writing for hours, maybe another post?
I’m going to leave it few days to consider my options before taking the jump, either way it’ll have to be rewired with new flex and actually connect the earth wire to it (I really hope the previous owner hadn’t used it without it, could have been in for a shock!)
In between writing and publishing this post I visited an ‘antique’ fair at the Lincoln Show Ground, I went with my parents, it was my intention to try and finally sell them there, but alas, no one would have them.
Being at the antiques fair was like being a child again bouncing around like there is no tomorrow, looking at the shiny and not so shiny objects, and I must admit there is an extremely fine line between complete tat and so called antiques. There were lots of restoration pieces to be had at a fairly reasonable price, although I didn’t purchase anything as space is a major issue, and buying one thing would lead to another. What most caught my eye was the amount of grandfather clocks that were being sold, both restored and with wear and tear damage I’m very tempted to get one now maybe a 21st Birthday present??
Current Work - Matthew Higgins 