Can we improve the appearance temporarily to see a letter on the bottom of a Primus 96? With a magnifying glass, still not conclusive. I have a 96 I got a couple months ago, hoping it was a "AL", but under a magnifying glass, looks faintly like a "AE", the "A" is clear. Moved the fount around in sunlight and looks more like a "AE". Duane
Maybe a gentle cleaning with a soft toothbrush and then rubbing it gentle with white chalk and then dusting it with a soft paint brush under flourescent light? Maybe a permanent marker pressed well over the letters and then gentle wiping the surface with a tightwoven rag?
@hikerduane I utilise the close-up and image lighting manipulation capabilities of my I-phone. On this Dietz railroad lantern the date is stamped in the steel of the lid but is very faint. S-9 -42 (Syracuse factory, New York, September 1942). This is about how it appears to the naked eye, at best. The hardest to determine is the ‘42’ of 1942. Here’s with a closer close-up and image manipulation (exposure/contrast/sharpness/tint etc.) The 4 - 20 on the line above is clear to the naked eye and is a patent date. The ‘42’ below was the difficult one. John
Pencil tracing did not work, but a felt marker over the letters and wiping with denatured alcohol, three cycles revealed a "L" after the "A". Hoping for a "F". But the bright side, I had a nickel AL, so one in brass and one nickel now. Thank you guys for the help. Duane
Might a dark tinted mild soap be an option vs the ink marker? John has methods w/iphone that I've not experimented with. I will say things can jump right out of a high res digital image that you may not notice as you look over an item closely, that and you can zoom in on it either on phone or after downloading it. So again, +1 w/John check out that way too. I find quite often as with Blueflame video, details may not appear "on camera". In the video he could see the numbers clearly with his naked eye, he was done, but they do not appear on the video clearly. Use a magnifier with brightest light, i routinely go with varying the light and the angles. Smearing the surface, even just w/water (i too welcome best methods w/smearing "something?" over faint stamping) and using not your typical magnifier. A handheld with more powerful magnifications and jewelers loupe Duane comes out with another good topic, thank you.
I know this is solved, but just adding this for future reference. Etching solutions are used to bring out details when examining welds. Something similar might be usable here, though obviously with some risk. There are commercial dye and developer products specifically for finding cracks in metal. One of these might be fruitful as well, and without the risk of the etching solution above.
