Guidelines -- How To Submit New Entries To The Website Unipart Insulator Submission

Thanks to all the collectors who have assisted providing new additions to the website! This would not be possible without all your help!

We are very interested in any unipart pintype insulator that is not currently listed on the website as follows

• New style not currently listed
  • Significantly different shape from existing styles
  • Significant size difference in one or more dimensions
  • Absence or presence of a key attribute (inner skirt, wire groove, through hole, etc.)
• New color or marking on an existing style
• Pintype insulators are designed to screw or be cemented on a pin and may or may not be threaded
• Unipart insulators generally made as a single piece of porcelain with the following exceptions
  • Glazeweld samples have more than one porcelain pieces attached with glaze to make a single insulator
  • Some dryspot insulators come in two parts that screw together without cement (potheads & Sinclair Adkins patents are two examples)

Once you have identified an insulator to submit, here are some guidelines on the photos and additional data required:

A quality photograph is the most important factor in a contribution. This should not be difficult if some simple procedures are followed.

Background: Regardless of the color of the insulator a white background is the best option for contributions. To ensure consistency all pictures have the background cropped and made white. This can be as simple as using a piece of copy paper or poster board behind the insulator.

Lighting: Natural lighting is usually best, but flash photography can give acceptable results as well if the other guidelines are followed.

Insulator Placement: For consistency insulators should have their top groove perpendicular to the camera so you are looking through the groove.  Insulators with special features (nosers, etc.) should have the feature to the right.  Cross-top styles should be placed so the view sees two grooves.

Profile photo: To get the best results follow these guidelines. A digital camera with optical zoom is the best bet but modern cell phones can also do an adequate job. The goal is to have the photograph as close as possible to a profile drawing.

Taking the picture 3 to 5 feet back from the insulator will significantly reduce distortion. Closer views creates a fish eye affect that distorts the profile. If your camera has optical zoom, this can be used to make the insulator larger in the picture.

The camera should be centered on the insulator. Most collectors pictures are taken looking down on the insulator - this does not provide a consistent image and can hide features such as extended skirts.

The examples below show why the camera angle and distance are important. They also show the desired view and final cropped image to compare with a line drawing.

Other documentation needed:

• Dimensions (height and width, for insulators with multiple skirts the diameter of each is useful)
  • English or Metric can both be used - Metric in mm is preferred as the granularity is better.
  • Site convention is W X H and for multi-skirted insulators the top skirt first working down to the base.
  • Insulators with a nose or other irregular feature may require additional measurements to describe fully
• Details on any markings including a picture if possible
  • Marking type (Incuse, under glaze inkstamp, embossed, sandblast, hand scratched, etc.)
  • Marking location (skirt, dome, top, etc.)
• The default assumption is a single inner skirt - if there is no inner skirt or multiple inner skirts this needs to be noted.
• All pintype insulators will have a pin hole - it is useful to know if it is threaded, threadless, or ridged for cement.
• Some insulators have unusual special features - additional photographs of these are useful. If in doubt, take additional photos.
• Country of origin and/or country where the insulator was found

Submit all information to:

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