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POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27926 11/09/04 10:38 PM
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POTTAWATOMIE Lighthouse, Rock Island, Door County, Wisconsin

Many WACKOs at the May 15, 2004 dedication ceremony and open house wanted to know where the FRESNEL LENS was!! Well, the Friends of Rock Island want to have a replica 4th Order FRESNEL LENS made and installed in the lantern room by the next Door County Lighthouse Walk in May 2005! The cost for the lens and installation is $26,000. They have a 50/50 grant and need to raise $13,000.

Won't it be great for Pottawatomie to get a long missing 4th ORDER FRESNEL LENS back in the Lantern Room?!

MOMBO - You asked where the lens was!


Suzanne Murphy
President, Wisconsin Lighthouse District (WILD)
Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27927 11/09/04 10:59 PM
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mombo Offline
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Wow, that would be great Suzanne! But a replica, haven't heard of that before but apparently it's possible to make one. Now, does this mean that there are plans to relight the lighthouse? It seems that perhaps some tree trimming would be required if so.

Let us know the particulars of where to send donations.

Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27928 11/10/04 02:16 AM
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Yes, apparently there is a place in Florida that makes Fresnel Lens replicas.


Suzanne Murphy
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Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27929 11/10/04 11:53 AM
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Bob M Offline
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Quote:
...apparently there is a place in Florida that makes Fresnel Lens replicas.
Now that I find interesting. Are they exact replicas in size and types of materials used on the original Fresnels? Out of curiosity, what does a full size and functional replica cost?

confused Bob confused

Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27930 11/10/04 12:48 PM
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I cannot imagine a replica for just $26,000. Certainly not brass and glass. But, of course, I can be wrong.

More information on the source, please.

Well after posting this, I google "Fresnel Repair" and came up with these sites:

http://www.mindrum.com/lighthouse.html
http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/lens/byrneart.htm
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/news/or_news.html
http://www.lighthouseconsultant.com/

Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27931 11/10/04 01:14 PM
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This is fantastic Suzanne. What a great day for Pottawatomie to have a lens in the tower. And it would be great to celebrate this event with Pottawatomie on the Wacko Badge. I intend to nominate Pottawatomie for the honor this coming year.

I believe I saw a program on replacing missing parts for a lens where the Corning company made the glass shaped like the prisms but were clear and not the green tint that we are used to seeing. I just wish I could remember where I saw it.

Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27932 11/10/04 03:27 PM
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Jim Johnston told me that a replica 4th order Fresnel Lens will cost $19,000. The rest of the money is for transportation and installation.


Suzanne Murphy
President, Wisconsin Lighthouse District (WILD)
Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27933 11/10/04 10:16 PM
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I just received my Oct-Dec copy of "The Keeper's Log", the quarterly publication of the USLS. In it is an article on fresnel lens restorations at the Ponce Lighthouse. Haven't read it yet but I.O. gave it a look tonight after I told him about POTTAWATOMIE's plans.

In the portion of the article that deals with work done on the Cape Canaveral lens it says, "Acrylic was used in some areas because of the difficulty and expense of replacing the missing prisms with optically correct glass. The Corning factory had tried making replacement glass for this lens and found that a single prism could cost as much as $5,000!" I suppose the design of the lens helps dictate the cost. But after reading this except from this article it sure seems that the new planned lens would most likely be acrylic?

This article also tells the story of the restoration of the 1st and 3rd order lenses that served/serve Ponce. It seems that glass was used for the replacement prisms but another factor involved was the intented use of the lens. For display purposes the prisms don't have to be "aimed" but they do if the lens is to be used in a working lighthouse. So...if the proposed replica lens is going to be "functional" I sure hope that means the light will be restored to the tower!

IMO, you can spend all the money in the world to restore a lighthouse but if the lantern room is dark it's just a restored building. Of course it's not feasible to relight every lighthouse but if there is a functioning light on a nearby skeletal tower, why not transfer the light back to the lighthouse if possible?

Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27934 11/14/04 03:03 PM
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I'm a bit confused. Have you gone through the USCG to try to get an authentic lens? That would be much better than a replica. At Sea Girt, our lens has gone missing, too, and the Coast Guard doesn't know of its whereabouts. We were able to find a 4th Order lens in Oz for $20,000 on eBay. That might have been a once-in-a-lifetime oppurtunity, but have all the possibilites been covered for a real lens before getting a replica made?

Just a thought....


EDIT: Was just looking at the Ponce Inlet Light web store, and found this...for $18,000, you can get a full size replica 4th Order Fresnel. Might be something to think about...

http://www.poncelighthousestore.org/prod...T_ID=15&P_ID=67

Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27935 11/14/04 06:55 PM
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Dave H Offline
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John,

You and I met one of the folks involved in building new lenses when we were at St. Augustine last November for the lighthouse conference. (Actually, a year ago this week...) Anyway, Gary Knappenberger of Enberg Mold & Tool Castings (Tampa area if I remember) said they did a lot of the custom metal work for International Chimney projects. He said they could make a lens, but we didn't talk $$. I believe they are the ones who made the replicas of the old brass lightkeepers tooks for St. Augustine.

Re: POTTAWATOMIE to get 4th Order FRESNEL LENS #27936 11/14/04 07:33 PM
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seagirt Offline
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Here's a page with what looks like some good contacts, including Gary:

http://hnsa.org/conf2004/papers/tag.htm

Looks like some great contacts there! laugh


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