A Clamond basket is a kind of

gas mantle A Coleman white gas lantern mantle glowing at full brightness An incandescent gas mantle, gas mantle or Welsbach mantle is a device for generating bright white light when heated by a flame. The name refers to its original heat source in gas li ...

, invented in the 1880s by the Parisian Charles Clamond, and which he later patented in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was the first economically practical gas mantle, since prior mantles had involved expensive materials like

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

and

iridium Iridium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. This very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density ...

Producing the gauze

A dense water-based slurry of

magnesium hydroxide Magnesium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Mg(OH)2. It occurs in nature as the mineral brucite. It is a white solid with low solubility in water (). Magnesium hydroxide is a common component of antacids, such as milk o ...

and magnesium acetate is forced through a small hole in a metal plate. On exposure to air it solidifies sufficiently to make a thread which is shaped into the required form.

Use

When exposed to a hot flame, a basket made of this composite gauze would burn away the acetate, leaving a brittle but serviceable magnesia (

magnesium oxide Magnesium oxide (MgO), or magnesia, is a white hygroscopic solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium (see also oxide). It has an empirical formula of MgO and consists of a lattice of Mg2+ ions and O2− ions ...

) basket behind as the mantle. Charles Lungren subsequently patented a support mechanism which allowed such fragile baskets to be employed more easily. Clamond filed a related patent which deals with production, storage, and transport-proofing mantles.

References

{{reflist Types of lamp Gas technologies