How to Repair Antique Lamps

Antique lamps come in many shapes and sizes. Some of them hang and some sit on tables. Many antique lamps have glass shades, often painstakingly painted by hand and adorned with hanging beads or mounted on a glass or metal body. Antique lamps are often damaged over time, and many of them stop working. A lamp may be missing an original part, like a wick for an oil-burning lamp or an original lamp shade. Most antique lamps were oil-based and had wicks, with turning keys to regulate the flame.

Things You'll Need

• Mild dish detergent
• Bowl
• Cloths
• Toothbrush
• Baking soda
• Wick
• Burner
• Tape measure
• Nonflammable glass lamp adhesive
• Razor blade
• Hammer
• Protective goggles
• Soldering iron

Instructions

1. Wipe the hand-painted section of the lamp very carefully with a wet cloth, making sure that neither the patina nor any old paint is removed. Take an old toothbrush, make a pasty mixture of baking soda and water and scrub sections of the lamp where there is no design to remove stubborn grime.

2. Fix the metal base. Detach it from the chimney part of the lamp and look the base over for dents. Place the base on a flat surface and hammer out the dents. Examine the base for splits. Put on protective goggles, and, in a safe area away from flammables, solder the metal splits together.

3. Set the lamp's chimney on the base to be sure it fits. Antique lamps have a chimney, the part where the flame is protected from wind. Examine the chimney for hairline cracks. Gently file little nicks with a nail file to eliminate rough edges. Make sure the chimney fits back into the base properly. If it is beyond repair, buy a replacement chimney of the same size and shape.

4. Check that the burner--the part of the lamp that holds the wick--is intact. Replace any faulty or missing burner parts. Most burners screw or fit snugly on top of the collar of the chimney. Measure the diameter of the collar to make sure the new burner will fit.

5. Look for damage to the glass shade. Repair any cracks with nonflammable lamp glass adhesive. Coat each hairline crack with a thin line of glue, first on the inside of the shade, then on the outside. Make the inside layer thicker and smooth the outer layer with the straight edge of a razor blade, so that the glue line isn’t obvious.

References

• Antique Lamp Supply: Lamp Chimneys
• "How to Book of Repairing, Rewiring, and Restoring Lamps and Lighting Fixtures;" Rachel Martens; 1979