Floor Springs Wanted

11/27/2015

Whilst Midland Floor Springs is a business concerned with the maintenance, repair and fitting of floor springs, the owner Rod Fathers is also an avid collector of floor springs, door springs, swing door centres, door closers and ancillary fittings.

If there is anyone out there who comes across any antique or vintage models of the above then please contact me on our site number.

If your a door fitter yourself for possibly Dorma, Geze or any of the big manufacturers or suppliers of floor springs please 'Think Before You Skip' and give us a call so MFS can keep as many out of the landfills as possible. We will always 'skip' round to collect any you have saved.

MFS is considering displaying and promoting a door closer and floor spring collection if anyone out there has any ideas or suggestions please make them known to us via phone, email or simply post in the comments. Many thanks from MFS.

6 Comments

Jess The Door Closer doctor

12/1/2015 05:55:02 am

Hello MFS.

I like your idea of the announcement for getting peopel to send you their old (antique) floor springs,

that's right, think before you skip, what is one person's trash is another's treasure,

been curious too, forgot to ask, the Titanic, knownig that ship set sail in 1912, and many or the floorsprings you have on your site have been around back then, so the question here, (maybe you can find answer at Birmingham Library?) were there any floorsprings on the Titanic??

as for the online closer collection, I say go for it, nothing bad or ashamed of to show the world what kind of closers make you happy or what relics you have talent in repairing.

Rod (MFS) link

12/1/2015 08:48:50 pm

Hi Jess it is great to hear from you again, as always. Maybe the message will get through to someone eh, that these fantastic pieces of engineering deserve better than the inside of a skip. I will let you know of any impending plans for the closer collection.

With regard to the Titanic what an interesting thought, I would presume the ship had floor springs...now to find out which ones eh?

Jess the door closer doctor

12/3/2015 08:16:01 pm

Rod,

I wonder if facebook can help with this, or twitter, as I often get some questions about old closers (remember the one I sent you photo of? Sargent floor spring?)

as for the collection, good luck, I started collecting in 1997 (first was a sargent screen door closer, has torsion spring on end where it connects to doorframe and is of steel, not aluminum,

I still enjoy collecting closers, both new and old, and whenever I can get them (or different types/brands)

my thoughts for the Titanic, I have a feeling they had Newmann-Tonks, as I am sure that brand was around back then in 1912. and since a ship can list (tilt) to one side and cause doors to not close properly, I am sure they may have been set to strong spring strength to close the doors securely

today's ships. thats why you see 2 closers stacked one above the other and the 2 are joined by the shaft and upper connects to arm, many brands do not encourage "stacking" as it can put some strain on them.

MFS link

12/4/2015 11:27:37 pm

Hi Jess you never fail to amze me! I have never even considered floor springs/door closers on ships but yes, of course they must have them and yes of course you are probably right they will probably have to be heavy duty or 'stacked' to accomodate for the rolling waves. I will have to investigate this in more depth (lol kinda sea pun there). Have just wrote a small piece for the Building Conservation Directory 2016 and will post it on the blog when edited, you might find it interesting as it kinda messes up the belief Mr Norton/Blount were the first. Look forward to hearing from you soon.

MFS link

12/4/2015 11:48:35 pm

According to this site http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/2012/09/sorry-girls-titanic-doors-were-made-of.html 'There were three types of wood commonly used on the Titanic, teak, oak and pine'......so the doors could have been made of any of three types of wood or combination of any or all (apart from steel/iron bulk head type doors of course). Now I have to find out what closes em eh Jess?

Jess the Door closer doctor

12/5/2015 09:15:43 pm

Hello MFS,

nice to hear from ya again,

as for the peice you wrote, I look foward to seeing the article you wrote, I hope my 4 L's of closers was not too late for the article, back in the 1880's Norton was first AMERICAN to invent a controlled closer (te NortonDoor check & Spring, basically a large bore screen door closer that was dampened pneumatically (air) it wasnt until the 1900's when manufacuters started the hydraulic controlled closers (and floor closers) as Oscar C. Rixson came out with the Rixson double acting floor closer (today, a similar version is still sold, known as the #15 "Duo-Check"

rixson also made transom operators (a rod or mechanism to open the window above a door for ventilation) as well as window pulls (to grip sash and pull it up or lower window)

Rix also made a household version of the "Duo-check, it was referred to as the "Rixson Jr"

as for Titanic's doors, I remember watching one of the documenteries about the sinking and what caused it, they mentioned the woods used on the decks, doors as well as the furniture (the deck chairs) the rason for the 3 choices of woods, those 3 woods to not obsorb moisture as much as maple or other "loose fibre" wood may do. since its a tight fibre grain, less water absorption, great for wet applications (pools and beaches/oceanliners)

as for the "stacked" closers, I have had questions to answer about those, soo far, all have been land based applications for stacked closers (airports, high wind areas as well as one Nuclear power facility)

would be interesting what you find out when you do find out "in depth" what was closing the doors (series and brands) on the Titanic!!

Floor Springs Wanted

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