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Smith & Turner

1/27/2016

Although I have previously blogged about Smith & Turner I was kindly sent these pictures from Miranda in London and as can be seen from the brass cover plate they are a little different to the previous post.

From a 1904 catalogue they appear to be the single action variant of the models advertised (bottom picture right) although I admit I may be wrong it is difficult to tell conclusively without taking a look in the box.

I hope the above has shed some more light on your fantastic floor springs Miranda? Thank you so much for sending in the pictures and for your interest in the site. Please feel free to leave any comments, possibly some history on your property would be most interesting.

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Colledge & Bridgen 'Perfect'

1/27/2016

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Colledge & Bridgen Ltd of Wolverhampton were advertising their 'Perfect' floor spring in The Architects' Compendium and Diary, stating that "over 20,000 in daily use in many of the Largest and most important Buildings in the United Kingdom and abroad." Whilst this may be true they were not the only ones selling this model floor spring.

As can be seen from the pictures below the 'Perfect' is identical to the William Newmans' 'Invincible' that I have previously blogged about. Parker, Winder & Achurch Ltd also advertised this model floor spring calling it the 'Forward.'

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Bardsley Checking Spring Hinge

1/22/2016

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From the above advert in the American architect and builders news you can see that this particular Bardsley has been around since 1895. I have been unable to find the patent for this particular spring (Maybe Jess might help) the clue to the patent date however is stamped on the brass cover plate.

Although the 'Bardsley' was invented by Joseph Bardsley of New York and I believe is therefore more well known in America this closer was sold in the UK by Nettleford and Sons who had the sole agents rights for the UK in or around the early 1900's.

After restoration this floor spring works like it was just manufactured. It's checking action engages at any position throughout the arc of a doors swing.

You may not be able to discern in the above picture the 'dashpot' that sits in the centre of the spring, you should however see the brass adjuster for it in the middle of the three screws visible.

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Dorma BTS 75V

1/20/2016

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Today I was called out to problems with doors mounted on to Dorma BTS 75 V's. The problem turned out not to be the closers themselves, the doors had split allowing the screws to come loose that held the straps in place beneath the door. We removed the kick plates, glued and bolted the doors back together again, re-fixed the straps and then remounted the doors on to the pivots, adjusting as necessary.

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Britannic Floor Spring

1/18/2016

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After the Christmas holidays the first floor springs we had to deal with were 5 Britannic's at Nottingham University's Law and Social Sciences Building. Some we swapped outright from our stock and some we repaired as can be seen below in the pictures. There were a number of problems we had to overcome including broken springs, wear to the claws, broken piston wheels and wear to the pivots.

The wear has been dealt with, time to put the Britannic's back together again.

Below are comparative shots showing the evolution of the Britannic (William Newman and Sons) also known as the Leader when supplied by Parker Winder & Achurch or the Lion when supplied by Yannedis & Co Ltd.

August 26th, 1926 Herbert George Newman of William Newman & Sons Patent of the Britannic.

William Henry Tonks along with Walter Sparks was also responsible for a similar design dated September 4th, 1924.

Further improvements were also attributed to Tonks of what appears to be an amalgamation of the two designs dated January 21st, 1932.

Comments are always appreciated.

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Orion single action floor spring

1/9/2016

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In this blog entry I would like to introduce you to the Orion. The Orion is the single action 'brother' of the Meteor as previously discussed.

I was called to Doncaster Magistrates Court, for problems with disabled access doors, where Orions are still in place. It turned out not to be the Orions that were the problem, the innards had been removed, retaining the pivot, and a Dorma ED200 fitted.

The ED200 was also working correctly, this time the problem with the door was down to adjustment, original bad fitting of the cover plate surrounding the top pivot and loose fittings in general.

Below is how the Orion looks with all it parts still in place.

Doncaster Magistrates Court was opened in 1969, therefore the floor springs within, Meteors and Orions, have been in the ground for 47 years and apart from needing a service they appear to be working just fine.

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Smith & Turner

Colledge & Bridgen 'Perfect'

Bardsley Checking Spring Hinge

Dorma BTS 75V

Britannic Floor Spring

Orion single action floor spring

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