Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Attaching 15" lenses to low profile body

Hoping someone can give me a good idea here. I've got a pair of 15" repop lenses (that aren't being made anymore, only 15 sets were made originally I believe) that I'm attempting to put on a NOS low profile metal body. Thing is, I tried to put one of the original copper snap rings in and it is REALLY tight, like could shatter the glass tight. It's making me too uncomfortable to attempt further. Any other ideas? I've heard some strategically placed blobs of clear silicone can do the trick?

Might see if you can get a smaller diameter rod and have new rings made.

Welcome to the world of gas globes Chris!! Don't know how much experience you have with these things and I'm by no means an expert but I've handled quite a few metal bodied globes. It seems that those bodies weren't made with a lot of precision and several things can contribute to a poor fit. If the retainer rings are original to the globe body, that should eliminate 1 problem. I've seen some of those rings that were different diameter. If the globe body was made just a fraction too small in the diameter or your lenses are just a fraction bigger in the diameter, both of these will cause the rings to fit poorly! Dabs of silicone work great to provide a cushion in the event your globe body isn't perfectly level and they help keep the lenses from cracking because of stress from an uneven surface but will do nothing for the ring problem. You need to determine where the problem is and then correct it. Start with the diameters of both the lenses and the globe body(maybe this body won't ever work). Then go to the globe body itself and make sure that its level by laying the lens into it and checking to see if it will rock back and forth in any direction. If it does, it could be a defect in the body or even a defect in the lens. Does the lens lay completely flat on a flat table? If not, then thats part of the problem. LOTS OF VARIABLES TO CHECK! Good Luck!

KW hit it on the head...lots of variables in play. Just small differences in the body or lens seem to make a big difference when it comes to mounting the lenses and installing the rings. A little easier for me...I just go out to the globe body wall and use trial and error until I get a good match between the lenses and the body.

TeeTee has Almost enough globe bodys for my globe holders ! LOL

Kevin is on the money but i will add... the notch at the bottom has to line up. Meaning you lay the lens in and aline the notch in the lens to the rib on the body. If the lens doesn't have a notch then take some pliers and flatten out the rib. This also not done right can crack a lens.

Trust me i know it's scary putting lenses in these because it seems so violent when the snap ring goes in... or flies across the room. LOL

Yeah I don't think my rings are really perfectly circular and I think the body may be just a hair tight. The lenses fit in fine but there just doesn't seem to be room for the rings. Is it possible to hold the lenses in with just silicone without it looking bad?

PS I'm never planning to take these lenses out of this body.

Chris, People do it all the time. You have to install the lens then put couple of small dabs of silicone.

I personally don't like silicone on my lenses.

Do you put it on the bottom or top? I'd imagine sitting the lens in silicone would make it pretty difficult to remove, not that I ever really plan to remove it.

Make your own rings by using tension wire that is used on chain link fences [used top & bottom]. Wrap wire around a 5 gal. can & cut to length.
I also use dental floss wrapped around the end [going in last] to ease it in.

The first thing you need to determine is if the body is 'out of round'. If so, the lenses will be pinched at points along the edges and will not sit down in the grooves as required to allow the rings to seat.

You will also need to make sure that the alignment bump at 6:00 is flatened out as most reproduction lenses do not have a corresponding alignment notch ground into them.

FYI - we are the ONLY company that notches our 15.0" and 16.5" lenses. We started doing this a couple of years ago and have continued to do it on all our new lenses and any lenses that we have re-run since then.

Another thing to check - see if the outer edge of the body will sit flat on a table. If not, the body has been tweeked sometime in it's life.

If the lenses appear a bit too large or have interference spots at points around the edge - they can be sanded/ground in those areas to make the diameter smaller.

I would suggest only using a sanding station where you could support the lens on a table surface while sanding the edge. The lens should face up so you are sanding at 90-degrees to the face in a downward motion. Go slow and constantly recheck the fit.

You might be able to convince your local glass shop to help you in this - they have the necessary equipment. Take the body along so you can make sure the lenses fit.

Of course, if there is too much interference, you will need to try another body - or just give it up and buy one of the reproduction bodies. The new lenses being made are sized to fit the reproduction bodies - not originals.

Last - but not least - remember that the lenses will need to fit AFTER you paint the body. If they just barely fit before they won't fit after you add primer and paint to the grooves.

Later . . .

Jim

Jim

Thanks for taking the time to contribute here sounds like some good advice. There are others that notch 15 inch lenses check out pergls taxaco some time.

ward

Thanks Jim. I'll do some checking on the body like you described.