| Midlands Floor Springs Limited |
|
     In this instance MFS replaced the Smiths with one from our stock that we had previously saved, serviced and repaired using mix and matched parts.
Here is a link for those interested in history regarding Daniel Tidy and Belsize Park. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol9/pp51-60
0 Comments
I was planning on working on the top plates over the Bank Holiday weekend from the Robert Adams Sceptres but due to a power failure at the workshop I have been unable. I have however been contacted by John from Australia who has sent me pictures of another Smiths I have not heard of before and he is having problems with. I have advised him of my suspicions and await further correspondence with a view to help repair the Australian Smiths. It seems Frederick Lassetter & Co Limited were huge in the early 19th Century right through to the early 20th Century. Here is a link for those interested with regard to their history https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/f_lassetter_and_co Lech, Michael, F Lassetter and Co, Dictionary of Sydney, 2011, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/f_lassetter_and_co, viewed 28 Aug 2017   A quick post about the Sceptres I am working on at the moment in a really beautiful setting, more to come as work progresses.                       Midlands Floor Springs Limited also repairs and services window winding gear/control mechanisms of all types.
Please feel free to comment as usual. I have tried elsewhere on the blog to trace the history of who in fact produced the first device to close a door with the aid of a spring and admittedly I am still not quite 100% sure. Who A. Smith is, who Smith and Turner are and how either relate to Smith, Major, Stevens. According to Abridgements of Specifications relating to Hinges, Hinge Joints, and Door Springs: A. D. 1775-1866, Parts 1775-1866, bottom of page 3 it clearly states A. D. 1790, April 13, - No 1742. Downer, Henry, - (is recognised for) "A spring for the purpose of shutting a door" https://archive.org/stream/patentsforinven50offigoog/patentsforinven50offigoog_djvu.txt   Meaning that the first officially recognised person is therefore Henry Downer (1790) in so much as a spring is used to close a door. In the same pamphlet/booklet on page 9 is reference to Joseph Smith, A. D. 1814, July 16, - No 3822. SMITH, Joseph, - "Spring hinges for doors and gates." From the description of the patent I believe this is the Smith of Smith and Turner fame. A.D. 1814, July 16.— N° 3822. SMITH, Joseph. — " Spring hinges for doors and gates." A brass shoe, fixed on the bottom of the door, has a centre pin or pivot which passes through a fixed brass plate and is stepped into a socket. A lever, carried by the pivot (the pivot lever) and fixed to it, is furnished with a collar (or brass roller) which is between two levers on two different but concentric fulcra. The upper lever is fixed to a spindle connected with the interior of a spiral spring ; the under lever has its fulcrum on a collar con- nected with the spring box of the said spring. A fixed angular piece, in which is inserted a screw, regulates the distance of the upper and under levers when they are at rest. This invention is adapted for doors that open either one or both ways ; when the door opens to the right, the upper lever is forced back by the pivot lever, and " when opened to its extent, becomes light and easy in consequence of the spring having lost a great portion of its power, by means of the brass roller " <( having passed nearly to " the end " of the upper lever, thus, by the door opening, the pivot lever " obtains great power over the spring, and as the door *' closes, the spring regains its former strength." When the door is opened to the left, the pivot lever forces back the under lever, and the operation has the same effect as before described. A couple of toothed wheels, eccentrically pivoted, may be used instead of the upper and under levers. In fixing the door, an upper centre pin or pivot is fitted to the top of the door vertically over the pivot connected with the said brass shoe. [Printed, 6d. Drawing.] Graces Guide appears to confirm my suspicions by the 1814 date as can be seen below although the advert from the site however does state they were established in 1799. http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Smith_and_Turner   From here: http://www.hevac-heritage.org/electronic_books/lifts/7-express_lift_Co_Ltd.pdf  It clearly states "In 1770 Mr Smith founded a small engineering company at 69 Princes St, London, the present site of the Prince of Wales Theatre. He was an ironmonger of considerable inventive talent. Among other things he invented an early door spring or door closer for locating in the floor under the door."  From here: http://www.northamptonshirerecordsociety.org.uk/eNpp/NppNo2_e.pdf  It again clearly states "...the beginning of this business can be traced back to 1770 when Archibald Smith patented a spring door-closing device, improved models of which are made by the company to this day." We also have further reference from Graces Guide and the name John Smith and a date of 1760: http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Smith,_Major_and_Stevens "Smith, Major and Stevens of Abbey Works, Weedon Road, Northampton 1760 Company established previous to this by John Smith (records go back no further). By 1878 Messrs. Archibald Smith and Co., hydraulic and general engineers, were in Leicester Square, London. 1880 A new factory was built at Battersea to meet the expansion of the business, and the firm's name was altered to Archibald Smith and Stevens."   We also have the above news paper article to throw in the mix, where it states "William Smith set up a hardware business in Princes Street, London. His business which became Archibald Smith and Stevens..."
So from three different sources we have the names Archibald Smith, John Smith, William Smith and the dates of 1760 and 1770 plus a number of references to a door spring invention that established the company, along with hoist manufacture. For those interested it is therefore reasonable to assume that 1. Despite the patent of Henry Downer (1790) the first device to close a door by way of a spring/spring device is more than likely attributable to the Smith line (20 to 30 years before Downers patent), later to become Smith, Major, Stevens. 2. "Smith" of Smith and Turner is not the same Smith as the Smith, Major, Stevens line. 3. Despite their claims (unless you want to play with definitions) Smith and Turner were not the first to manufacture/produce/invent a door spring (their earliest reference only goes back as far as 1799 and in all likely hood should be 1814, either nine or twenty four years after Downer and as said possibly as many as fifty four years after Smith). 4. More investigation is needed. I hope you find this blog post interesting and please feel free to comment.    Here are some Invincible/Forwards that we supplied springs and repaired the piston to, not something we normally do because from our experience we know that these particular floor springs will be needing more than a change of springs and repair to the piston to get them working as they should.
Hats off to the owner for taking the time to polish the components however and keeping them in the ground.    Today I have been to a local house where the owner to his credit is sympathetically restoring it. Fascinatingly he provided me with the paperwork below showing the costs of the Smiths originally plus the price for fitting. I am also informed the Architect Sir Charles A. Nicholson, Bart (FRIBA) is well known in the Country for the building of Churches in this time period (1927). I hope and expect the Smiths to be there working for another hundred years now the springs have been replaced.    As I am currently working on the hydraulic (Hydraulisch) Schubert & Werth door closer I thought I would show you the pneumatic door check and closer that the famous Berlin Door Closer Factory produced. This particular door closer must be before 1912 because from that time forward (1912) the company was renamed Schubert and Sohn (Son). Below you can see the 1892 Patent from Hermann Schubert and Rudolph Werth.     Above is an original ad from 1902 showing both types of türschließer that Schubert & Werth manufactured. You can also see how the pneumatic closer is mounted to the door frame.
Today I would like to introduce you to a fine old Pre-First World War Schubert & Werth of Berlin 'Eagle' Door Check that has seen far better days. When I got it I discovered the con-rod is badly worn, the piston has turned 45 degrees (becoming unconnected from the spindle and crank, which is also bent), the piston is frozen in the bore, the main spring was disconnected, the gland nut is shattered into three pieces, all the seals are perished and the spring in the arm is snapped, some may say therefore fit only for the bin! Considering however that the makers Schubert and Werth were exhibiting in the Exhibition of the German Empire in Chicago 1893 I hope to save it from the bin. The original version of this door closer was introduced around 1902, having a single valve to the front and no valve on the top, to the right as can be seen in my photographs. As you will see this antique door closer would not look out of place in the Reichstag Building or even the Winter Place.   I really love the depth of cast and the fine Prussian Eagle.  The broken gland nut.  The bent and twisted crank.  A shot of the top cover after the top sleeve has been removed and the beginning of the 'Adlers' renovation and repair. For those interested the inscription reads: Schubert & Werth, Berlin, Door Check/Door Closer, Factory.  As can be seen above the Pheon...Prussian Eagle is slowly rising from the ashes. The original Adler was gold in colour but on this rare occasion I have decided to change the colour of the door closer from gold to matt black, slightly scuffed/polished back off to pick out the high points. Of course the outside of this door closer is the easy part to the repair/renovation, it is the mechanicals that are causing the problems as described above. Up date: The beautiful old ADLER is now back working as it should, this was certainly not an easy repair as the piston was seized solid in the bore, there was major wear to the con rod, the crank was both bent and twisted, all seals had perished long ago, the spring in the arm was rusted through and the gland nut was broken into three pieces.
You can see it working at our You Tube site, not the most fitting of doors to have the ADLER mounted to but it can at least be shown to be working. https://youtu.be/yqgJ0ueJu8c Robert Adams moved into the door closer business it appears from around 1927 with another product in the Victor line, that being the R.A.V (Robert Adams Victor) door closer. The model number on the one I am showing you is size 556 roughly equivalent to a Briton B.  I have discovered however that this was not Robert Adams own design. I can find no patent for this model door closer associated to the Adams name and as can be seen from my pictures it is identical to a Yale 62 and was probably just that a Yale YR 62 re-branded. The RAV in the above advert it should be noted has the valve mounted on top rather than in the end. This is still a Yale 62 but known as the Y62 introduced in 1911 as a successor to the Yale/Blount after Yale bought and marketed Blounts original design which goes back as far as 1883.     As you can see in the above the RAV is identical to the G & S Allgood (YALE YR62). Below is the YALE 202 bracket from the Allgood, again identical to the one on the RAV.  As usual please feel free to comment.
The above is a video ink to a repaired Newman Tonks universal fit 7063. When it came to Midlands Floor Springs Limited the pin had snapped and it had lost its sweep and latch, it was therefore deemed only fit for the bin, these are considered irreparable, sealed throw away floor springs. Below is a picture of the now red N/T 7063 next to its smaller brother the Newman Tonks 7004 which I took parts from to repair the 7063.  The problem I consider to be the same as that found with other modern floor springs and transom closers but as can be seen in the video link they are repairable.
We were recently contacted by Richard from Australia who has the H&S Smiths Spring in his home there. Whilst he was here in England we provided him with a new set of springs for his Smiths. The company and logo is not one I have come across before and would love if someone has any information regarding the H&S company from, I presume Australia, that they are willing to share with readers.   We have let Richard know that he is more than welcome to contact us for advice on fitting his new springs as they can be extremely difficult to shoe horn in especially in the smaller of the Smiths model as this one is. Update: We have had word another Smiths has been saved and will live to fight many more days to come!  Today I would like to introduce you to a number of William and Robert Leggotts floor springs, ones I have yet to come across in the flesh, therefore I can only as yet provide you pictures from a catalogue that Alex from Inch's Books kindly sent me. As far as I am aware Leggotts were still going into the 1970's. If any readers still have these floor springs operating their doors I would be most interested to hear from you.  Leggotts also produced the "LEGOS" double action floor spring and the "REBA" single action floor spring, they also produced a Briton B derivative under their own title, calling it the "ANGLO."
As always please feel free to comment. This old broken floor closer was supplied by Parker, Winder & Achurch and was at the site of the Bommers that I have made to not stand open at 90 degrees. It is very similar to the Monarch and was probably a copy, you maybe able to see the little return on the yoke, this is as far as I can see the only real difference between a true Monarch and the Parwinac version. I believe it must have been put in the building after 1936 as the is no mention of this particular floor door closer in their catalogue of this year.       This is not a Robert Adams designed floor spring which will I feel may make certain folk happy. Although I have shown you the Invincible before this one is supplied by Charles Smith of Deritend Bridge 'Works' Birmingham and later of 17 Conduit Street, London. Charles Smith and Sons were well known as contractors and manufacturers of all type of metal-ware, supplying to many public buildings and mansions including Windsor Castle. They are however probably best known for their locks rather than the supply and manufacture of door checks. It is interesting as this one had an adjustable spring which comprised of 3 springs (one inside the other), it being therefore more powerful than the previous Invincible's I have shown you. It should be seen that this model uses square section springs similar to many Robert Adams designed checks and closers.    Here is another Robert Adams I worked on a while back at St John the Evangelist, Old Couldson. As can be seen from the pictures I took this is an early Robert Adams floor spring, as stated before each one is individually marked and the number on this one being reasonably low at only 336 (I wonder where number 1 is)   You can see there were two more Robert Adams door springs that appear to have long since been removed or moved (the ones I worked on could be them) and all that is left is an oil stain on the flagstones. Any guesses Jess why the cup was formed at the end of the carriage? Update: The 336 may in fact be a model/size/strength number as there is another number on the box which I now feel maybe the serial number. Further update: The 336 is definitely a model number, the model I worked on is still early however as it has not yet been named the 'Crown Victor.'
Here are the model numbers which are associated with door width, thickness etc: No 335, 336, 337 these models all have checks, the model numbers for this closer without checks are 330, 331, 332 this floor spring has further identifiers associated with it, these being B, C, D, E and F. Despite recent events and the accusations of "passing off" I shall continue to blog about the Robert Adams range of floor springs, plus any and all I come across as I feel there are freedom of speech issues involved, right of expression and to be curtailed from doing so would I feel be detrimental to how as I understand it the Internet works and should work. I have been approached by a local ironmongers of some historical note regarding Robert Adams Sceptre Number 21's fortunately still in place in the Leicester County Council Headquarters. They appear to be a similar one to the version I was sent the piston from, it is nice to see how the springs are positioned as previously I only got to work on the piston, pivot and yoke of this model.  I have again kindly been sent some pictures of a supplier I have not come across before, that being Baldwins Ltd of Birmingham. The floor springs beneath these plates are Air Check Invincible's (a model I have covered before). They appear to have made/supplied skates according to an advert found on Gracesguide. http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Baldwins_(Birmingham)  Picture has been supplied by Phil Hallam.
Since beginning MFS I have had my phone hacked, my computer hacked, them both switched off at various times, volume adjusted, calls made to drop, this site edited and most recently a series of emails from an Alan Percy/Percya claiming he is Robert Adams (Victor) Ltd and I am passing off. To be brutally honest I thought he meant I was 'pissing him' off or whoever has been doing the above but was too polite to ask if he was dyslexic/drunk or some such other. Anyway to cut a long story short (but will tell on my MFS story, in FULL you naughty people) I am going to post on here our correspondences and let the world be the Judge on if I have done anything wrong and have in fact been passing anyone off which I do not feel in my gut I have by discussing door closers and floor springs, the wonderful inventors and the fabulous buildings I am lucky enough to get to work in through single handidly (I remind you all, although I have yet to see the benefits because of all the trouble you have caused me) creating this niche market (when of course I am not being bullied, threatened, intimidated, have so many calls, job inquiries, emails, spam thrown at me all at once to derail my day). Edited the reference to the phone number myself. You've just received a new submission to your Contact Form. Submitted Information: Name Alan Percya alanpercy@gmail.com Comment Hi, my son just came around saw my playing around with the web and made me delete you asap in fact he did it and called me mad, said your site was passing off ! Still can't get my head around it but sure we can find some common ground alan Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 19 (7 days ago) to alanpercy (Here it should say "I don't know what passing off is nor do I know why he is saying your mad" but it has been removed somehow) As for common ground, we already have that. We are both skint, know a shed load about floor springs, have an interest in Bob Adams and we both know my number 0**********. Alan Percy Apr 19 (7 days ago) to me Panic not my son will leave later and we can chat ! Something about customers kids ! Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Alan Dear, n I have a customer wanting to take some Dormas out and put the originals back in which were Sceptres I believe can you supply two? If so how much do you want for them, its a fine old building run by some nice folk. Can you do this/are you interested or not? Please let me know asap please either way. Regards Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me As rod as you know I'm off work at present. When I'm better we can have a chat but on this ocassion I can't help never herd thst one before taking out new and putting in old must be a first. Let me know when your in London next meet up for a coffee. I have a container er load of spares when i purchased james adams. but not been near it in a few years. Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me My sons concerns was you emplying that you are in fact related to Robert adams victor or your compay is which you are not. He gone off to seek advice that's all. Told me not to speak with you kids To smart for there own good sometimes Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Alan Ok Alan well I do appreciate you letting me know. My feelings are from a heritage point of view, B and Q may make plastic guttering that is functional and cheap, does the job and someone may have put it on the side of their stately home when their lead lined channel leading to some cherrubum's trumpet crumbled to pieces. But what do you think would better suit if you had the opportunity to use either? From the customers point of view would you want to replace whatever with something that does not work as well or for as long? From Earths point of view why wreck me more by making something that's already been manufactured? And so on and so forth as I see it there are more pluses than minuses? I maybe biased but I don't even see many negatives, do you? Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Alan I never said I was related to Robert Adams i am an independant, a maverick, pain in the arse to some, lovable rogue to others. I am just trying to get by and do the right thing for as many as possible in as short a time as possible. Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me Not many negatives but the ones that exist need a little tweaking I'm sure once that is done think we can work together I'm sure of it . Both a dying breed but sure you can see from our point of view .as I said panic not for the min but would be nice for you to change it all as midlands door springs who then repair our springs. But that's just me thinking out side of box. As I said should really be speaking to you as yet but sound like a real nice guy . Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Alan All I have done is flip everything on its head and come at things from an entirely different angle, think of it as truly putting the customer first instead of just saying you do and walking away with their money. If you don't want to be involved I understand I am not everyone's cup of tea I know that. I will have to find a way around not having access to parts if that is the case but find a way I will. Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me Lol its not what you said it's the implication of what you have implying which in law is passing off. That's all. Let me know your views on changing it as son gearing up to send solicitors letter which is crazy stupid in fact but it's he who will eventually own the rights to the robert adams legacy Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Alan I am in trouble for repairing and promoting something, I don't get it? We had better meet when you have time I don't want to purposely upset anyone that is not my goal at all I assure you. I have an interest in more than Bob Adams though, looks like I will have upset Ben Turner, Andrew Smith as well, along with Mr Newman, Mr tonks, Joseph Bardsley, Jimmy Gibbons, Mr Cartland, Dougie Mole, Jimbo Hill, Eddie Showell, in fact almost every inventor, investor, distributor, manufacturer, patentee and more from here to Timbuktu and I still haven't finished! Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me Sadly you are totally missing the point but yes I'm sure we can sort some ting out. Take care will contact you soon Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Alan I am sorry Charles, I mean no harm, sorry Alan. Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me Just spoke to my son. Any one who searches us gets you and that's passing off. I have been informed that unless you change that within two weeks we will commenced legal action. Sorry but it's like people searching you get me. It's passing off . Sorry but you have been duly informed. Please confirm that you will retify this issue. If not proceedings will follow. This does not mean you can't repair these springs just we don't want you passing yourself off as us . Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Davies Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me Try looking up passing off on the Web Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me Better still look up passing off in law . Two weeks we can either work together as I think you have a skill thst we could use or we can sit in front of a judge and let him decide with all costs associated with it. As I said don't panic but son just read me riot act . Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Alan I just have and will have to take some advice on this it's out of my league I am afraid. Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me Out of mine two ! Take care Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Davies Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> Apr 24 (2 days ago) to Alan In fact before i stubbornly dig my heels in and decide to argue/fight i am prepared to meet and listen to what you have to say, to see if we can come to an agreement where I don't feel like I am being bullied. I had that as a kid and i get a little techy about it. Because in truth i dont exactly know how i got where i am on the Google, over and above what i think. If your honest with me then i am reasonable. I will leave it with you and hopefully we can chat tomoz. I now have a shit night ahead because of the worry so lol hope your foots sore! Alan Percy Apr 24 (2 days ago) to me No problem with meeting with you but will have to be after my son and I have seen our solicitor. My son is just keen to protect the hood will of the company name that we have used for years that he feels you have jepodized. So sleep well panic not it will all come out in the wash. Talk after we have had some more advise alan Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> 10:54 AM (16 hours ago) to Alan Dear Alan, I have informed Google and linked in, my accountant, the Masonic Lodge on Queen Street via Onyx, I will also contacted the LLEP Gateway folk and will discuss on my blog of your concerns. I am not a solicitor obviously but the way I see it Your Ford. You have made some fine vehicles and have done for years, I have a little garage that repairs all the old makes you used to once manufacture. I like to blog about not only the cars you once made but those produced by Vauxhall, Toyota etc because I work on them all, unfortunately you chose not to. I think your stance is out to stifle free enterprise because your saying I can't talk about the Escort, the Calibre, the Camry and I think your wrong to do this, it seems unfair to me. Now if you want to tell me you work at Oxford University and take out the words 'use me' and come at me on a honest level playing field then fair enough but if not and you are all about smoke and mirrors i have had enough of all that rubbish and we will not start out well. Fear not, I may go easy on you yet and just my opinion. Interested but not intimidated Rod Fathers Esq. Alan Percy 11:38 AM (16 hours ago) to me Enough said you will be hearing from our solicitors in due course. There is more to the above correspondence via linkedin but I am struggling to find it at the moment but will post it. As usual comment if you want. Edit: I had a struggle posting the above, my main computer the key board has stopped working yesterday and I struggled to write the above as I normally do so had to dig deep and find another way. Unfortunately I seem to have upset Robert Adams (Victor) Ltd. I received further correspondence from Alan Percy today, below: Alan Percy 2:53 PM (4 hours ago) to me Keep writing your posts of our conversations your scam will shortly be well and truly uncovered. You are stealing over 100 years of good will that I own . Enjoy why you can Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> 7:43 PM (5 minutes ago) to Alan Dear Alan, You did in fact threaten me, you threatened me with commercial war but wouldn't that be M.A.D? See what your asking me to do, I cannot, I cannot stop talking about Robert Adams, because I will be bringing to my Blog the Robert Adams "Cushion Victor" Pneumatic Silent Check Spring Hinges, the Robert Adams "The City," the Robert Adams "London Victor Sykes," the Robert Adams "Hurricane Victor," the Robert Adams "Diadam," The Robert Adams "Gem," his 4 spring 11 inch deep model (Do you know its name?), I may go on to discus Robert Adams other achievements, his tin hat and his collaboration with the War Office, the "ERA", his fan lights, the buildings his wonderfully inventive mind helped ventilate and keep secure. I may go on to discuss his coming to London at an early age a little like Dick Whittington (without the cat) and possibly me, I may discuss his off spring I may go on to discuss many things! See I believe dear Alan that it should be shame on you because if you do have all the things you claim then you should not have kept them in a container, there mechanical, functional, marvels and I would have more use of the things you claim. It shouldn't always be about the money my friend. As said you still have chance to be reasonable and come at me as an equal and may I remind you, you are going to spoil my business blog making me post your threats on line. Kind regards Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> 7:48 PM (0 minutes ago) to Davies Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> 7:48 PM (0 minutes ago) to Davies Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> 8:00 PM (1 minute ago) to Alan PS Please feel free to comment in the correct place, the comments part of each blog post, it is at the bottom.Rod Fathers <servicesbf@gmail.com> 8:01 PM (0 minutes ago) to Davies Here is further correspondence from Mr Percy, I don't believe he is the scammer I have been told he is. I believe he is someone within the Industry who is trying to derail/curtail my business which has been going on for some two plus years now.
Unfortunately as I have said before, he could have come at me open and honestly but I believe greed/jealousy has got the better of him (just my opinion of course). You still have the option to work with me as an equal Mr Percy and I will take this blog section down or do I have to tell everyone you have burnt your foot/ankle with a boiling kettle? Alan Percy Apr 29 (1 day ago) to me A take on board your comments and will now live it for my solicitor to deal with it. Only yesterday had a customer check me out on line funny they got you. You are stealing my business. And that can't be right please blog this. Alan Percy Apr 29 (1 day ago) to me Please provide address for service or will just to your registered address MFS actively supports and promotes the repair and recycling of floor springs (which is obviously good for the environment) we therefore dedicate this post to Earth Day, April 22nd. I have been contacted by Phil Hallam , who is a collector of floor springs he informs me. Phil kindly provided the pictures of a floor spring that I have not personally come across before, this being The Wallace. As can be seen The Wallace is a single action floor spring manufactured by Showell (Edwin Showell of Birmingham), these particular ones have the beautiful B.M.A (Bronze Metal Antique) finish and appear quite powerful. I will post a little more about these floor springs if and when I can find out more, I do however feel they were a forerunner to the Showell 524/Josiah Parkes Ltd/Union I have mentioned in an earlier blog post (512 double action version). If anyone has any further information they are willing to share then please get in touch or comment if you prefer. The pictures below Phil has kindly provided for those interested, thank you.    .A quick post about the Bardsley surface mounted door check and spring, which as can be seen was invented/patented in 1903 by Joseph Bardsley of New York.      As you will see the Bardsley's I have are slightly different to the ones in the patent, the adjustment valve is positioned in a different place so I believe they came after the patent date of 1903, there was also some sort of connection between Le Page who along with Bardsley obtained patents in both America and Canada for the closer in the patent.  :https://archive.org/details/hardmerchjanmar1909toro
"LePage Invented the LePage Oil Door Check and Spring and with Bardsley of New York obtained patents for USA and Canada, he sold them all over including the Smithsonian and the White House." The above information regarding LePage and Bardsley taken from here: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-unique-wooden-communion-tray-with-glass I have previously spoken about the Sceptre but yesterday i discovered something new regarding it. I popped in to the Grand Lodge, Freemasons Hall in Queens Street (as previously mentioned), London to look at their main doors which they had issues with. unfortunately (in my opinion) the original floor springs from the entrance doors had been removed at some time in the past and replaced with modern units. Fortunately however there were many original units still in place in other parts of this unbelievable building, these were as I later discovered the fantastic Sceptre. Before looking beneath the top plate I squintingly spotted a makers mark on the shoe (our old friend Mr Adams) as you may be able to see in the picture below. This was helpful because there were no makers marks on the plates themselves (or so I thought).  I removed a random top plate to discover beneath a Sceptre, this particular one was not in too bad a condition, the piston is not working and it had lost to some degree the ability to centre correctly, a problem due to wear I have discovered with this model before.  Whilst I have not come across this exact model Sceptre I have at least seen the piston before. It is a more squat version than the ones I have in stock as previously blogged about. Interestingly and to my delight I did discover on the reverse side of the top plate a pristine example of the makers mark, it receiving no wear is as crisp as the day it was manufactured as can be seen below.  As you can see there is a W after the number 22 and wonder if the W is for water tight?
I know not why exactly the plates have been reversed, possibly to stop advertisement, but I can see the countersinking for the screws is on the other side, so this reversal was obviously intentional and not simply a mistake by the original fitter. Here are a couple of links about the Hall and Freemasonry in general for those wanting to know a little more. http://www.ugle.org.uk/freemasons-hall/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry As in the last post I have only a picture to show for the moment (taken from the same Buiders Guide) but please note the similarities to the Convergent from the previous entry. It appears the only difference between a Convergent and Mr Adams Spring Hinge is one is double action and the other appears to be single action.  I have as yet only had a call to identify today's blog entry, that being the Robert Adams Convergent, one I have not shown before. At the moment I have only a picture to show you scanned by Google from Laxton's Builder's Price Book. I believe the Convergent was produced in or around 1872 and I hope to bring you the report on it in the future. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YX0FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA317&dq=r+adams+spring+hinge&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=r%20adams%20spring%20hinge&f=false  Readers, should by now, have come to the conclusion, among other things, that not all floor springs are equal... ...I hope therefore the message is clear.
All the best Earth. |
AuthorAs there is so little information out there with regard to door closers, especially vintage and antique model floor springs, I thought I would start this blog. Archives
October 2017
Categories |
RSS Feed