Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Globe Lens restoration??

Just curious, is there anyone out there that will restore a globe lens? I have seen one piece globes re-painted but never a reverse painted lens.. I would love to hear if someone here has seen it successfully done before..

Thanks,
Keith

Hi Keith
It can be done but with today's standards it ruins the value unless just a small portion is done. You can of course redo the whole globe and enjoy it yourself but when you try and sell it the value will be gone. One piece etched globes are the only globes that can be restored without any value change as the value is in the etching not the guessing of what may or may not have once been there. Scott B.

Cheesemans wife does a great job I am told.

If you want a totally re-painted brand-new piece of glass . . .

that was petty and uncalled for.

But true...

We have had that discussion on this site about restoring a lens.

I don't want to seem cheap or petty, but the reality is that if you took paint stripper to MANY of the "restored" lenses out there you would have a clear piece of glass.

I have several restored globes I purchased from a reputable dealer years ago. These were sold to him as 10-15% restoration. Some night if I get bored I dig a couple out and take "before" paint stripper and "after" pictures. You can judge for yourself at that pint.

There is nothing petty about telling the truth.

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it!

Lonnie

Are you saying that paint stripper won't harm an untouched lense ?

Other than an early non-fired lense, which would have been 15" or 16 1/2" in diameter, and there are very few of them, all other lenses have fired on paint and stripper will not touch that. I have had several times where for reasons unknown, lenses were completely painted over. Good old Zip-Strip from your local hardware store takes the newer paint off and leaves the original fired on paint 100% intact.

Busy time of year for me right now, but somebody remind me next winter to dig some of my "restored" lenses out and I would be glad to back up T-ways comment about having a clear lense when you take off the "restored" paint portion.

Thanks for the responses guys.. this is a lens for my collection and it wouldn't ever be sold. Its actually a non-petro globe that I would like to fix because the chances of ever finding another is pretty doubtful.. Thanks for the help. Keith

If it's an Adv. Lens, then somewhere down the line it will be For Sale.
Instead of Re-painting it, have a sign/globe guy Repop a couple.
NO BODY Lives for ever.

I didn't know that, Thanks.
I would imagine if the background white was somewhat thin there would be a reason to re spray it white. I don't think I will volunteer to paint stripper test any lenses though.

When/IF ever in doubt, apply a small dab w/ toothpick/cotton swab on edge or area in question. IF it has been touched up I'D bet the seller will Admit it!

A Correctly Restored/Re-painted lens will show weathering, fading. To LOOK Perfect it has to be done from scratch.
There were a couple sisters in Santa Barbara, Ca. that did Museum Quality Restorations [Getty Museum, Smithsonian, etc. & not limited to Ming Dynasty items] World Known.
Hotcider, Scott B, others & myself have seen several lenses done by them.

WOW, can't believe that if someone wants something fixed and he can't find another, then he can not do it without critics calling him out. Tried for years to get a lense made for a A-62 without it coming about. So now I must just not have a person restore it without others punishing me for it ??
Like DB says it is my item and I can do with it as I please. As long as it is represented correctly I see no reason to not have something restored.
Pile on people !!