Mining Lamps
Mining Lamps are not necessarily safety lamps. A mining lamp is a lamp devised for mining and now is most often worn on a safety helmet. A safety lamp is one designed specifically for coal mining due to the increased risk of firedamp.
Historic variants of mining lamps included carbide lamps, safety lamps, Davy lamps and Wheat lamps. Miners also wore a variety of cap lamps – prior to 1919, headgear would be cloth or canvas hats with leather brims and a metal bracket on the forehead to hold their lamp. The first hard hat for mining was created in 1919 based on the design of soldiers’ helmets.
Carbide mining lamps, or acetylene gas lamps, produce and burn acetylene, created by mixing calcium carbide and water. The body of the lamp is split into small chambers. Calcium carbide is placed into the generator chamber. Above this chamber is a water chamber and a mechanism controls the speed at which the water drips through into the calcium carbide. Controlling the flow of water thus controls the production, and therefore the flow of acetylene gas, which then determines the size of the flame (and amount of light) being produced. A reflector is placed behind the flame to maximise and project the light produced. However, carbide lamps still used a naked flame that was hazardous in coal mines, where it could ignite firedamp. Carbide lamps are still popular now with cavers.
The Wheat lamp was named for its inventor, Grant Wheat. Grant Wheat invented a rechargeable battery powered lamp in 1918. Miners wore helmets with the lamp mounted on the front. A cord ran from the helmet, through a cord holder, to a battery pack worn on the miner’s belt. During the early 20th century, the use of battery powered lamps increased.
Safety lamps were created due to the particular risks found in coal mines. Naked flames could ignite firedamp, and coal dust in the air increased this risk. Coal production increased exponentially during the Industrial Revolution and deeper shafts were sunk. Deeper mines meant more methane released and several fatal explosions and mining disasters spurred on the development of safety lamps. Safety mining lamps were intended to provide light while being unable to ignite firedamp.
Long before batteries or carbide lamps were available in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an early version of a safety lamp was the Davy lamp. The first prototype appeared in 1815 and was elegantly simple – a small oil lamp with a wire mesh screen above in a chimney shape, to enclose the flame. The holes in the mesh allowed light through but the wire absorbed the heat, which prevented the ignition of firedamp. History remembers this as the Davy lamp as it was invented by Sir Humphrey Davy. However, at the same time, George Stephenson was also working on the same problem, and, independently of Davy, invented a very similar mining lamp. Stephenson, however, gained his claim to fame by going on to invent the arguably more famous steam powered locomotive.
