Blog Archives

F Lassetter & Co Limited (Smiths Patent).

8/28/2017

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

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Robert Adams (Victor) No 22 for heavy doors

8/17/2017

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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.

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The First Floor Spring/Spring Door Closer

8/13/2017

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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.

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Invincible/Forward from Wales.

8/6/2017

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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.

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1927 Smiths

8/1/2017

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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.