This site is dedicated to collectors of UNIPART, MULTIPART, and other Porcelain Insulators.
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This site was last updated on: FEBRUARY 1,
Click on the insulator links below to enter the world of beautiful Unipart and Multipart Porcelain Insulators. This site belongs to Elton Gish. If you have question, please feel free to me by clicking on the Letter Box below. I will try to answer any of your questions about porcelain insulators.
2nd Edition: Collector's Porcelain Guide Book for Porcelain Insulators (Unipart Pin-type)
This book is the newest Porcelain Guide Book for unipart (one-part) pin-type porcelain insulators. It is like no other book about porcelain insulators. This is the culmination of more than 45 years of research and nearly 5 years of work to write and photograph all known unipart styles. 21 new U-number styles have been added. The pin-type styles in the U-Chart are shown in COLOR using reference photographs of actual insulators. The Unipart Chart has been reduced by 20% by removing most of the trimmer variants and styles assigned from catalogs that did not match actual insulators. All the new U-numbers assigned since the first edition was published in are included in the second edition. It has a very detailed history of each manufacturer with nearly 500 historic and other photographs many of which are in color. Every aspect of unipart pin-type porcelain insulators is discussed as well as examples of 286 types of markings that have been reported. Mike Spadafora wrote an Appendix section summarizing his decades of hunting and researching Fred Locke insulators and digging in the Victor plant dump. He tells how you can determine the approximate year of manufacture by glaze and manufacturing characteristics.
The book is 278 page book is spiral bound so it will lay flat when opened. The size is 8-1/2 x 11. The book is available NOW!
Price is $45 plus $8 U.S. shipping. (Canadian orders please contact me for shipping cost.) You may send a personal check, money order, or use PayPal. Elton Gish, Lexington Circle, Lumberton, TX
If paying with credit card or Paypal, shipping will be added automatically:
NEW just released: Value Guide (4th edition) for Unipart and Multipart Porcelain Insulators
This new 188-page VALUE GUIDE is self-contained. There is no need to refer to the Porcelain Guide Book for the U-Chart!!
For the first time, the Value Guide has:
-- the complete U-Chart with color photo-illustrations of every U-number
-- all of the markings found on porcelain insulators
-- 16 new Unipart styles
-- Unipart listings with values
-- 101 new multipart styles
-- multipart listings with values
-- color examples of glazes
-- many unpublished historical photographs
The new 4th ed. Value Guide is $45 plus $7 shipping.
Value Guide, 4th edDo you need reference Books About Porcelain Insulators ???
I have several reference books available for purchase. These are the only books about U.S. porcelain insulators. To learn more about them and details about purchasing the books, please click on the BOOK image below:
BOOKS about Porcelain Insulators BOOKS about Porcelain Insulators
Unipart Porcelain Insulators:Unipart Profile Categories: U-Chart is separated by styles such as "pony", "exchange", "pogo", Mickey Mouse", "signal", etc.
Odd Numbers and Letters found on Fred Locke porcelain insulators.
Fred Locke's Attic: The latest photos of the insulators Jeff Katchko and Ken Willick have dug up.
New Lexington Plant Site Dig: Josh Guisinger's latest finds
New Fred Locke Insulator Reported (A unique 3-part glazeweld with under-glaze ink marking made by Electric Porcelain & Mfg. Co.)
Multipart Porcelain Insulators(Click on the link at left to start or links below for specific manufacturers)
Article by Paul Greaves: Hunting Along a Northern California M- Line
Fred Locke Updated photos of rare insulators.
Thomas
Lima
New Lexington insulators (An in-depth look at insulators made by the New Lexington High Voltage Porcelain Co. -)
Baum Ringed Multipart Insulators made by Lima and Thomas (These nearly 100 year old insulators have concentric rings under the top skirt)
Old Gray Multipart Insulators (The most comprehensive look at gray multis from circa -)
Kern-1 Line () M- insulators made by Victor (Locke), Thomas, and New Lexington. View the story and details of this incredible find by Carver Mead and Barbara Smith!!!
Porcelain Suspension Insulators:
Locke Duncan Suspension - This is a link to an article by Carver Mead. Here is a link to the full Duncan patent.
Remnants of the Southern Power Co. Part 2 - Another excellent article written by Carver Mead and Barbara Smith that appeared in the Spring issue of Power Line Explorer Journal. It is about their hunt for the very rare 14" diameter Thomas 2-part suspension insulator.
The 12th (---) of Christmas - Another excellent article written by Carver Mead and Barbara Smith that appeared in the April issue of Crown Jewels. It is about their hunt for the 12" diameter flat Thomas suspension insulator. The title of their article has several meanings.
Hewlett Suspension Disc Insulators - Learn how the Hewlett suspension and fish-tail insulator was developed and see some strange and rare suspension insulators.
Hewlett Suspension Disc handwritten markings - Unusual handwritten markings scratched typically on the underside of the disk.
Other Porcelain Insulators:
Pin Bases - Porcelain
American Marble & Toy Manufacturing Company - Early manufacturer of porcelain marbles as well as electrical knobs, tubes, cleats, third rail, and misc.
TWINANTELEAK Blue Porcelain Radio Antenna Aerial Insulators
Standard Porcelain knobs, spools, etc. - Standard styles of surface wiring insulators (234 insulators described and photographed)
Porcelain Wiring Cleats - Brief history of cleats including rate wooden cleats and an extensive listing with photos of known porcelain cleats.
Patents for Cleats
1-Wire Cleats - 1-wire cleats are heavy duty industrial cleats for conductors with insulated covering.
For more information, please visit Porcelain Disc Suspension Insulator.
Updated Nail knobs, split knobs, and other misc. house wiring knobs - These small house wiring insulators are covered by many different patents and were used extensively from the 's until about the 's
Patents for Nail Knobs and other Knobs
Updated Specialty Porcelain - styles and special designs not covered in Standard Porcelain or any of the other categories.
Forestry Insulators - Brief history of forestry insulators and extensive listing with photos of known insulators.
Glazed Wall Tubes - A comprehensive study of the older glazed tubes that are over 90 years old.
Fireplug Insulators - Universal Specialty Co.
Gamewell Battery Support Insulators
Historical Reference Materials(Includes all forms of glass, porcelain, and foreign insulators):
Insulator Company Listing(both US and Foreign manufacturers and distributors of Glass and Porcelain insulators and some markings found on insulators that are company name abbreviations)
Insulator Catalogs (This is a list of catalogs currently in the IRS - Insulator Research Service - files.)
Insulator Manufacturer's and Markings:List of company markings found on porcelain insulators.
Fred M. Locke web site: Dedicate to just porcelain and glass insulators made and sold by Fred Locke. It also includes Lima Insulator Co., recent hunts and finds, advertisements, patents, family and factory history, and much more. You can spend thousands of hours reading, searching, and researching your favorite insulator, manufacturer, etc.
The Insulator Gazette at: http://reference.insulators.info/publications/ This is a searchable database of over 13,000 articles from hundreds of newspapers and trade journals published since . The content is all about insulators in some way. The people involved, the companies involved and the insulators and how they were manufactured, tested and used. You can spend hundreds of hours reading, searching, and researching your favorite insulator, manufacturer, etc.
Insulator Patent Library at: http://reference.insulators.info/patents/ There are more than 3,000 patents relating to insulators of all kinds including design patents.
Old Company Photos and Postcards
R. Thomas & Sons Co. - Early history and dozens of historic photographs
Postcards of Locke Insulator Co.
Postcards of other Insulator Companies
Niagara Falls Power Transmission: Niagara Falls to Buffalo
Niagara Falls Power Transmission: Niagara, Lockport, and Ontario Power
Old Videos Showing How Insulators Were Made
Porcelain Insulator Factory (PINCO) Lima, NY
GE Making Porcelain Insulators (c. )
Early Knob & Tube Wiring with Rick DeLair
Lapp Museum at LeRoy, NY (May ) When I was doing research for the Fred Locke book, I went to Victor, NY in May . Part of the trip was to the Lapp factory in LeRoy, NY with the sole purpose to visit the Lapp Museum, which was set up by Brent Mills. Click on the link to see the photos of the museum.
Pittsburg Date Control Markings:
Pittsburg Date MarkingsVery few porcelain insulator made by Pittsburg High Voltage Insulator Co. were marked with the name PITTSBURG. However, many insulators were marked with manufacturing dates and various date control markings. Click on the link above to see the current listing of these types of markings. If you have any that are not on the list, please contact me using the link at the top of this page or send you reports to the address shown in the book section below.
Miscellaneous and Insulator Shows:
VICTOR coffee cups and bowls
Rare Porcelain Display at the National Insulator Show - Austin, TX
1. Pass & Seymour
2. Fred Locke, Imperial
3. Electric Porcelain & Mfg. Co.
4. Fred Locke M- and Pigs
5. R. Thomas & Sons, Lima Insulator Co.
6. Macomb, Square D, and Peru Electric Mfg. Co.
7. New Lexington High Voltage Insulator Co.
8. Misc. photos and advertisements
Porcelain Insulator Displays at Washington Courthouse Show Nov.
Enumclaw show
Enumclaw Show
Insulator Related Patents: We now have a database with over 2,260 insulator related patents and design patents including an extensive listing of Lightning Rod related patents. There are several dozen trademarks, too. If you are looking for a particular patent, chances are it is already in the database. Please feel free to contact me via or follow the link below for Insulator Research Service. The insulator patent database can be accessed by clicking this link: Insulator Patents
Insulator Research Service: If you have an insulator you would like to learn more about, please feel free to contact the Insulator Research Service (go to www.insulators.info/irs). I can send you links to make your own Patent copies. The IRS is a good resource if you are designing an insulator display and would like additional research or copies of advertisements (over ), trade journal articles (over ) and patents (over ). No fees are charged if you are building a display or doing research for future article. Please be aware that no patents were granted for threadless insulators and very few specific insulator CD styles. Click on the IRS link above to see a nearly complete list of CD styles covered by patents or click on this link to go to the patent database: Insulator Patents and do your own searching. The IRS has copies of more than insulator related patents which includes more than 300 patents dealing with Lightning Rods: Points, Insulators, Ornaments (lightning rod balls), Conductors, and Rod Supports.
Suspension insulators were developed to support higher voltages then standard pin types. Suspension insulators hang down from the power pole and typically can be connected together to allow for much higher voltage insulation.
This numbering system for suspension insulators was established by Raven Kotlarsky and Steve Coffman. This system covers both glass and porcelain suspensions. The numbering system uses ST (suspension type) as the prefix and covers both US and worldwide styles. The number assignment start with smallest to largest diameter, then least to most number of petticoats, then length of outer skirts and inner petticoats. In other words, tiny insulators first, big fog types last. The system provides fixed number range blocks to each major type of porcelain suspension. Cap and pin style glass suspension insulators have been given their own number block, which aids in quick identification. The ST system is divided into the following ranges by type:
Special thanks to Raven Kotlarsky for initially publishing this system and gathering the initial photographs, measurements and supporting data to document these cool insulator styles.
Early suspension insulators featured a cap and pin system that did not load the porcelain in compression and were prone to failure from heavy loads, cement expansion, or porcelain failure. This changed when A.O. Austin in a series of patents in the late 's developed the modern suspension insulator that loaded the porcelain in compression. These modern caps are readily identifiable by their wider, flared shape, and the occasional use of flanges to relieve the effects of flashover. The ST range includes discs that are transitional from straight tension caps to modern compression caps. As a general rule, all Ohio Brass units from about forward will fall in the ST range, and all metallic cap and pin units from other companies from about onward.
cap sizes arenot reflected in the ST numbering system. Many suspension insulators use nearly identical insulating shells, but the caps vary in size and shape based on manufacturer choice, and the load bearing capacity of the given insulator. We believe to classify each of these minor variations defeats the purpose of a handy numbering system, and that an interested collector can simply note the type of cap they have on a given insulator.
Different connection types (hook and eye, cap and pin, etc.) do not typically need a new number. Suspension insulators often use a standard insulating shell which can be fitted with a myriad of connection types based on the needs and preferences of an end user. These will simply be noted when describing the insulator. Often an otherwise identical insulator can have four or more different connection types. Giving each on a number would quickly become cumbersome.
The gallery view will show the side view of the various styles. If you click the gallery picture a detail page it will link to a detail page showing larger pictures with more views as well as multiple varieties of the same style if they have been reported. If you have a style, maker or signifnant color variation that is now shown in the gallery or detail pages, we would appreciate your assistance in providing pictures, measurements, and marking information so we can grow the data available.
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