Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

My goodness, this steampunk business knows no boundaries.

I've just seen one of those G&E Bradley meters with a lamp sticking out of it for £75

:dunce:

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

Do you think we could persuade them that upcycling something by Steepletone, Crosley or GPO would be much better?

David

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

Beautiful dial......

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

That one does actually look quite good. Shut the lid and it is just another slightly unusual decorative lamp.

I'd clean off the old calibration stickers myself......

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

Looks great to me. In fact I'm a bit bemused why so many people with an interest in vintage 'electronics' are against them. To repeat myself, I would not like anyone to ruin a rare item to do this type of thing, but then again such stuff is thrown into skips all the time anyway. :-/

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

It's amazing how these kind of issues always go back to some very old folk tale eg "The Emperor's New Clothes" [Hastings "Pier" also has nothing on it-Steam Punk".. well maybe too much]. In both cases we are invited to admire the result 8-o
There will be exceptions as Herald and Steve say. It's all a matter of taste-like onyx coffee tables!

Dave W

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

I wasn't aware until very recently that Steampunk was a cosplay/clothes/lifestyle fashion trend (with an -albeit fragile- music scene of it's own). I don't believe pseudo-goths are the people who buy the wares of the drill-bandits- i think this other clan are the occupiers of ex.warehouse/dockside apartments who view a huge gearwheel or a theatre lamp on a telescope tripod as a minor art installation to blend with the bare brick walls (Much the same way a 3 foot high pot with some sparkly twigs sticking out is still seen as attractive dressing for the corner of the room in a suburban house.)

If the Antiques Roadshow still exists in AD2150 i find it highly likely it will be a case of:

'A very nice piece in it's original form, but unfortunately a victim of a trend that took it's toll on a lot of them. I can see that you and your children like it, so keep it, cherish it, i have to say it's worth less than half of an unmolested original so you don't need to be too afraid of dusting it.'

If the pseudo-goths merge with the customers of Harry Enfield's 'I saw you coming' shop the destruction will increase at least in the short term. The same will occur if purveyors of badge-engineered wares like Georg Jensen start to look to the past for profit.

i agree with you Steve, the thing in post #63 does look nice, but to me it is still damaged goods. I notice that over the last 20 years ago the amount of goodies that end up in skips has been in steady decline- we probably have ebay, gumtree, etc. to thank for this. For this reason I don't buy the 'I saved it from landfill so I could make something cool' argument any more.

A TV Ad from the past came to mind last night, and I have a new version of the lyrics:

'Goggles for girls, goggles for guys, goggles don't work unless they're over your eyes'

Dave

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

Tables made from worn out F1 tyres and time expired RR Merlin rods- we like that!

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

Unfortunately these are the people who glue old clock gears across the lenses of their goggles (seen it!) which could account for a terrible accident rate with their steam-powered monowheels.

https://mashable.com/2015/03/22/monowheel/?europe=true

Frankly, I think it's amusing and mostly harmless. Just so long as the hipsters don't join in and clean out all the unmutilated vintage stuff. A few unloved AVOs with bulb holders stuck on top is OK, but every old AVO ditto would be a great shame.

David

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

The other side of this is the legal / safety aspect. Some time ago I researched the legislation & requirements to bring antique lamps to a point where they would conform to current standards and be deemed safe & lawful to sell. After many enquiries with various bodies (BSI, LIA, TS, etc) my risk-averse self decided it wasn’t worth it. The LIA for example suggest that if too many components of an original lamp are changed (cable, bulbholder, switch etc) they could effectively be deemed a new product, which brings with it a quagmire of testing & approval requirements. I asked them about the emergence of ‘upcycled’ lamps at the time and they said they most certainly would be deemed new products.

It's one thing to make these lamps for personal use, its quite something else to do so for financial gain. Following my research I wonder how many of these upcycled lamps meet the requirements, and I would hope these supposedly competent upcyclers have some pretty robust product / personal liability insurance should a claim ensue.

Anyway, I saw this earlier

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

LOL, That's one of mine so "guilty as charged"...... It really is absolutely stuffed on the inside though having been in one of John Birkett's leaky sheds for a number of years. Even the rotary switches have rusted solid, one gauge is held together with polyurethene adhesive and the needles are stuck solid on the others. On the plus side though apart from 3 5/16" holes in the wooden case it is completely untouched on the inside and could in theory at least be put back into usable condition (with a huge amount of work) or be used for spares at a later date. I just liked the look of it but the wife wouldn't let me have it on display in the house unless I "steampunked" it.....

I went to the shed this morning with a sorry looking semi complete 50 pence purchase AVO Mk7 in one hand and a brass lamp holder in the other then got distracted by other things so it got a temporary reprieve but she keeps moaning because she can't see to read in bed and Ikea have nothing I like.....

The biggest steampunk event in Europe is in Lincoln on august bank holiday weekend every year. Well worth a look just to see how many blue LED stuffed valves and meters you can spot in inappropriate places!

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

I must admit I did cringe a little when I saw this though. NOS radio control panel for a Plessey ARC52 >((

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

I'm still folded up from the sight of that Primus stove, or is it a Parasene one?

David

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

On subject of pressurised paraffin, I've got a Tilley lamp which is an interesting thing but such a pain in the :censored: to keep working that sticking a lightbulb in it would be a far from ridiculous proposition :)

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

It is (or was) a "Richaud Hippolito"with what looks like a lot of arabic writing engraved on it. Made that one years ago out of bits from the scrap brass bin in our local yard. It was missing quite a lot of parts from memory.

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

A day later, and I've still got that tune as an ear-worm - "stick some gears on it, and call it steaaaaammm punk" ;D

I had an 'XL' badge off a cortina blue-tacked to my PC monitor at work for a long time. Does that make me a hipster?

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

May be....

Are you wearing beard?

Do you use suspenders?

if the answer to both is YES, i can confirm you are a hipster:laugh2:

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

Context is everything. If the beholder doesn't know what the badge came off, then it could be quite good, but if the beholder knows, then it makes you look very sad.... and through the process of symmetry, it makes the beholder look even sadder for simply recognising it.

Anoraks all round.

David

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

I do have a beard - and I'd like you to check out UK-English meaning of 'suspenders' :)

(And David, I came from Essex, home of the Dagenham dustbin; it was nostalgia that made me do it, honest).

Re: I hate Steampunk AVOs
 

Sorry, I think I that suspenders was this.... (see photo)

What is a suspender then?

And what is the name of that instrument to prevent your trousers falling down?