1930s Desk Lamp - Restoration

In this video I'm restoring a very stylish German desk lamp from the 1930's. This model is called „Vitalux Type G101“ made by „Osram“. Vitalux lamps always had UV bulps. They were advertised as healthy lamps back in the 30's to get your vitamin D at home.
My friend has found this lamp at the local junk yard. I really liked its design, so I bought it for $25. To be honest I first thought this should be a quick and easy project. Sure, to get the reflector back to shape would be challenging, but the rest should be pretty straight forward. How wrong I was! It took me 26 days in the workshop to complete this project.
It was really tricky to get the reflector back to shape. Thanks to my two sheet metal specialist friends I was able to achieve a nearly perfect result. Getting the bead back to a consistent shape was very difficult, but with some thinking we came up with a very clever tool design which worked like a charm. The rest was just sanding. At first I tried to make a mirror polish on the inside. As I couldn't achieve a satisfying result I went with a satin brushed finish instead, which turned out looking amazing in my opinion.
Creating a new logo was another big challenge. Waterslide decals were out of question because of the „TYPE G101“ text below the logo. So I wanted to spray paint the logo with a sticker template cut with the vinyl cutter, but the tiny size of the letters won't let me get a clean and sharp result after removing the template sticker. Then I tried it the other way around and cut a golden vinyl and used the logo itself as a permanent sticker, which worked very well and looked super sharp. I applied two coats of 2K clear coat to seal the sticker.
On the wooden piece I applied a acrylic primer as base, which had very good coverage and saturated well, so the 2K paint was nice and easy to apply. I picked a satin jet black, it's a mix between matte and glossy.
The old nickel plating was already coming off on some parts, so I removed the old plating, polished them all again and plated them new.
I have found a very nice old school looking power cord with fabric insulated twisted wires, together with an antique Bakelite switch it was the perfect combination.
Overall I'm very happy how the lamp has turned out. All the different finishes and colors match very nice togehter. The light ivory painted parts with the silver on the inside and the golden logo, the black painted wood, the nice and shiny reflector and the freshly polished and nickel plated parts.

I hope you like my work and the video.

Huge thank you to all of my Patreon supporters and especially to:

Tonya M Broerman
Adel AlSaffar
Yale Baker
SophieHDLM
Alex McGeorge
Alistair Moor
Amar.k
Anthony Eufemio
Arthur
Bendurion
Brenna Redpath
Chris walter
David Barker
Edward Conway
Haitham Al Zir
isaac
james lowe
Jean Ceppi
John Shebanow
Josh Denny
Josh Ledford
Josh Wasserman
Joshua Bentley
Joshua Scher
Kar Marsten
Lambda GPU Workstations
LordPi
Mellissa Marcus
Monte Gibbs
Nathaniel Carver
NoLoneSurvivor
Pat Thrasher
Peter Riddett
potokslow
Steve Bothe
StevenVR
Tyler Carruth
VaushVidya
Vickie Bligh
Vince Valenti
Will Black
Xavier Carbel
Yuri Zapuchlak
Adam Holtzclaw
Alipasha Sadri
Andrew Egerton
Andrew Phillips
Arni Bjorgvinsson
Bonnie Williamson
Brian Hoerl
Chad Bryant
Crystal Cash
Daniel Trejo
Daniel Varga
Dave Hardware
David Ebert
David P Hruska
Endless Mike
Geoffroy
Grant Daniel
Haley McFadden
Jack Curry
Jason Koi
Jason Tarlov
Jeremy Cole
Joël Franusic
Ken Rosso
Kurt Gazow
L Rlta
Liam Rafle
Marc Cerisier
Marc Staedelin
Mary Casella
Mellissa McConnell
Micheal Bier
Michael Lamp
Nik
Pasacal Schmikal
Peter Cyprian
Rebecca Miller
Regis Vincent
Robert Todd
Sarah Langlais
Scott Marshall
Stefan Kronander
Stephen Toma
Steven Michalcewicz
Suiros
Svenja Kuckla
Tim Holt
Trevor Kam
Tucker Ifft
Victoria Emmenegger
William

My camera:
Panasonic HC-VX11

This is an ASMR style video. Especially made to have the best sound quality, so you can enjoy all the authentic sounds created in the workshop in ASMR style.

If you have any questions about the process, machines i'm using or other stuff, just ask me in the comments. I read them all and i try to reply as soon as possible.

Sorry for my bad english, it's not my language. I try my best to improve my technical english.

Subscribe for more of my content. I'm uploading videos about mechanical stuff, as new creations and buildings and also restorations.

Thank you for watching :-)

„I make a new one“ T-Shirts:

My Main Channel:

My Second Channel:

My Patreon Page:

[mymechanics]

Check out my Patreon for daily vlogs out of the workshop, early access, Q&A livestreams and long versions of my restoration videos. There are 23 vlogs about this restoration available, one from each day in the workshop.
Link in video description.

[bettanzos]

The bad thing about knowing My Mechanics is that the other restoration channels will seem mediocre. I love their incredible attention to detail along with exacting standards where almost good enough is not acceptable; only as close to perfection as possible will do. Really well done Sir!

[kotogray]

I don't know how many of you read the description on these videos, but he says this took him 26 days. That is true dedication to bringing us this level of perfection Thank you, sir.

[arunvivektr]

The way he restored the reflector and the way he transferred the brass were my favourites this episode. The reflector was one hell of a job.

[ВадимАлиев-юъ]

никакой тупой музыки, никаких лишних слов, только естественные звуки! Отличные инструменты, прямые руки, превосходное видео! Спасибо большое! Вас смотреть - одно удовольствие!

[mushfiqurrahman]

It hasn't even been 5 minutes & we've seen disassembly, paint stripping, sand blasting, counter sinking, filling, sharp edges removing, dent fixing, electro plating & polishing. He's not just a great mechanic but also a great video maker!

[chrispysaid]

Dude it's one thing to be incredibly skilled at restoration, but the cinematography you employ both in quality of shots, composition, etc but also with visual storytelling, man you're hands-down the top of the genre. Easily the best restoration channel on this entire platform.

[TheCreativee]

Dude, un-denting the back of the lamp by just pulling is impressive, your unyielding attention to detail and willingness to go the extra mile are what makes your videos miles above all else. I love your work and hope that I never miss an upload.

[Sonicgott]

Just watching you give decades of these things’ lives back is so cathartic.

[owdjockey]

The quality of filming and editing the footage is just as high as the level of engineering and craftsmanship that goes into My Mechanics videos. Other YouTube restorers try to emulate his videos, but he continues to set the standard.

[seagreenspiral]

You know that when a My mechanics video comes, it’s time to stop whatever else your watching or doing and see the best restoration man do his magic, no other channel is as good as him.

[Wasper]

As an electrician, you make me happy by adding the ground wire which was lacking on the original (because safety wasn’t necessary such a thing back then). Most, if not all, other channels ignore that when they work on electric devices. So big thumbs up 👍

[jacktoddy]

My father was tool maker at Rolls Royce back in the day - working on Merlins. He taught me to respect tools and how to use them. He is up there in engineering-land now. He would love your videos as you exhibit that special knowledge and ability of how to use tools properly. Your file work was exceptional. You made it look easy, but masters always manage to do that. An excellent video that was a real pleasure to watch. Thank you.

[xpez]

what I admire most is how this restorative process not only brings to life the old artifact but really showcases design sensibilities and innovations with materials and form from another era.

[TheBigExclusive]

What amazes me is that he has a tool for every single problem. And if he doesn't then he will just CREATE a tool that is perfect for his needs. This level of precision and detail is amazing.

It's not like other restoration channels that use tools that may not be the right tool. This channel is absolute precision and detail driven.

[isaaccboyd]

The unbending of the reflector with the turned parts was so impressive. Very nice work as always

[magosomni]

Honestly, the part I loved the most was when you brought out the braided power cable. Anybody else might've just found a black or yellow plastic coated one, but you found something that fits the overall look of the lamp. It's a tiny detail, but it's amazing all the same.

[Helios]

Guys, I can't stress enough the painstaking lengths this man goes through between cuts. I've been busy rebuilding the tensioner on my car and sanding and filing it flat was almost infuriating. I have a newfound respect and appreciation for the work you do, and I can't emphasize enough how awesome it is that your channel taught me the proper steps to take for projects in the same ballpark as this.

[PabloEdvardo]

The best part of these videos is how it transports you back in time. The item comes out looking like it was fresh off the floor at a department store. It feels like you're seeing it back when it was new.

I know some argue about styles of restoration, and I agree, for historical value antiques should be restored to preserve their flaws, but I believe that leaves room for this style of restoration which offers a different type of historical value.

[KNnY_G]

I love that the boom of restoration channels has come and gone, yet My Mechanics is, and always was the best, most attention to detail, genuinely calming production, no voice over; only restoration.