Lamp & Check Meet - South Yorks
- Thread starter ncbnik
- Start date
A_Northerner
Active member
What time is this on till? I have an old Protector that I'd be keen to get looked at but I'm working Saturday.
shotlighter
Active member
What's wrong with lamp? I used to do the lamps at Apedale & have fettled quite a few over the years. I may be able to advise if you let me know what model it is.
Mid afternoon I think.
tomferry
Well-known member
Nick . I have got hold of a couple of pickaxes, won them of eBay seemed to good of deal to miss . They are from the whitwick area, if I post images on here can you share them ? I looking to find what the markings mean . Hopefully I am going to get the ex miners name to find out the exact pit/ pits .
'Pits and Power Station of the UK' on Facebook is probably your best place to post the pics. If you're not on Facebook I'll put them on for you if you wish. There's also the 'Mining Memorabilia, Buy, Sell & Swap etc' also on Fbk it's mainly for what it says but you might get someone who knows.
LJR
Member
The blade size will vary as they were resharpened. The whole idea is that a collier could knock back the wedge and remove the blade. He then took the blade up with him at the end of the shift so it could be sharpened for the next day. They were sharpened by the blacksmith, heated and hammered out back to length again with a new point hammered out. A collier may have had multiple blades for a single shaft. Depends how hard the coal was that he was undercutting. Eventually the blades became too thin and were discarded.
A common make in North Derbyshire was the Acme Patent Pick co. of Sheffield.
A common make in North Derbyshire was the Acme Patent Pick co. of Sheffield.
shotlighter
Active member
And IIRC, once they'd been drawn out, they were tempered to "Pidgeon wing blue". ( My great grandad & later my grandad, were foreman blacksmiths at Sneyd Colliery). "Pidgeon wing blue" was my Grandads description, when telling me how to do it. Daft, the things you remember.
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I've so far heard back from two pit blacksmiths who re-profiled/sharpened and re-tempered these in the 1960s/70s. Apparently still in use today with Forest of Dean miners etc. No-one has yet come up with what initials mean.
A bit more info: (these are) key picks, a collier would collect a bunch of them once underground from "The Pick Hole" (Store) in the pit bottom and return them on his way out for re-sharpening. The numbers on the socket refer to the weight of the pick so excess energy wasn't used weilding a heavy pick on a lightweight job, like cracking a walnut with a 14lb hammer, bearing in mind the men using them were not just brawn, they were specialists in their own rights and won the maximum amount of coal with minimum effort. Those look more like Shale picks as Coal picks didn't have a pointed end, they were rounded ends.
Mark
Well-known member
It was the Hardy Patent Pick Co, I used to live round the corner
Hardy Patent Pick Co - Graces Guide
LJR
Member
Correct. I don't know why I said Acme. I have a Hardy pick in my shed with the name cast into it...It was the Hardy Patent Pick Co, I used to live round the corner
Hardy Patent Pick Co - Graces Guide
gracesguide.co.uk
Tangent_tracker
Active member
You worked when the pits were active I guess... you any idea why this Shotlighter? It seems to have a lot of folks puzzled, is really quite rare to find, that is lamp glass with Uranium sintered glass...
Was it a health thing or did Uranium impart a quality to glass that was desirable (strength, for instance).
It certainly has no effect on the flame, and in this instance, is being illuminated by UV source.
Some have said a potential Nystagmus preventative but I am skeptical about that...
shotlighter
Active member
Nope, no idea about that glass either. As Les says, that lamp was well after the introduction of electric lamps, which pretty much put paid to "stag".
BTW I was just a volunteer at Apedale. The sobriquet "Shotlighter" originated there, as a P take at my expense. I was digging a in a lead mine at the time & the ex miners thought it was bizarre that I did for fun, what they did for money. I was often greeted by "ay up, 'ere comes th' shotlighter".
There was no finer bunch of lads to have the p**s taken by!
BTW I was just a volunteer at Apedale. The sobriquet "Shotlighter" originated there, as a P take at my expense. I was digging a in a lead mine at the time & the ex miners thought it was bizarre that I did for fun, what they did for money. I was often greeted by "ay up, 'ere comes th' shotlighter".
There was no finer bunch of lads to have the p**s taken by!
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Tangent_tracker
Active member
Ah I didn't realise Nystagmus had ended before the protector lamps became available. I think the type 6 was 1929? This example is a bit of a franken lamp. It has the upper part of an RS and a base that was an SL. But I spotted the glass immediately on the listing so purchased anyway. You can generally tell as the glass will have a yellowy tinge, especially in natural light. It is basically similar to Vaseline glass that was very popular from the mid-19thC, but not quite as colourful.
The glass is really quite rare though, but usually seen on protectors. Sadly this example is cracked but I purchased knowing this, due to the rarity,
It would be nice to find out an answer!
