What vintage items do you have in everyday use?

[agardiner]

So, as the title says, what vintage items do you have in everyday use? You can vote for as many as you have plus comments welcome below.

Note, I mean items you are using all the time; not 'hobby' items from your collections that you only get out and enjoy occasionally. Of course you may rotate things like radios thus are therefore still using a vintage set all the time.

Anyway.....looking forward to seeing what arises.

Cheers all,

Adrian.

[stevehertz]

Great idea for a poll.

[Silicon]

What do you regard as 'Vintage'? Anything over 25 years old?

Is it restricted to electrical items?

[Steve_Bell]

You forgot to add one category: None.

I use vintage stuff occasionally.

[agardiner]

Originally Posted by Silicon

What do you regard as 'Vintage'? Anything over 25 years old?

Is it restricted to electrical items?

Approx 25 years seems appropriate. And I have restricted to electrical items so that the posts remain on topic.

[paulsherwin]

It does depend on how you define vintage. 25 years ago is only 1999. I use lots of stuff older than that, but nothing before the mid 60s or with valves in it.

[Paul_RK]

A few borderline decisions there for me - I came down on the side of "yes" for hairdryer, since whenever I want one, which isn't very often, I reach for a 1946 HMV HD1: but "no" for television, because though the household set remains a 1984 Beovision 8802 it's only powered up once in a blue moon. Electric fires, on the other hand - well, vintage electric heaters anyway - were a very easy call, they're used whenever the flat isn't warm enough all by itself.

Paul

[fetteler]

Our trusty Kenwood A701 mixer gets a regular bashing but I wouldn't say everyday use. Christmas is a busy time for it though!

Steve.

[Paul_RK]

Originally Posted by fetteler

Our trusty Kenwood A701 mixer gets a regular bashing but I wouldn't say everyday use.

Ah yes, our A700D should probably have won a tick from me for "Other".

[Reelman]

Other:

Belling cooker used everyday since 1981, good investment.

Wife used everyday since 1973 and jolly good investment!

Peter

Well my R1155 gets use each evening, as do my Tannoy monitors and Quad 303, which I suppose are now classed as vintage - oh and I have 1930's bell on the phone.

[Hartley118]

The Christmas season seems a good time to start a vintage review as I plug in my trusty Smiths time switch from 1969 controlling the outside Christmas lights: it’s never needed any attention despite spending most of the year unused sitting in the garage. It just works when it needs to. Then there are further Smiths synchronous clocks from the 1930s and 1940s in the dining room sitting alongside the Hacker Mayflower FM radio from 1965.

I guess that some equipment just ages along with us, and if it’s trouble-free, we don’t notice it maturing into the vintage category. I reflect on this as I listen to my excellent Mission 753 speakers (1993) powered by a couple of bi-amplifying Quad 405s. If I’m playing vinyl, the Linn Sondek turntable dates from 1985. Upstairs in my study, an original pair of Goodmans Maxim speakers date from 1966. Outside in my shed, a similar pair of Maxims provide excellent audio from a Quad 33/303 amplifier combination from the mid 1960s. Venture across the garden to my den, there’s a Heathkit valve USC1 preamp and a pair of MA12 power amps from 1965, fed by a Technics ST3500 FM tuner from 1975.

The audio test equipment in the den is by Bruel & Kjaer from the 1960s-70s. It’s dreadfully difficult gear to service, but I try to keep it accurately calibrated and it still has an accuracy reputation second to none.

Almost entirely off-topic, I’ve just been getting quotes for the replacement of our 40-year old ‘Ideal Mexico’ central heating boiler which I believe has survived by virtue of containing no electronics at all, just a thermocouple and a couple of solenoids. That’s something to think about, particularly as the technicians quoting us are completely pessimistic about getting similar life out of the modern equivalent version. But then, somewhat depressingly, we shan’t be around to need it.

Now I must get out the 1970 Kenwood 701 ‘Chef’ mixer for Christmas food preparation. To be fair, it has needed a new pair of carbon brushes this year…….

Martin

[Nickthedentist]

Forgot to tick other to acknowledge the many old GPO phones we have dotted around, in daily use as we’re in a mobile black spot.

[JoshWard]

Most of the electrical equipment I use regularly is vintage. Toaster is early 1970s, kettle is 1960s. Vintage electric fires aren't the main form of heating (that's wood burner or modern storage heaters) but if I need extra heat they are what I use and there's one in every room. Heating in the workshop is all vintage. My 'Hi-Fi' is a Decca stereogram. The big appliances (oven, washing machine, dishwasher, fridge) are all modern. I would love to change them but they are mostly built in. The landline telephones are all vintage, although they don't get used very often. I don't use a hairdryer but if I did, I would use one of the vintage ones I own. Likewise the Sunbeam food mixer isn't used very often, but it's the only food mixer here.
I don't own a modern radio and each room has a selection of vintage sets. The ones in daily use are the Roberts R707 in the kitchen and the Roberts R600 in the bedroom. Others are used either semi-regularly or hardly ever! Each room has a vintage (1940s - 60s) clock, although some have modern mechanisms. Vacuum cleaner is a 1970s Electrolux in the house and an older one in the workshop. There's a Hoover Constellation but sadly the hose is missing so I can't use that yet.

[emeritus]

TVs:
* Philips 14CN2201/05W [mid-1980's] (kitchen TV) , intermittently used with Icecrypt STB throughout the day, pre-SCART: the sound chip failed after 3 weeks, faulty chip replaced by Comet, no other problems since ;

* Schneider 153933, [1994] , a 14" multi-standard set (UK PAL, German PAL, SECAM), brought back from my late brother-in-law's house in France, used daily in my den in the back room with a Ferguson STB.

Audio HiFi:

* Sony music centre HST-V302 [date unknown, probably late 1980's, donated by an elderly neighbour], used in my den for vinyl and CDs. The cassette decks are very fluttery now.

*Philips music centre, living room, [mid-1980's]:- Vinyl and radio: cassette decks are fluttery, the 6 CD caddy mechanism needs new rubber belts.

Portable Audio:
*Radios:
* *Sony ICF-7800 (Dining room)

**Realistic DX-350 (bedside)

*Radio cassettes:

**Sharp GT27 ( still plays cassettes faultlessly)

** Panasonic RX4933ZL ( kitchen radio)

Vac
*Electrolux 345 cylinder (1980): its "blow" capability is used for drying out wet things, blowing out dust, and de-icing the freezer, as well as cleaning.

Clock:
*Smiths mains alarm [1940's] (bedside table)

Other
*Antex 15W soldering iron [ early 1970's]. Its element was replaced circa 15 years ago: my usual choice for electronics repairs, dad's more powerful valve era 1960's Henley Solon 25W is seldom needed.

*Black & Decker hedge trimmer GT230 [late 1980's]. Argos replaced the first one, which failed on the day I bought it after cutting three-quarters of an isolated privet bush.

*BT Converse 200 phone [1991]. As we are in a mobile black hole, we still need our landline. Before we went digital, we were still using an old BT pulse dial push-button phone on one extension, and were still able to use it to pick up incoming calls only, after we went digital. We replaced with a similar tone-dial model only a few months ago.

[Gabe001]

Not used everyday, but frequently

An hmv 1138 in the kitchen for the morning news, and music. It's got a Bluetooth module feeding the Gram input.

Pye 1004 black box for some easy listening during lunch or dinner

GPO phone, fully functional with a rotatone, which we still get calls on sometimes.

Various bits of vintage audio - valve amps mainly - connected to internet streamers - for some good fun!

[TonyDuell]

It's odd, I don't think of the daily-use washing machine as 'vintage' (that honour goes to the Bendix DRS that I must get round to restoring, it's got microprocessors in it. But it's over 25 years old.

All my audio stuff, 'fixed' and portable is a lot older than 25 years.

Much of my test gear is older than 25 years. Heck, my LogicDart scrapes in, and that's 'modern' to me.

The 'other' in my case is computers. Yes, I use a modern-ish PC. But also use, rather than just restore, many old machines.

[Simondm]

As above, not used every day but frequently, are some of my woodworking tools. Specifically, planes and chisels, etc. I have a "war finish" Record No.4 (circa 1942), and an even older Stanley No.7, circa 1925. The No.4 is in frequent use, as it's a delight in the hand.

The oldest chisel I have is probably a Ward 3/8" socketed morticer, which is early/mid C19th (it has a new handle), but it's only called on infrequently. I also have a large 'screwturn' wooden-handled screwdriver that's almost certainly pre-WW1 (a daily user), and a Perfect Screwdriver that probably came from the toolkit of an inter-war luxury car. I also have several very old oilers (small oil cans with spouts) cans. I suspect the oilers were GWR-issue, as my wife's grandfather had a fascinating career, including working for GWR and a Rolls-Royce dealership (the Perfect Screwdriver), and I've had a collection of useful things given to me.

I also have a number of spanners and small hand tools that came to me from my dad (there's another war finish spanner around somewhere) and the obligatory Avo 8, but the latter is probably only late 1970s.

Almost forgot: our Kenwood Chef Excel was a wedding present in 1984, and treated to a new, uprated motor about five years ago. It ought to count!

[mole42uk]

I use a 1926 Drummond lathe pretty much every workday. Even the 3-ph converter is vintage these days!

[Valvepower]

Just using a couple of B&O Beolit 600 type 1501 radios to listen to the Caroline North Broadcast on 648KHz.

Regularly use Leak Stereo 20, pair of Leak TK25+’s, Leak Troughline II and various 5-10s.

My go to ‘on first power-up’ signal generator is a Levell TG200.

Terry