Small electric heater restoration - and I could use some help here.....

[crevicetool]

Thought you guys might be interested in seeing my lastest restoration. I've had this for a while, and just got around to restoring it the past few weeks. It's a 600 watt electric space heater. I got it off EBay, and while the link below is not mine, this one was in even worse shape.

A lot of polishing went into this thing....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-Diameter...920?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256f8b5fa8

 

[crevicetool]

I went with the "statuary bronze" color. I have a catalog from Landers, and it said the colors offered were "mahogany" and "statuary bronze".

 

[crevicetool]

I got the new cord from EBay too. The seller was closing out a 75 years in business hardware store. The cord was new unused stock...

 

[crevicetool]

Name plate.

 

[crevicetool]

Front of heater not plugged in.

 

[crevicetool]

Just starting to glow,

 

[crevicetool]

And now, wide open. It is amazing how much heat this thing puts out with no fan assistance. The back of my office chair had already begun to get warm. It is seven feet away.

 

[crevicetool]

This is what I need help with.....

What the heck is this?

The seller said it is an oil can, and I can understand why they would say that. It does have a pump. The seller also said it had patina. As soon as I find out what that is, I'm going to the doctor and have him prescribe something so I don't get patina. It was heavily oxidized, however...so I polished the crap out of it too.

 

[crevicetool]

You can see the close-up of the pump here. There is a spring loaded piston in the cylinder with a leather "seal". The lid also has a leather gasket. However, I doubt one could ever "build pressure" in the can. There is no seal or gasket at the spout. So, I would like suggestions as to what the purpose of this thing is...if it is an oil can - I can live with that.

BTW, it was made by the same company that made the heater.

 

[crevicetool]

Stay tuned for the return to service of my mixer. The paint has cured, and I hope to reassemble it this weekend. It's the one in my avatar.....

 

[circlew]

That's a very nice looking heater. You did a great job on it, and the mixer looks fantastic too.

 

[petek]

Very nice looking heater. Wasn't Universal a brand that five and dimes used to sell?
(dukznruns)

We had a plain old heater like that in our basement when I was a kid.. nothing at all as nice looking as that one.

 

[westingman123]

Oh, now that's just gorgeous. Did you hand-polish, or use a buffing tool like a dremel? The elements remind me of my Westinghouse oven coils.

 

[blackstone]

What's the secret...

… to the incredible polish? You think I could get these two heaters to look as good as yours does?

 

[crevicetool]

I don't see why not Fred....

Mine appears to be in worse shape than either of your two. I started out with Maas metal polish, but it just wasn't working fast enough, (for the cost) so I went with powdered pumice, then rotten-stone, then Mother's Mag Polish, and finally returned to Maas to give it the final lustre. If the pumice and rotten-stone are not available to you, you could just go with the Mother's - although it will take quite a long time to cut through to the original plating. My catalog says the "dish" is copper plated, and may well be - but it is thick plating. The rivets, (handle, name plate, support brackets) were plated too. The screws holding the porcelain socket were plated as well, but the plating came off of those quite readily. They are steel colored now.

How this helps.

 

[northwesty]

Wow that looks great. I had one of those and now I really regret getting rid of it, it didn't occure to me to fix it up, though this was in college days.

One thing I remember was the amount of light it sent out so it took a little getting used to to have it on at night in the bedroom.

 

[petek]

If you're in a larger city it's possible that there will be a lapidary (jewelers) supply company somewhere. I found one quite accidentally back in Calgary some years back and it was a treasure trove of all things known to man for polishing compounds, buffers of every size and shape, widgets, potions and lotions.

 

[blackstone]

Now I'm really interested in polishing these, so they can shine like yours do. A few Google searches should allow me to find the ingredients (or a jewelers' supplier). I may not get to it right away, but now that I know that it is possible, …..

 

[thomasortega]

@crevicetool

I don't know what is it called in english but in Portuguese the proper name for this specific kind of oil dispenser is "motolia". (but very few people actually know it so most people call it as "a little oil dispenser".

It's used to lube parts with dificult access.

At home, I have a brand new motolia from Tramontina filled with extra virgin olive oil. Everybody laughs when i put it on the table. (Don't ask me what I use as a salt shaker. LOL)

Lovely restoration.... Don't you want to spend a few days at my apartment? I have lots of things to polish, but i HATE doing it.

 

[cuffs054]

Isn't the oil can like the one Dorothy used on the Tin Man, in a smaller size?