About the service
I run a dedicated workshop service for restoring antique magic lantern projectors — the brass-bodied slide projectors used from the Victorian era through the early twentieth century for parlour entertainment, travelling shows and early classroom teaching. Each lantern that arrives is stripped to its components and assessed on its own terms: chimney and body tinwork, brass lens barrel and rack-and-pinion focusing mount, condenser and objective lens elements, the illuminant assembly (oil wick, limelight fitting or later electric conversion), and the wooden or brass slide carrier and its guide rails.
Brass surfaces are cleaned by hand with graduated abrasives and museum-grade polishing compounds, never with harsh acid dips that strip detail from cast seams, maker's stamps and engraved trim rings. Where a lantern has an honest, even patina that collectors and stage performers actually prefer, I stabilise it with a conservation wax rather than polishing it to a mirror — that choice is always discussed with the client first. Optics receive the most careful attention: condenser lenses are checked for cracks and separation, objective lenses are cleaned of fungus and haze with solvents safe for antique glass and balsam cementing, and focusing racks are re-cut or re-bushed when worn teeth cause the image to drift out of sharpness.
Mechanical work covers the chimney damper, the wick or mantle assembly, hinge pins on the body doors, and the slide carrier's sliding action, which is refitted so glass slides run smoothly without binding or scratching the painted or photographic plates. On request I fit a discreet, reversible electric lamp conversion for lanterns that will be used for live demonstrations, while keeping all original oil or limelight fittings intact and returned with the piece. Wooden carrying cases and baseboards are cleaned, re-glued where joints have opened, and refinished to match the original shellac or varnish sheen.
Every restoration includes a written condition report with before-and-after photographs, a parts log noting anything replaced versus original, and a projection test once the unit is reassembled. Typical turnaround runs one to two weeks depending on the extent of optical and brass work required; rush service is available for exhibitions or auction deadlines. I work with private collectors, small museums, prop houses and magic-lantern societies, and I'm glad to provide references and a portfolio of completed pieces spanning bi-unial and triunial lanterns, single-lens parlour models and early educational projectors.
Brass surfaces are cleaned by hand with graduated abrasives and museum-grade polishing compounds, never with harsh acid dips that strip detail from cast seams, maker's stamps and engraved trim rings. Where a lantern has an honest, even patina that collectors and stage performers actually prefer, I stabilise it with a conservation wax rather than polishing it to a mirror — that choice is always discussed with the client first. Optics receive the most careful attention: condenser lenses are checked for cracks and separation, objective lenses are cleaned of fungus and haze with solvents safe for antique glass and balsam cementing, and focusing racks are re-cut or re-bushed when worn teeth cause the image to drift out of sharpness.
Mechanical work covers the chimney damper, the wick or mantle assembly, hinge pins on the body doors, and the slide carrier's sliding action, which is refitted so glass slides run smoothly without binding or scratching the painted or photographic plates. On request I fit a discreet, reversible electric lamp conversion for lanterns that will be used for live demonstrations, while keeping all original oil or limelight fittings intact and returned with the piece. Wooden carrying cases and baseboards are cleaned, re-glued where joints have opened, and refinished to match the original shellac or varnish sheen.
Every restoration includes a written condition report with before-and-after photographs, a parts log noting anything replaced versus original, and a projection test once the unit is reassembled. Typical turnaround runs one to two weeks depending on the extent of optical and brass work required; rush service is available for exhibitions or auction deadlines. I work with private collectors, small museums, prop houses and magic-lantern societies, and I'm glad to provide references and a portfolio of completed pieces spanning bi-unial and triunial lanterns, single-lens parlour models and early educational projectors.
