tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27344975063187401212024-03-05T07:58:42.170-08:00Plumbing Geek Blogplumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-26358619204585023132019-02-24T16:46:00.001-08:002019-02-24T16:53:55.663-08:00Custom drain wrenches. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There are more than a few styles of drain strainer wrench. There are also several styles of drain strainer. As with most things to do with plumbing, drain strainers have become fairly uniform. In the times before drain strainers became uniform there were some interesting and sometimes beautifully ornate variations. Therein lies the problem. </div>
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Most of the faucets that are sent to me for restoration must first be removed from large heavy fixtures. They have been set on those fixtures for many decades and it is usually no easy task to separate them. One of the most difficult parts to remove is the drain strainer. This is complicated further when the strainer is cast in an ornate pattern that will lend itself to no known style of strainer wrench. Unfortunately, because of this problem, I sometimes receive bent or twisted ornate drain strainers along with the brassware I am to restore.<br />
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I do my very best to remedy this and sometimes have interesting results. That is a different blog post though and I will be getting to it soon.<br />
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The work I do these days is far down the road of my journeyman experience. At this point I see myself as an artisan and my work is important to me in terms that don't relate to profit. In a way it is simple problem solving and in a way it is using my tools and my skills to manipulate various materials with the goal of preserving and at times recreating what once was.<br />
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While I have the time and interest to do this work, most plumbers do not. Nor should they unless they care to, under their own momentum. One thing I do not want to do is make their task more challenging than it needs to be. I expressly want them to have success when it comes time to reinstall the fixtures I am sending back. I am always willing to consult on the reinstallation, though most plumbers don't ask for the help. I probably wouldn't either. I try to provide specifications and measurements when I think it will help. I also try to provide tools at times, especially for unusual drain strainer patterns.<br />
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For the most part the drain strainer wrenches I fashion would not successfully remove strainers frozen in place by decades. They should be strong enough to be used as installation tools though. I have made quite a few custom drain wrenches and I am getting better at taking the time to get photos along the way. <br />
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This ornate lavatory drain was made by J.L. Mott. I have seen the pattern several times on drains of basins as well as tubs. This strainer plate has suffered a bit and is no longer truly symmetrical. It is in fair condition though. When I make a tool for a strainer I try to create as many points of contact as I can. I also try to make those points of contact as far out on the radius as I can. That way the stress is shared by more than the usual two points and the points of contact have more potential torque. In this case I have created six points of contact. I am sending two of these fixtures back and I wanted to make a tool; that would work for both.<br />
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Notice the blue tape. the strainer is not symmetrical so the tool fits best when the tape on the tool and strainer align.</div>
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What I envisioned for this tool was a PVC cap with a flat face. I found that I did have such a fitting and began my fabrication. The first thing I did was to lay the flat top of the cap onto the strainer face and pencil the pattern of the plate onto the flat surface of the cap. I then put the cap onto the drill press and drilled six 1/8" holes to match up with the centers of the six outlying holes in the strainer. I then drilled these holes larger in preparation for my 1/4 x 20 tap. I will often begin with smaller bits as a way of staying on center when working by eye. Once the holes were drilled and tapped I was ready for screws. <br />
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I selected six 1/4" x 20 steel straight slot screws. I then cut into the straight slots until the slots extended under the heads. That way I could cut the heads off and the screws would essentially be long straight slot set screws. I cut the heads off so that I could mount the screws into my lathe. Then I <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">blunted</span> the sharpness of the screw threads on the lathe to protect the brass from the threads. <br />
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With the screws in place I mixed enough epoxy to embed the screws inside of the cap, creating a much stronger tool. At that point I covered the steel screws with shrink wrap intended for wiring, further protecting the brass from the steel.<br />
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With the blue tape in alignment the tool fits into the strainer very well. </div>
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The face of the other strainer is near identical because I fabricated it using this strainer as the model. </div>
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Needless to say, the tool fits both as I had hoped. </div>
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Of the three lavatory drain assemblies I received for this project one was different.<br />
Making this tool was much simpler and I did it in my usual way. I was more conscious of getting photos of the process with this tool.<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Once I have selected what I will use as the face of my tool I center it on the strainer and mark where it will protrude through. In this case the best fit was found using a 3/4" CPVC coupling. </span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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Unless one goes very deeply into the brass there are imperfections in the metal, created by decades of exposure to soap and water, that are not reached by polishing. Those imperfections cannot be seen on the polished surface but electroplating may expose them. </div>
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These flaws, along with the remnants of wrench scars, impact marks, and other damage are not things that I remedy. </div>
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In my view, wear that does not impact function lends authenticity to the fixture. </div>
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I often use a hand saw to make my cuts. This time I used a cutoff wheel and my moto tool.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaExaWlCFvcCOQrbPBu3Qa1J4_4KCEuH423uzWJB8QKEzzlQEFRQ0taRWCytCo6mLmkD3JmGNINoV7KCCvJ5zk3uBkvWr1HyUlw2YKxvio4ZkkHF-7OqVL63pZd4PjsSLhyphenhyphenxj3f-OT_o/s1600/F43DC588-CF30-4608-B31E-9250B20AEC0F.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaExaWlCFvcCOQrbPBu3Qa1J4_4KCEuH423uzWJB8QKEzzlQEFRQ0taRWCytCo6mLmkD3JmGNINoV7KCCvJ5zk3uBkvWr1HyUlw2YKxvio4ZkkHF-7OqVL63pZd4PjsSLhyphenhyphenxj3f-OT_o/s640/F43DC588-CF30-4608-B31E-9250B20AEC0F.jpeg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The unmarked and isolated sections represent the spokes of the drain pattern. </td></tr>
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The narrow sections are removed with a needle nose plier.<br />
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What remains are six lugs that fit into the pattern of the strainer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20jDyQBE_SszDwBAVutoKiLN-J1uDvETo0c8Un0uz6_dVE1aa1sUFy073jZvw6dsh_Qgjm6B8S7Z7lvq9d5X05Fm27RxQSQBz92Ci6Rldc2tPkYkYxQtoydbhtXo-9KgRgPju9h_3VqY/s1600/81082B6D-D2C0-4F54-8549-520486404DF7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg20jDyQBE_SszDwBAVutoKiLN-J1uDvETo0c8Un0uz6_dVE1aa1sUFy073jZvw6dsh_Qgjm6B8S7Z7lvq9d5X05Fm27RxQSQBz92Ci6Rldc2tPkYkYxQtoydbhtXo-9KgRgPju9h_3VqY/s640/81082B6D-D2C0-4F54-8549-520486404DF7.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This power tool is an old Montgomery Ward Power Craft. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This tool will go with the fixture for the convenience of the installer. </td></tr>
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<br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-75217967791647781092019-02-21T10:53:00.000-08:002019-02-21T10:54:32.775-08:00Replacing J.L. Mott porcelain index buttons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have just completed my restoration project on a set of vintage J.L. Mott lavatory faucets. One of the challenges I had to overcome was the lack of original porcelain index buttons for the faucet handles.</div>
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Finding intact vintage porcelain index buttons is rather difficult. Finding the correct vintage porcelain index button when you need it is nearly impossible.<br />
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J.L. Mott employed a four part index button style. The brass handle hub had a raised threaded rim that would receive a matching threaded ring. The ring would hold the porcelain index button in place. The forth part would be a disk of thin cardboard. This disk would be placed under the index button to create some friction and be a spacer. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here are the four parts. </td></tr>
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Early American Standard faucet handles used the same arrangement for their index buttons. I have a modest stock of vintage porcelain index buttons along with some intact orphan handles that I could rob of their index buttons. Reproduction American Standard index buttons however may be had new. I always keep some of these reproduction indexes in stock. They are very faithful to the original, including their distinctive font.<br />
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Completing my project necessitated the provision of an index button for each handle. The problem I had was that I didn't have any original Mott buttons. I had a set of four matching buttons that were the correct size but they were too tall to allow the threaded rings to even start, much less seat in. The American Standard buttons were the proper height but they are slightly too small. Small enough to drop through the Mott retainer rings.<br />
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With the project essentially done I found myself held up by the lack of two pairs if Mott index buttons. The Standard indexes were very close, close enough to look right if I could find a way to set them firmly into place. My solution to the problem was a little tricky to actually do but it worked.<br />
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Among the many vintage repair kits I have in the shop are some assortments of brass friction washers. These are mostly intended to sit under cap gaskets in faucet stem assemblies. I do find other uses for them occasionally. I drew from one of the assortments four brass washers that were too wide to drop though the Mott index button retainer rings, but narrow enough to not inhibit the threading of the retainer onto the raised male thread of the handle hub. These rings would be epoxied onto the down facing sides of the index buttons. The tricky part was getting them properly centered and holding the indexes in place during the process.<br />
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I found that the index buttons danced around on the work surface far too much to do the careful epoxy work that was required. I have 1/8" thick crafting tape that is sticky on both sides. I cut a portion of the tape and stuck it down to the work surface. I then pealed off the protective paper from the top side of the craft foam. The double stick foam held the index buttons snugly in place and I was able to work.<br />
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I was careful to keep the epoxy off of the downward facing finished sides of the buttons. With a thin coating of epoxy on the unfinished side I was ready to set the rings into place. They had to be centered, but I was able to do this by eye. After each brass washer was in place I added a little more epoxy to the indent created by the washer on the disc of the index.<br />
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The next day I was able to assemble my final result. <br />
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-31702945977461699072019-02-20T20:12:00.002-08:002019-02-20T20:23:10.273-08:00Replacing J.L. Mott porcelain escucheons. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Plumbing fixture restoration certainly can be challenging. One of the most demanding aspects of it is the need to replace lost or badly damaged parts. It demands all of my skill and creative problem solving at times to simply approximate the original aesthetic appeal of beautifully designed fixtures.<br />
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This is especially true when working on L. Wolff or J.L. Mott plumbing fixtures. There is a far smaller pool of salvaged parts available for those manufacturer's products than there is for Crane, Speakman, or Standard brassware.<br />
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I have made great progress learning ways to recreate brass parts, but sourcing or recreating porcelain parts remains elusive at best.<br />
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I am just wrapping up work on a large project for a home on the other side of the country. All of the fixtures I have been sent were made by The J.L. Mott Company. Two lavatory faucets arrived without china escutcheons or china index buttons. This post is about what I eventually did to provide escutcheons for the fixtures.<br />
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I received four faucet valve bodies for the two faucets, two hot and two cold. </div>
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These threaded brass rings were on two of the valve bodies. </div>
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When I saw them I knew what style escutcheon was originally used to trim the faucet. </div>
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These brass rings are not in good condition, The outside rings are neither perfectly round nor perfectly flat. </div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I had a machinist make a new pair for each valve body.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The inner ring is the top mounting nut for the valve assembly. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The outer ring will be embedded into the china escutcheon. </span></div>
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Here is a view of the faucet valve body assembly. </div>
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Note the lower nut and gasket for the under side of the faucet deck. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyiLeKGf29qP-yp1Mj2iXQ8nZn9rUjPbInYBivL9PzKMaWO8RMgMrGWQIKuaqOfevwc9lQeYWXtEakn5TQXz0Wn0SGuzbBQmibrgqV7BKW71HbeoamepcMOu7w7oZtsa9PdNXQVaYyeo/s1600/4573F585-BB82-4BC7-B2F7-7FD7A70850A9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyiLeKGf29qP-yp1Mj2iXQ8nZn9rUjPbInYBivL9PzKMaWO8RMgMrGWQIKuaqOfevwc9lQeYWXtEakn5TQXz0Wn0SGuzbBQmibrgqV7BKW71HbeoamepcMOu7w7oZtsa9PdNXQVaYyeo/s400/4573F585-BB82-4BC7-B2F7-7FD7A70850A9.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
This photo shows the intended application of the outer ring. </div>
<div>
Some manufacturers used this type of threaded ring to make their escutcheons self attaching. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBYAbZZC2h1l6CpiYLZQFx8tn5r6oLz9RBMBfwqR5c2-ZyYbqD3Wd5wZWD4jgrcMc98Wr4xYjdRIHJmsRP9i5TfkEi9ZMAOomPEabwDg23t3V9zGd0eACdBY4cZFUhVUGPix0ycq0454/s1600/5AEB0854-F2D1-4AF5-B878-F23BAE754215.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBYAbZZC2h1l6CpiYLZQFx8tn5r6oLz9RBMBfwqR5c2-ZyYbqD3Wd5wZWD4jgrcMc98Wr4xYjdRIHJmsRP9i5TfkEi9ZMAOomPEabwDg23t3V9zGd0eACdBY4cZFUhVUGPix0ycq0454/s400/5AEB0854-F2D1-4AF5-B878-F23BAE754215.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Speakman used the same style of embedded ring to make their self attaching escutcheons.</div>
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Note that the escutcheon is cast with two flat sides that correspond to the two flat sides of the ring. </div>
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The ring is then plastered into place with Plaster of Paris. </div>
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One distinctive feature of self attaching escutcheons is the size of the hole on top of the escutcheon. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfSLXBF-avRm6XURDnFd-Gj91ETggeRMJAs6LhZaDauVIVCp1tCmTfnV2AsQ6k7tNRvKKOZHzPN-ym12Sy0fTCoupNGbTOe-jwMHSBA2JfR8CW66mVqB2ZGb18Nk8Ie88TJjRJAgKOfU/s1600/1F024D5D-CD90-4757-9E50-157223F8AE58.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfSLXBF-avRm6XURDnFd-Gj91ETggeRMJAs6LhZaDauVIVCp1tCmTfnV2AsQ6k7tNRvKKOZHzPN-ym12Sy0fTCoupNGbTOe-jwMHSBA2JfR8CW66mVqB2ZGb18Nk8Ie88TJjRJAgKOfU/s400/1F024D5D-CD90-4757-9E50-157223F8AE58.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The more common way to attach china escutcheons is with a threaded tube and escutcheon retainer nut. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3Mucgq_lgP6HQ8LNNiM3Vfqc17cV7bQ4HlkyeZxntJkhPym73S2y4NQ_zpoDszyeAT8BJorlzXL9x2Si4JBxr1OewN5LLWpsghwL_dsQzbKuBeUKb2LvfYliGFnhx-0BwZre2Lkz480/s1600/54C55688-472F-4D5B-93FA-67152C3F39CD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3Mucgq_lgP6HQ8LNNiM3Vfqc17cV7bQ4HlkyeZxntJkhPym73S2y4NQ_zpoDszyeAT8BJorlzXL9x2Si4JBxr1OewN5LLWpsghwL_dsQzbKuBeUKb2LvfYliGFnhx-0BwZre2Lkz480/s400/54C55688-472F-4D5B-93FA-67152C3F39CD.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note that the packing nut has a female thread to receive the threaded tube. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOAaQZyMQ8ZP6-JHIIjKrhcIvLzxmq7uGk2gUo8Dn072e71JSxpUtgfMKXdMcuHrLXCHeezCusUp1EHVVeFb83kGxv4kIOuUSp_0Gd1Fp2pjrRM0bJddOESN1AVlJ737Brzwfhwc_s_E/s1600/50A60BD6-1442-4552-A21B-429C5AE6CC97.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizOAaQZyMQ8ZP6-JHIIjKrhcIvLzxmq7uGk2gUo8Dn072e71JSxpUtgfMKXdMcuHrLXCHeezCusUp1EHVVeFb83kGxv4kIOuUSp_0Gd1Fp2pjrRM0bJddOESN1AVlJ737Brzwfhwc_s_E/s400/50A60BD6-1442-4552-A21B-429C5AE6CC97.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
The packing nut on the J.L. Mott stem does not have the female thread to receive an escutcheon mounting tube. </div>
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Furthermore, there is not enough height differential between the packing nut and the top of the stem to allow the additional parts. My new stems are replications of the original in all dimensions. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMp6C_KM96SgS1I8ku-9MLz6g3z57gk4xBZhhRI3wR8EoGkJQJQcZnf9-jzvp7sL4Q-BMy8WA8uEZysGJ1-WfSD9RUMlZX3ci8gO7zRviv_xLYlTbJbc7rgx5hE4z3tMXU0M-cP9GV628/s1600/28CD2A58-559E-47D8-A037-381CA25CD7EE.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMp6C_KM96SgS1I8ku-9MLz6g3z57gk4xBZhhRI3wR8EoGkJQJQcZnf9-jzvp7sL4Q-BMy8WA8uEZysGJ1-WfSD9RUMlZX3ci8gO7zRviv_xLYlTbJbc7rgx5hE4z3tMXU0M-cP9GV628/s400/28CD2A58-559E-47D8-A037-381CA25CD7EE.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
My task was to select china escutcheons that are wide enough to receive the outer rings and the proper height to both clear the packing nut and leave some amount of stem visible between the handle and the escutcheon. My research brought me to images of Mott fixtures with escutcheons that were low and wide, I knew that I was recreating the original motif fairly accurately. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMp6C_KM96SgS1I8ku-9MLz6g3z57gk4xBZhhRI3wR8EoGkJQJQcZnf9-jzvp7sL4Q-BMy8WA8uEZysGJ1-WfSD9RUMlZX3ci8gO7zRviv_xLYlTbJbc7rgx5hE4z3tMXU0M-cP9GV628/s1600/28CD2A58-559E-47D8-A037-381CA25CD7EE.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMp6C_KM96SgS1I8ku-9MLz6g3z57gk4xBZhhRI3wR8EoGkJQJQcZnf9-jzvp7sL4Q-BMy8WA8uEZysGJ1-WfSD9RUMlZX3ci8gO7zRviv_xLYlTbJbc7rgx5hE4z3tMXU0M-cP9GV628/s400/28CD2A58-559E-47D8-A037-381CA25CD7EE.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
The original Mott escutcheons would have had stem size holes. </div>
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The escutcheons that fit my parameters had escutcheon nut size holes. </div>
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To remedy this I selected a set of four escutcheon nuts of the proper size. </div>
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I altered them on my lathe to give them a smooth rounded shoulder. </div>
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In this way I also removed the striations that would allow them to be hand tightened. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgG6r3KB4pZuK22fPAn148DdKN2X-eGeioMH3ERGmMB0mdjEGKGSX3NdDQ7MsVu4Bp5-e01EaCwYzHpXCsTP6eN4jskRUjMNZHo7fUuTfFVz9KVweXVi1y-o7EWX6r9bM4LTz2_ISN504/s1600/607C8118-D872-4AE1-B092-FAED388B468C.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgG6r3KB4pZuK22fPAn148DdKN2X-eGeioMH3ERGmMB0mdjEGKGSX3NdDQ7MsVu4Bp5-e01EaCwYzHpXCsTP6eN4jskRUjMNZHo7fUuTfFVz9KVweXVi1y-o7EWX6r9bM4LTz2_ISN504/s400/607C8118-D872-4AE1-B092-FAED388B468C.jpeg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the motif I was after.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifv1aeRJrTy3p3zdXIYZkDXtS6rA0CkN6BYmLoT3_mFT733eO4Mmz9X2EJjBEf51dponLVsj2fg580rXVp4GI4xNJAvI4_7Cj-8JbA8IOZkwQg9r9h8oe3reOa_k9GhJIHvSf2NSVp3w/s1600/F518DEBA-011C-4D1F-868D-CE157659F8F0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifv1aeRJrTy3p3zdXIYZkDXtS6rA0CkN6BYmLoT3_mFT733eO4Mmz9X2EJjBEf51dponLVsj2fg580rXVp4GI4xNJAvI4_7Cj-8JbA8IOZkwQg9r9h8oe3reOa_k9GhJIHvSf2NSVp3w/s400/F518DEBA-011C-4D1F-868D-CE157659F8F0.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
One of the things I must do is establish a rough-in specification for this faucet. </div>
<div>
I will not be installing it so I must do all in my power to help the installer to be successful. </div>
<div>
The valve body height is driven by the length of the spout inlet tube. Earlier I set all of the assemblies up in a mock installation. At that time I determined the optimal height of the stem end above the faucet deck. </div>
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Here I have temporarily fastened a wide washer to the stem. </div>
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This will help me to see the height without tilting my tape measure. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifv1aeRJrTy3p3zdXIYZkDXtS6rA0CkN6BYmLoT3_mFT733eO4Mmz9X2EJjBEf51dponLVsj2fg580rXVp4GI4xNJAvI4_7Cj-8JbA8IOZkwQg9r9h8oe3reOa_k9GhJIHvSf2NSVp3w/s1600/F518DEBA-011C-4D1F-868D-CE157659F8F0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifv1aeRJrTy3p3zdXIYZkDXtS6rA0CkN6BYmLoT3_mFT733eO4Mmz9X2EJjBEf51dponLVsj2fg580rXVp4GI4xNJAvI4_7Cj-8JbA8IOZkwQg9r9h8oe3reOa_k9GhJIHvSf2NSVp3w/s400/F518DEBA-011C-4D1F-868D-CE157659F8F0.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
I should mention that I have mounted the valve body to a section of 3/4" chipboard that I sometimes use as a base for my gasket cutter. I know that it is quite flat and true. I drilled a 1-1/8" hole in it expressly for this task. </div>
<div>
I intend to join my threaded brass outer ring to the inner wall of the china escutcheon with epoxy putty.</div>
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In order to keep the epoxy putty from joining to the threaded inner ring it has been coated with bee's wax taken from a new toilet wax ring. The top of the chipboard has likewise been treated. </div>
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The wax is not featured in any of these photos. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJY7-79SzBkA43T2rqeJXuUX6xC0tpbErclnkS7LSRnXxo3dXqvp0HMWlYp1tTE_mzlg45fagmdwBDEQI0_tFzU83vBulIp0pCBP67x2DVydAz-EHILv_R5wLJwwNz-tyth5RljxncP80/s1600/2DB6EADC-98BC-433A-A32F-B2B5C6DFFF95.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJY7-79SzBkA43T2rqeJXuUX6xC0tpbErclnkS7LSRnXxo3dXqvp0HMWlYp1tTE_mzlg45fagmdwBDEQI0_tFzU83vBulIp0pCBP67x2DVydAz-EHILv_R5wLJwwNz-tyth5RljxncP80/s400/2DB6EADC-98BC-433A-A32F-B2B5C6DFFF95.jpeg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
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Because the inside of my escutcheons are glazed I used a diamond grinding bit to break the surface of the glaze. </div>
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I am hoping this will give the epoxy putty a better grip on the escutcheon. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGU-nNDeynFPHa7rndpqQ_mtGiFDc8Nlg2ZSbspF2AI0F4ZnTBcuEv7DGrCS2J-7JO0pekKG7-VyK0px-_NgwF5Y7zaPapxb9_YSYvh0azQSRmJMj-Z9xLl8W9ZbuKaUaLEl7twxVeRok/s1600/FBFE0C85-1968-4D78-9BE1-091C118172AF.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGU-nNDeynFPHa7rndpqQ_mtGiFDc8Nlg2ZSbspF2AI0F4ZnTBcuEv7DGrCS2J-7JO0pekKG7-VyK0px-_NgwF5Y7zaPapxb9_YSYvh0azQSRmJMj-Z9xLl8W9ZbuKaUaLEl7twxVeRok/s400/FBFE0C85-1968-4D78-9BE1-091C118172AF.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The benchtop lathe was a good platform for this task. It is easier to adjust the chuck speed on it and it is a good height with lots of light and visibility for the work. This sample for the photo has not been ground. </td></tr>
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With the inner threaded ring waxed and the outer ring unwaxed and scuffed on the wire wheel I was ready to epoxy. </div>
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I threaded the outer ring onto the inner ring to within 1/16" of the board.</div>
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Half a J-B Weld epoxy putty stick was enough to make a ring of putty along the outer top of the outer ring. </div>
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I then pressed the china escutcheon down onto the putty and ring until it was flat to the board. </div>
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It was centered when one of my smoothed escutcheon nuts could drop into place and spin freely. </div>
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Five minutes later the joined escutcheon and ring could be threaded back away from the valve body. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnP6rjdLz7r-8F0VtQLbudi0az-dXIr3s5N_KSuo68B6g4WXtndvn7Ufb825CWmjhveEeAggD0Ukq5JfRNwplcEgokG1o8ZExTbJUG7RUbIjEgL-_FejN0js5Nb2Rm6SM4OgAjepRdmtw/s1600/4525C906-EF3A-4C60-A9A6-E2F22553F795.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnP6rjdLz7r-8F0VtQLbudi0az-dXIr3s5N_KSuo68B6g4WXtndvn7Ufb825CWmjhveEeAggD0Ukq5JfRNwplcEgokG1o8ZExTbJUG7RUbIjEgL-_FejN0js5Nb2Rm6SM4OgAjepRdmtw/s400/4525C906-EF3A-4C60-A9A6-E2F22553F795.jpeg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
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With the epoxy putty set but still soft enough to trim with a razor cutter I removed any excess putty.</div>
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After the putty was set a little harder I clear epoxied the altered escutcheon nuts to the tops of the escutcheons. </div>
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They will never move and are threaded to nothing. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvEYeQQHQpmpA1lSLX_jey5mX2Y4HPy9Z4DDSKQv9Pmj-8alXbt_e5BNGD2LhsQCwj8If1e40vVKYeQ9RfL6fQTBNIR5mMBllR7GHdrOT1Jq3nfApNkB_Xws5JZOZyEC9Dsn0aKhyaaf0/s1600/FEC34E4A-9E54-4A31-9B79-85DF123248F9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="854" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvEYeQQHQpmpA1lSLX_jey5mX2Y4HPy9Z4DDSKQv9Pmj-8alXbt_e5BNGD2LhsQCwj8If1e40vVKYeQ9RfL6fQTBNIR5mMBllR7GHdrOT1Jq3nfApNkB_Xws5JZOZyEC9Dsn0aKhyaaf0/s640/FEC34E4A-9E54-4A31-9B79-85DF123248F9.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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Here it is, done and fully set. </div>
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The stem is a two part arrangement like a gate valve and like a gate valve the stem neither rises nor falls in operation. </div>
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The gap between the handle and the dummy escutcheon nut will remain constant. </div>
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I had enough of these china escutcheons in stock to really cherry pick<br />
the lot of them. I have to say that I'm quite pleased with the result.<br />
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<u><span style="color: #000120; font-family: "times new roman";"></span></u><br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-9483294618961868672018-12-02T18:23:00.000-08:002018-12-07T19:47:28.826-08:00Making tools on the fly When working with vintage fixtures it is not uncommon to come to an impasse. Not everything that is joined will readily or intuitively separate. Not everything even has wrench facets. I don't typically send joined parts to the plater though so if the client wants them plated<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> they must be <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">disassembled</span></span>.<br />
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I'm not impetuous by nature. I read instructions, I research, I study the problem and even sleep on it at times. I will usually find a way to get where I want to go while doing no harm.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zIVmaNhOKwJrBe2ByMBa6GPFmpWvJfyCLOHcJQRQYh8PnSMZI0ka57g-K3dEOVca8s3vRjXmSfr1t7_3V1mqfVJd0c0iffKe-0uGVOTTTFVnzAt_oBY9vU0zEbi6TPa0K8Cv3YNn9S0/s1600/IMG_4807.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zIVmaNhOKwJrBe2ByMBa6GPFmpWvJfyCLOHcJQRQYh8PnSMZI0ka57g-K3dEOVca8s3vRjXmSfr1t7_3V1mqfVJd0c0iffKe-0uGVOTTTFVnzAt_oBY9vU0zEbi6TPa0K8Cv3YNn9S0/s320/IMG_4807.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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I didn't take a before photo so the after photo will have to do to show the entire assembly. </div>
<div>
There are six parts that make up this vintage shower body spray. </div>
<div>
The base, threaded into the base is the ball, holding the ball to the spray head is the nut, the spray head, the striated ring holds the perforated faceplate to the spray head, and the sixth part is the face plate. </div>
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Notice the wrench scars on the base from the pipe wrench that was used to remove the unit on the job. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkuoCujpktBELdM1SY48IoQFc6outRTCL1TJsFf48U_fv9RQKs253el9eKKHZFbhxg1rwJfmEM-JDotxkkZX8abO3elhPhpwKi2BOxvNwKlwAvIzr_0b14F_VorZ5X_3z6q44O0ZfZiv8/s1600/56497909209__989C478F-D123-4D50-BBA4-9B36E500A95A.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkuoCujpktBELdM1SY48IoQFc6outRTCL1TJsFf48U_fv9RQKs253el9eKKHZFbhxg1rwJfmEM-JDotxkkZX8abO3elhPhpwKi2BOxvNwKlwAvIzr_0b14F_VorZ5X_3z6q44O0ZfZiv8/s320/56497909209__989C478F-D123-4D50-BBA4-9B36E500A95A.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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There are nine body sprays in the shower, here they are during assembly.</div>
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Some are still wet from testing. </div>
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There are about sixty holes in each face plate. The holes are about thirty thousandths of an inch large. </div>
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My dad would call that the thickness of a matchbook cover. </div>
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The ball and nut must be removed from the base but the base has two female threads and there are no wrench facets. </div>
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There is no way I am going to add to the wrench scars, forget that. </div>
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I thought about this for twenty or thirty minutes. </div>
<div>
Nipple extractors are made to fit the ID of a pipe nipple, </div>
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how do you address the ID of a female thread without harming it?</div>
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Eventually I decided to create a locking shim. </div>
<div>
Here is a 3/8" long section of 1/2" brass nipple thread, I cut a slot in it and filed the slot with a fine file.</div>
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The idea is that it will receive the nipple extractor and expand as the extractor forces it. </div>
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As it expands it will lock to the female thread.</div>
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When the extractor is removed it will unlock. </div>
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Some of the bases left the original galvanized nipple in the wall, the rest came to me with the nipples still in them. </div>
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The nipple joined to this base is held firmly in the vise. Note my extractor shim between the tool and the fitting. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5gfiSJwIsJDx5XkBsRjknbG-4ccHKjrECsS4M4VoX1BzDfZ2WmIApv9SRhqs_8QUEpac5PbdGOGwdP-vyhhA8yTugX3H-8Np02Ze6fOJpXgjJTwZq4W-9Hlh3aD5kAFz5fgPWnL6auI/s1600/IMG_4568.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5gfiSJwIsJDx5XkBsRjknbG-4ccHKjrECsS4M4VoX1BzDfZ2WmIApv9SRhqs_8QUEpac5PbdGOGwdP-vyhhA8yTugX3H-8Np02Ze6fOJpXgjJTwZq4W-9Hlh3aD5kAFz5fgPWnL6auI/s320/IMG_4568.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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Look again at this photo, There is the same shim being used to back hold the base so that the ball may be removed. </div>
<div>
The extractor going into the ball is clear of the balls opening, it reaches into the male thread of the ball. </div>
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This must be or the extractor could distort the shape of the ball. </div>
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Next challenge. </div>
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The fine holes in the face plate create pressure in the spray head. </div>
<div>
The seal at the threaded ring must fit tightly to the new gasket that I cut from stock. </div>
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I need to hold the spray head firmly in the vice without hurting the thread or changing it's shape. </div>
<div>
The nut thread on the spray head is 14 threads per inch. An 1-1/4" slip joint nut is the right size but has 12 threads per inch. </div>
<div>
Back around 1910 many p-traps were made that had proprietary thread counts. </div>
<div>
Going through my stock of parts I found one that was cut 14 threads per inch. </div>
<div>
Using the same theory as with the shim I cut and filed it. </div>
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It threads onto the spray head's thread and the vice locks it into place. </div>
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Once out of the vice the nut removes by hand. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_lnglZPeoGpfDF3xB6-Gx05zgfIISdlkMoyquvUhPFX9rhs_dTs97W4cN6X2LG7EPevvEeR_RIsCqnxgFCE7ErL68eppsLWSxWUGak7wqmqMdGhnI9RRsxvqZlKzQ1slb-oPe59aYo8/s1600/IMG_4797.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_lnglZPeoGpfDF3xB6-Gx05zgfIISdlkMoyquvUhPFX9rhs_dTs97W4cN6X2LG7EPevvEeR_RIsCqnxgFCE7ErL68eppsLWSxWUGak7wqmqMdGhnI9RRsxvqZlKzQ1slb-oPe59aYo8/s320/IMG_4797.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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On and off by hand. </div>
<div>
This custom tool will go with the returning body sprays along with reference to this page. </div>
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The nipple shim can be made by anyone in a few minutes</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUDia2nHJ6fmceCvC3_cmO40LjX21ztAcwkNPcfFZUHQCgMG1pORKMLGA-MnQzV1N7gk6ddfX0oRIgMOj2IvXdm9HYP-rMJ9OmQCzBN6kN7JXa1mshqc1He9xrb8dgrKazkRTm9wFAKc/s1600/IMG_4800.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUDia2nHJ6fmceCvC3_cmO40LjX21ztAcwkNPcfFZUHQCgMG1pORKMLGA-MnQzV1N7gk6ddfX0oRIgMOj2IvXdm9HYP-rMJ9OmQCzBN6kN7JXa1mshqc1He9xrb8dgrKazkRTm9wFAKc/s320/IMG_4800.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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My Allpax brand gasket cutter did a nice job of cutting the 1/16" thick "cloth insert rubber" stock I used to seal the face plates to the spray heads. </div>
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The same C I rubber made a good gripping sheet to tighten the rings. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2xWQzBaTJo3myvmNnuqG9RsOLXwY9AlcslpF2OPTx67xGmadg3YdDC5fES9-qaPf3txafX40Mjz_DDxQhnv96fzrfOTC8GOHjf6_E0XrLNV3m5YJMX85ai-cUKvF9_I8B-PsLi81pXI/s1600/IMG_4787.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2xWQzBaTJo3myvmNnuqG9RsOLXwY9AlcslpF2OPTx67xGmadg3YdDC5fES9-qaPf3txafX40Mjz_DDxQhnv96fzrfOTC8GOHjf6_E0XrLNV3m5YJMX85ai-cUKvF9_I8B-PsLi81pXI/s320/IMG_4787.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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Here's another trick. </div>
<div>
When using a threaded nipple in the vice to hold the base in place so that the nut and ball may be threaded onto the base, first thread a 1/2" shank nut onto the nipple. Run it on far enough to keep it out of the way and then turn the female base thread onto the nipple hand tight. Next turn the shank nut back toward the base thread and wrench tighten. </div>
<div>
This creates the classic double nut lock. Loosen the shank nut away from the base and all comes back apart by hand. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwQvmEZ4qj0ra39oZtkdXY_RZDTpI3LAr5VuTWvZp0Xd56stXrPLLUlgyXSJWs2MdYcb6kQTMWRcNcviRfDTwtH2JcZPQiiOMximSsulK3nEVNmxZWLgC5D_Iab5FSxi2V-Toja40fsE/s1600/IMG_4788.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwQvmEZ4qj0ra39oZtkdXY_RZDTpI3LAr5VuTWvZp0Xd56stXrPLLUlgyXSJWs2MdYcb6kQTMWRcNcviRfDTwtH2JcZPQiiOMximSsulK3nEVNmxZWLgC5D_Iab5FSxi2V-Toja40fsE/s320/IMG_4788.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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Nine body spray assemblies. Each one was hand made. </div>
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All parts except the bases and the face plates were number stamped. </div>
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All numbers were preserved during plating and all sets were joined in number matching order. </div>
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This is set number 53 </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyRCaYNve7r6pn8JpaubUvaj7y27QNChj1Jwx3iNL-NFbEaQ0X-w_UhPcDP96x5sfNIyqBnz3Zr3QJlirL47DhBGfkOyusqPgVmyHCCH5BUY-8tALDS1jYwDtNbmQkbh3210TtQBtDZI/s1600/IMG_4790.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyRCaYNve7r6pn8JpaubUvaj7y27QNChj1Jwx3iNL-NFbEaQ0X-w_UhPcDP96x5sfNIyqBnz3Zr3QJlirL47DhBGfkOyusqPgVmyHCCH5BUY-8tALDS1jYwDtNbmQkbh3210TtQBtDZI/s320/IMG_4790.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">53</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">53</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnOzrQLmEJaMW_CzirekhZTpaesM3APUue057inm9BRYoXzk7rZWoUpHben3KFH84s2TtLib3_sWuN4YVbkBuw-yTU_2nf7sLBCydmPfQwEaYmcNljmYi0QqPhLcZKoeFF7XrQ2GOVFU/s1600/IMG_4792.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnOzrQLmEJaMW_CzirekhZTpaesM3APUue057inm9BRYoXzk7rZWoUpHben3KFH84s2TtLib3_sWuN4YVbkBuw-yTU_2nf7sLBCydmPfQwEaYmcNljmYi0QqPhLcZKoeFF7XrQ2GOVFU/s320/IMG_4792.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">53</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv6WLNvJsjwYUeafMuyC1kVPLXtZwkne7aKaMq1CTv5QzqmyNI2PFuKmSf20D6m7YpuWXVPeUNLM5QOxJ1l77UjT1K7bnwvQrmBEjTjpzi_-B6IDSo0OVJNEqBPI-GWbKNc4ieLvrwCbo/s1600/IMG_4794.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv6WLNvJsjwYUeafMuyC1kVPLXtZwkne7aKaMq1CTv5QzqmyNI2PFuKmSf20D6m7YpuWXVPeUNLM5QOxJ1l77UjT1K7bnwvQrmBEjTjpzi_-B6IDSo0OVJNEqBPI-GWbKNc4ieLvrwCbo/s320/IMG_4794.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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How did I tighten the ball into the bases? </div>
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The extractor turns only to loosen. </div>
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The spray body threads to the nut and ball metal on metal. </div>
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This creates enough friction to allow the spray body to be strap wrenched. </div>
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The ball and spray body are a near perfect fit to each other when the numbers match. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgznqNYEMCYRsA4jJqMbCMXRe3dpoLIRZAF8AjK-_Kaiy6I7t-013XWUz-5Xwt4IOmNfVTXtAVB-CpVUY57-E0SWxIkf0peY7xfnKT7lWMeaU8St7c_EkFjUxhaog7QN7Ws75FwNNyy_rE/s1600/IMG_4786.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgznqNYEMCYRsA4jJqMbCMXRe3dpoLIRZAF8AjK-_Kaiy6I7t-013XWUz-5Xwt4IOmNfVTXtAVB-CpVUY57-E0SWxIkf0peY7xfnKT7lWMeaU8St7c_EkFjUxhaog7QN7Ws75FwNNyy_rE/s320/IMG_4786.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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Pipe thread seal AND Teflon tape. </div>
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Note the gasket in the ball nut to the left of the ball.</div>
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It is an 1-3/8" slip joint washer. </div>
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It goes into the nut before the ball. </div>
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The gasket I'm using to seal the joint of the ball and spray body is a medium thickness </div>
<div>
1-1/4" slip joint washer. Some of the balls came with wrench scars on them so I do not trust them to seal metal on metal as they were intended. </div>
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Besides that there is friction instead of smoothness in the movement of the spray body when assembled metal on metal to the ball. </div>
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All of this is the typical problem solving that occurs when something new and different is on my bench. So much of the work is unique and challenging. </div>
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This is the first time that I have needed the C I rubber by the sheet and I will be ordering a sheet of the 1/8" thickness to complement the 1/16" I used this time. </div>
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The black 1-1/4" slip joint washers scattered in the photos proved to be too thick for this project. </div>
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The torch striker is present because the propane torch was used to help free the balls from the basses. </div>
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For parts that have been frozen in place by time heat can lessen the amount of force required to break them loose. </div>
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The strap wrench is never far from reach. </div>
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In a few of the photos aspects of my hundred year old smooth jaw adjustable wrench can be seen. That tool is about ten inches long yet an 18" crescent wrench probably doesn't open as far. It handily spanned the ball nuts yet is short and light enough to allow the feel I need to do this work. In all fairness there are modern smooth jaw wrenches but I have several of the old timers and they are all in good condition. </div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-79260867335746433432018-11-24T19:17:00.001-08:002018-11-25T17:42:30.970-08:00Porcelain Repair. From time to time I find myself with a piece of broken vintage porcelain. Most often this is the result of poor packaging or handling during shipping. As often as I am able to, I replace such pieces with salvage parts that are intact but one cannot always find alternate parts. It is especially difficult to find parts from the better manufacturers like J.L. Mott and Ludwig Wolff. When it comes down to a repaired part or nothing, I opt for repair. Last week I had to make such a repair and I took the time to take some photos so I could share my technique with you.<br />
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This broken part belongs with a large order I am processing. All of it is J.L. Mott. One of the distinctive characteristics of Mott faucets is the porcelain cross handle with the nickel plated brass center. The handle has four porcelain tips and a porcelain index button. Several manufacturers used porcelain index buttons and not surprisingly they are for the most part not interchangeable. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkukUVGrtnqTvF68e_OINInedtQS0VDpdaqeGtruiLpJtyIIaMw4OySjmFdp2P0CLHFxy_wPOYgmkKzVm7oehbx47K3M2j4rBhDZrzcu9NJ9cQr2HHmEl6_6euVwWoehxq1zkdNDx2Xpk/s1600/IMG_4767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqZ-2pw0_3Ro0w1fnf7TPp3SFlg_100njjDt5xdUMTuTipg95-nefPl44rNY6ncC56UefhiGqFn5buW9PRs107YAf786ESbtvaOEAdOj6jAOrf_k_CpH__d9ZK9TLP47E_ulDHwiaUQY/s1600/IMG_4740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqZ-2pw0_3Ro0w1fnf7TPp3SFlg_100njjDt5xdUMTuTipg95-nefPl44rNY6ncC56UefhiGqFn5buW9PRs107YAf786ESbtvaOEAdOj6jAOrf_k_CpH__d9ZK9TLP47E_ulDHwiaUQY/s320/IMG_4740.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkukUVGrtnqTvF68e_OINInedtQS0VDpdaqeGtruiLpJtyIIaMw4OySjmFdp2P0CLHFxy_wPOYgmkKzVm7oehbx47K3M2j4rBhDZrzcu9NJ9cQr2HHmEl6_6euVwWoehxq1zkdNDx2Xpk/s1600/IMG_4767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkukUVGrtnqTvF68e_OINInedtQS0VDpdaqeGtruiLpJtyIIaMw4OySjmFdp2P0CLHFxy_wPOYgmkKzVm7oehbx47K3M2j4rBhDZrzcu9NJ9cQr2HHmEl6_6euVwWoehxq1zkdNDx2Xpk/s320/IMG_4767.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Certain index buttons such as this one marked Waste are less common than Hots and Colds. </div>
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Very difficult to find are buttons that read Spray. </div>
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Under the index button is the screw that is used to set the handle on the stem and the button is held in place by the brass threaded ring that fastens to the threaded raised ring in the top of the handle. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkukUVGrtnqTvF68e_OINInedtQS0VDpdaqeGtruiLpJtyIIaMw4OySjmFdp2P0CLHFxy_wPOYgmkKzVm7oehbx47K3M2j4rBhDZrzcu9NJ9cQr2HHmEl6_6euVwWoehxq1zkdNDx2Xpk/s1600/IMG_4767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0X2jrGJSDrygnfOvWcNacXbd3H5eYqdt5M3R8o7oO5j-i9jzZRsf4_Lb3CnV1Y6cUoLRCBvpdy08-etmzZCyXMl04vG0EB1wXqt_iEpH4wjjo0OS3uNlJG58LEzd4ZQ9-iyKOdd4p574/s1600/IMG_4777.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0X2jrGJSDrygnfOvWcNacXbd3H5eYqdt5M3R8o7oO5j-i9jzZRsf4_Lb3CnV1Y6cUoLRCBvpdy08-etmzZCyXMl04vG0EB1wXqt_iEpH4wjjo0OS3uNlJG58LEzd4ZQ9-iyKOdd4p574/s320/IMG_4777.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The repaired index has already gone to the client at this point but I have this photo to show an intact handle</td></tr>
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A few years ago, when I made my first such repair, I realized that I could not get a good result with clear epoxy. Clear calk and clear epoxy show the darkness that is on the other side of the joint. For instance, when one sets a cast iron kitchen sink with clear calk the darkness of the closed cabinet shows through and makes the calk look black. Likewise, clear epoxy repairs will always look dark. This dark line in the repair highlights the repair and robs some of the intended grace of the presence of the fixture. It is better to have a repair that is too white and let it darken than to have it start off quite dark. A little research on the internet lead me to products intended to tint epoxy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-G7RqjggOGhJlhUJDtrS6P6DfcjXIIcPo8ra6QgqFp1kZ8jG_lglE84L3SwcXDpW5zQX6lIkKgyLwEn_J_DOfzLWwP0VFVl2VQg2U5gF7dbZmtBxxMwrQMN641enLM5n0tH8jrZj28yE/s1600/IMG_4743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-G7RqjggOGhJlhUJDtrS6P6DfcjXIIcPo8ra6QgqFp1kZ8jG_lglE84L3SwcXDpW5zQX6lIkKgyLwEn_J_DOfzLWwP0VFVl2VQg2U5gF7dbZmtBxxMwrQMN641enLM5n0tH8jrZj28yE/s320/IMG_4743.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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This is my regular 30 minute epoxy with my hobby shop's logo on it. </div>
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The white color pigment is made to compliment epoxy. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wGyK-oUTrT3GgrtRN3MWIJ5zo8M32eLRsW2LU9FGJGNbv_wMp9KuneG3dV2LNh8cVAFTpBjVCIKTB_Ju8bvodrHT5fN1zJ5ErXVfGHQyKRjL_SK0VEAOnwxb4XmXF2CFfIHjq9Aoa_E/s1600/IMG_4744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: left; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wGyK-oUTrT3GgrtRN3MWIJ5zo8M32eLRsW2LU9FGJGNbv_wMp9KuneG3dV2LNh8cVAFTpBjVCIKTB_Ju8bvodrHT5fN1zJ5ErXVfGHQyKRjL_SK0VEAOnwxb4XmXF2CFfIHjq9Aoa_E/s320/IMG_4744.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZc6Zj8J-UZfANb1JVGtgiZLpWsnebeReiqhq4S6fM0rxW3NF8t0zNfEwMNUms5oOOENSetqBYvCCVE4NXpV1w8A4xnaE1grEIv1bA-ubxKZCr_MQvBZvpzZ8r2HOIjK-j6mRNTBpW7E/s1600/IMG_4745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></b><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></i><u style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></u><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11.06px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sub><sup style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 11.06px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sup><strike style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: line-through; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></strike><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZc6Zj8J-UZfANb1JVGtgiZLpWsnebeReiqhq4S6fM0rxW3NF8t0zNfEwMNUms5oOOENSetqBYvCCVE4NXpV1w8A4xnaE1grEIv1bA-ubxKZCr_MQvBZvpzZ8r2HOIjK-j6mRNTBpW7E/s320/IMG_4745.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
The epoxy of course must be mixed in equal parts, the pigment does not have to be equal to either or both. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVDhk5AhOsV-38d98boKlQtpCfCvBw-mt9JidQ7hj83mncPJKIfZdMZ3Mlqrnu96gi17vG0SeYtcLQ7EPCesWpQ9fSeE-xAELN6dJ8I089t2QhJeYfM9ba8X7PvTmfFQsv5yjq1_DBqI/s1600/IMG_4746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVDhk5AhOsV-38d98boKlQtpCfCvBw-mt9JidQ7hj83mncPJKIfZdMZ3Mlqrnu96gi17vG0SeYtcLQ7EPCesWpQ9fSeE-xAELN6dJ8I089t2QhJeYfM9ba8X7PvTmfFQsv5yjq1_DBqI/s320/IMG_4746.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFU05dAAejEDIscurujcmmdN94h0cwD-7whB35_Ns_dp8WdukjMFCITmUjNK6AxhIyynqvGuZYzgWOcye6iWkZgIKtBt9BN0cmhNQl2ECjP3I8yaVZ4yNgw5iulG5k0Y3zOoAnkJgnoUw/s1600/IMG_4747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFU05dAAejEDIscurujcmmdN94h0cwD-7whB35_Ns_dp8WdukjMFCITmUjNK6AxhIyynqvGuZYzgWOcye6iWkZgIKtBt9BN0cmhNQl2ECjP3I8yaVZ4yNgw5iulG5k0Y3zOoAnkJgnoUw/s320/IMG_4747.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
In this case I used a piece of heavy paper when I made my repair. </div>
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It will keep my table clean of epoxy and form a permanent backing for the repaired part. </div>
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Later I will trim the paper with a light grade sanding block stroked across the back edge of the part. </div>
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Fortunately no small chips of porcelain were lost and this repair was quite successful. </div>
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While I had my epoxy mixed I thought I would make this second repair. </div>
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There was some very minimal material loss at the fracture and at that point I did not </div>
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wipe my excess epoxy fully away. </div>
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When your epoxy is properly mixed the parts will not readily separate. I have sent such repaired parts to be plated and they came back intact.<br />
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In a side note, There are times when I am faced with this problem. These are also J.L. Mott. The original porcelain tips were set with plaster of paris, as were all brass and porcelain handles of the time. When the tips break away there are no available replacements.<br />
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I am currently in the process of creating such tips as replacements so that these handles can be complete and intact once more. The first such tips I will be reproducing are for L.Wolff tub valve handles and lavatory faucet handles. I will be showcasing them on my main website when they are ready and available. <br />
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<br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-25124145348725391452018-10-14T21:38:00.000-07:002018-10-14T21:50:39.636-07:00First do no harm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the things plumbers are sometimes called upon to do is remove tub drain assemblies, a waste and overflow is what it is called. The hard part of that task is to remove the drain strainer, especially if it has been in place for several decades. It is notoriously difficult to do and often the strainer is destroyed in the process. If the parts are being removed for replacement the important thing is to not damage the tub but what if the parts are being removed in order to restore them?<br />
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There are two types of modern tub drain strainers, those with a cross bar and those without a cross bar. The latter of the two has no cross bar to allow a pop-up plunger to be used, much the same way as a lavatory pop-up. These two variations have been used all the way back to the early mid-century. There are a host of tools designed to help in the removal of tub strainers and still it is not uncommon for them to be removed with a saw.<br />
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Tub drain strainers before the mid-century going back to the Victorian period can present an entirely different problem. Yes they are as frozen in place as later versions but many times there are no tools for the task of removing them. Many of them are not just old and part of assemblies that are to be restored, they are beautifully ornate as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlp7lXPYNwqAa5mEG951L9IfttGjwb7BUIfu0ctAzlLpPKbhy0kE_18hiUrrPJFhUO-1YUV0Z5Gtse0_GVmMAuo1FmL3eEIf9XVslGC6mUBGsciHgTS7Cm3REjjC_wdBwb8rZPiLyttmc/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlp7lXPYNwqAa5mEG951L9IfttGjwb7BUIfu0ctAzlLpPKbhy0kE_18hiUrrPJFhUO-1YUV0Z5Gtse0_GVmMAuo1FmL3eEIf9XVslGC6mUBGsciHgTS7Cm3REjjC_wdBwb8rZPiLyttmc/s320/020.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">This beautiful strainer, circa 1900, fared well, coming away from removal nicely intact.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqp0IeZNHCilu5SmiWgCJSwoevQ8M2gzh_lScpks84xhi1n3S3fyVQWerKFmhP89q4TE2CrfYG03Z7EqnL51ThcY00Gm2a3TdFZyBdKzJSJxwuMVX-Xd9UzBVahQd23Cj_Tv9QcMGW3ks/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqp0IeZNHCilu5SmiWgCJSwoevQ8M2gzh_lScpks84xhi1n3S3fyVQWerKFmhP89q4TE2CrfYG03Z7EqnL51ThcY00Gm2a3TdFZyBdKzJSJxwuMVX-Xd9UzBVahQd23Cj_Tv9QcMGW3ks/s320/019.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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This is the two part style. The top has a female thread that fits to the male thread of the flange. </div>
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It typically requires a propane torch flame to induce them to separate. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNicroPK34FaOU7zIYViSF9i7INjvEUA_fb4xnq6lBL81Jz-Sn-Czx4Ymytby3aWmfcGzwleCTATDhtjUO_9n93m_3YZkggrgT0NmcRwAlBsb3xNV71JINQXdCuwVt6dDeK8ZiymKW2_8/s1600/Hoffmann+%2526+billings+valves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="633" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNicroPK34FaOU7zIYViSF9i7INjvEUA_fb4xnq6lBL81Jz-Sn-Czx4Ymytby3aWmfcGzwleCTATDhtjUO_9n93m_3YZkggrgT0NmcRwAlBsb3xNV71JINQXdCuwVt6dDeK8ZiymKW2_8/s320/Hoffmann+%2526+billings+valves.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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This one part strainer was not so lucky. </div>
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I was not able to reshape it and it was replaced. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97uFhNA83p7yie0wJdC9gBDdIKGMy26Oc0h72Q2uBNK0RSWm7rFkyNEpcCi5r7_FXHHhA7Ujqur68TX6iqqqLIVqGrHIZ22ylq3jVGmyY42k9wKDOfsKANCnR_iuOIp777vXoxuDIFvo/s1600/L+Wolff+Standing+Waste+11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="824" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97uFhNA83p7yie0wJdC9gBDdIKGMy26Oc0h72Q2uBNK0RSWm7rFkyNEpcCi5r7_FXHHhA7Ujqur68TX6iqqqLIVqGrHIZ22ylq3jVGmyY42k9wKDOfsKANCnR_iuOIp777vXoxuDIFvo/s320/L+Wolff+Standing+Waste+11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is another two part, I was able to straighten the minor damage to the spokes of the strainer but the drain boot was too mangled by the force required to remove it. I was able to find another. </td></tr>
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In many cases I make installation wrenches from plastic pipe or fittings. This custom cut wrench will not scratch the new polished nickel and is strong enough to compress the new gasket. </div>
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A hole through the top of the tube allows a bar to be passed through for a handle. </div>
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Last week I was told that I will be receiving a vintage standing waste for restoration. I have seen this tub and waste and know that the strainer is vulnerable to damage when removed. It may take considerable force to unthread it from the boot below the tub. As it so happens I have a strainer here that is the same size and pattern so I decided to fabricate a removal tool. It will probably take more force than a plastic wrench will tolerate so I needed to make my tool out of steel.<br />
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I put a lot of thought into it but didn't decide upon a design until about four days go. I woke early and designed it with my eyes closed and my head on the pillow. Today I finished it, it isn't exactly what I envisioned but it's close. <br />
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This is a one part strainer made by "Standard Sanitary" about 1910, before the merger with "American Radiator". </div>
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It is the motif I copied when I made the drain strainer for the Victorian railway car basin, see my blog post from March 25th 2016. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #686462; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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Making my custom tool was a lot of work. I started with a piece of 1/4" steel plate and selected a hole saw that is slightly smaller than the strainer top. With the steel clamped to the drill press table I cut my disc from the plate. Once I had my disc I marked it using the vintage strainer as a template. I drilled my six holes in two steps to help me stay on center, the center hole I had from the hole saw.<br />
The target hole size was to allow 7/18ths" bolts to pass through. The heads had to be removed as the holes are too close to allow them. I selected small brass washers and threaded them to 7/16" x 20 thread per inch. They are the stops that lock the headless bolts on the forward side of the plate. I needed nuts on the other side but again the nuts wouldn't fit that closely together any more that the bolt heads would. 3/8" nuts would fit and I needed tall coupling nuts that would penetrate the ratchet socket I planned to use to turn my tool. I drilled and retapped my coupling nuts from 3/8" x 16 to 7/16" x 20. When it all fit together the nuts made a circle of six, six sided nuts with six outside faces. A center nut bolted through the center hole holds the outside ring true and gives resistance against the force of the socket. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note how large the bolts look inside of the formerly 3/8" nuts. </td></tr>
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That is a 3/4" drive socket which will take a seriously large wrench. </div>
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This custom tub strainer wrench is ready for work. </div>
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plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-34311535094598253972018-08-15T19:11:00.001-07:002018-08-15T20:36:23.786-07:00Only fifty poundsI could bring fifty pounds and no more. I was going to be flown from Portland Oregon to Pendleton Oregon, a distance of 210 miles, to work on a vintage ribcage shower. I was returning the same day, which was not a problem. The problem was being limited to fifty pounds of tools and repair kits to work on an ornate fixture I had only seen photographs of. I wasn't even sure of the manufacturer of the shower valving. <br />
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What do I select to bring? What can I afford to leave behind? I'm accustomed to driving a ten foot cube van stocked with repair kits that range from ten years old to older than me. The same may be said about my hand tools. Hardly any of it is light and altogether it requires a one ton truck just to haul it around. Removing something from the truck in order to streamline the operation is a sure way to find yourself missing it sooner than later. One thing was certain, I wouldn't be carrying anything for myself or my comfort, Those fifty allowed pounds were reserved for tools and parts.<br />
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In February of 2017 I was contacted by the owner/operator of The Pendleton House, a bed and breakfast set up in a 1917 Italian Renaissance style home in the town of Pendleton Oregon.<br />
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https://www.pendletonhousebnb.com/<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">There is a walk-in tile shower in the house that is equipped with a full ribcage shower arrangement. The handles were not original, the main valves were not original, and the control valves were not functioning optimally. </span>We texted back and forth, I looked at the photos he sent and gave him my opinion of what he had and what I might be able to do to help. That was as far as it went at that time and in the course of answering emails and running my restoration business I forgot about it.<br />
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In July of 2018 he contacted me again and we had another conversation about his ribcage shower. He told me that he was prepared to pay for my airfare if I would agree to come out and spend the day doing whatever I could to solve some of the problems with the old fixture. I figured I could do something to help and if nothing else, form a strategy for the needed repairs. We agreed upon a day and he emailed my boarding pass to me.<br />
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Years ago my wife Sandy and I speculated and rather joked about the possibility of me flying off to other places to work on vintage fixtures. I still maintain one of my tenet workplace philosophies, "The diligent worker should make himself indispensable on the job." I am well accustomed to being one of only a few sources of help when it comes to preserving and restoring vintage plumbing fixtures. Now though, someone actually wanted me to get on a plain and travel to work on a fixture.<br />
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The boarding pass was for Boutique Air and I would be flying in an eight passenger turboprop out of their own small terminal at PDX. And of course I was only allowed to bring a total of fifty pounds of carry on.<br />
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https://www.boutiqueair.com/<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duck your head to get into this sweetheart, stay ducked down until you sit in your seat as well. </td></tr>
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There was a strong possibility that I would need to reseat at least one valve so my full reseating kit and a selection of bronze faucet seats had to go with me. Unfortunately that already had me over twenty pounds. Certain parts assortments like cap gaskets and bibb washers had to be included as well as thread seal and Teflon tape. I included a decent four way screwdriver and flat jawed wrenches of various sizes. I had already supplemented my reseating kit with an assortment of seat wrenches.<br />
I brought no pliers, nor did I bring a tape measure of flashlight.<br />
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Once I had found a box strong enough to carry my equipment the loaded box, including foam to keep kits from tossing around in the box, weighed in at forty five pounds. I used two crossed cargo straps instead of tape to be certain the box would stay closed and because the straps made good handles to lift the box by. At the terminal they weighed my box in at forty nine pounds.<br />
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Returning at the end of the day I was over weight, carrying a tip from the client, a fifth of Pendleton Whisky. How the day went is another story.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feeling great at the end of an interesting day. </td></tr>
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<br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-85907972806856567902017-11-12T18:25:00.001-08:002017-11-12T18:25:04.701-08:00Far Afield <br />
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A while back I received an email asking for help with a constant leak. As usual I asked for photos. When they arrived in my email I opened the file to see a Speakman wall mount single handle shower valve with a leaking cold water supply line.The client had done a routine washer change on the inline shower control valve, not the main shower valve, and the leak had begun as a result of that work. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'll use my photo instead of the emailed photo. </td></tr>
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The valve was in Spokane Oregon, some 350 miles from where I live near Portland Oregon.<br />
A few emails back and fourth let me know that the local plumber, who would work on older units, had done what he was willing to attempt to stop the leak. He wrote a note for me, a description of the work and the problem as he saw it and that description was attached to one of the client's emails. In it he recommended that the unit should probably be removed and replaced. He ended his missive to me with the comment that "there is no magic". <br />
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The way the work was described to me made me believe that only the cold supply leg had been removed as part of the repair and that that supply had been difficult to put back into place. I thought that was strange because the difficulty of putting the cold supply back into its place would obviously be alleviated by removing the hot supply also and then fitting them both back as partners. That, I thought, was the logical approach. Still, I didn't press that issue with the local plumber. I figured he was done with it. I kept coming back to the comment, "There is no magic".<br />
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The leak was at the lower union face and perhaps the threaded nipple of the cold supply. The description I had put doubt in my mind as to the condition of the union, the union nut, and the nipple between the union and the supply elbow under the lower union. I have a slightly later version of the same valve and pulled its supply union apart to see if the union was intended to be gasketed or ungasketed. I believed that my valve, if really needed, could supply union parts for the yet in use valve in Spokane. Clearly the union was to be gasketed. I also knew from the emails that a fair amount of teflon tape had been applied during the repair attempt. I am not a great believer in teflon tape.<br />
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The task looked both relatively easy and potentially vary challenging. It was not something I could try to walk the home owner through. Neither did I want to try to co-work with he local plumber over the phone or worse, by email. With all of these thoughts and doubts in mind, with the job being reasonably within driving distance, and with the epitaph "No Magic" challenging me I proposed to go to Spokane to correct the problem. The deal was that if I couldn't make the repair I would get the Speakman valve for my trouble but no other charge.<br />
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It took a few weeks to match our schedules and I departed Portland ten AM on a Monday for what was to be a five hour thirty minute drive. With stops and a meal it was more like seven hours. My wife was riding shotgun on this trip, that was a good thing. Besides, she takes the photos. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Columbia river gorge I-84 East before noon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">US 395 North</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">US 395 North North and getting late. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Things are different in Oregon and Washington.</td></tr>
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It was dark and freezing out by the time we arrived. I was nervous about black ice and didn't trust anything on the road to be water if it looked wet. We had had a delay due to unexpected truck maintenance and in the interim daylight savings had robbed us of an hour of daylight for traveling. The forecast included the potential for snow on top of that.<br />
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It had been suggested that we spend the night in the guest room. It is a large lovely home circa 1912. Introductions were made and we brought in our overnight bags. After that though I wanted top see the job. It was in my mind to do the work that evening so I could rest easy that night. Dinner was cooking but water was drawn and the house water was turned off and drained down. I had my tools in the master bath by then and a large canvas drop cloth in the earthenware tub. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNgDj37vNaAm5P1d-WLyx1TYW7Kl8dWjdNhfS6ZEmZYR2Jp-pa3U3S7H4sNF-oUK2ner1Y6KFr99YgkRMX1CThhD7CfMDQ0EoKsxUv7M4IHaIaCAVJ5mSP6-5wKSasdg-PdqqlfPObRQ/s1600/IMG_3666.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNgDj37vNaAm5P1d-WLyx1TYW7Kl8dWjdNhfS6ZEmZYR2Jp-pa3U3S7H4sNF-oUK2ner1Y6KFr99YgkRMX1CThhD7CfMDQ0EoKsxUv7M4IHaIaCAVJ5mSP6-5wKSasdg-PdqqlfPObRQ/s320/IMG_3666.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I start right in. I hardly ever remember to get before photos. This time though I had my wife on duty with her camera. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The standing waste is a Hoffman & Billings.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had rebuilt the valves a few years prior via shipment as per normal. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The valve at the top left is the unit that had been repaired by the client. Pause for a photo. All business. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTuJ9KjcSnjq0uJ-t6MAhh0EIDeFetMp_9O_k28mDVdiLKkyGRvXUp61WewlmhQfIehDdDTnHGBTrBGye5yKKX-6r1updCet2NiySfuvPQzgav0d9odu8PTZClOMNTEDLPQKdw3IyOr4/s1600/IMG_3676+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTuJ9KjcSnjq0uJ-t6MAhh0EIDeFetMp_9O_k28mDVdiLKkyGRvXUp61WewlmhQfIehDdDTnHGBTrBGye5yKKX-6r1updCet2NiySfuvPQzgav0d9odu8PTZClOMNTEDLPQKdw3IyOr4/s320/IMG_3676+copy.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teflon tape. That's got to go and there has to be some cleaning before anything else. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A brass bristle brush and a little pocketknife edge to clean away new teflon and old debris. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNvTm3C86lwJoNXcby3rjdffuDiExbge4UgpqJCG0cw2Gc6wbeT89oSfUOuHat9o5OHsGObD93nqvLn3zmrNH9u5CmGqHgPDHyh7A-4srNMTud-mC4FVj9usiGc3W7IWtEwCmhwMBIGw/s1600/IMG_3674+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNvTm3C86lwJoNXcby3rjdffuDiExbge4UgpqJCG0cw2Gc6wbeT89oSfUOuHat9o5OHsGObD93nqvLn3zmrNH9u5CmGqHgPDHyh7A-4srNMTud-mC4FVj9usiGc3W7IWtEwCmhwMBIGw/s320/IMG_3674+copy.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It took a while to get all of the teflon out of the threads of the union nut. Teflon can be a problem when it gets between the brass and the compression washer. When such a washer is used it is considered a face seal and nothing but the brass and the washer make the seal. Anything else, like teflon tape or thread seal, is not desired. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clean and dry first. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYdK66XarRlfpPdxjV7LT4Llt_DWgsDCJsSYv45_9Ii5uCuxZQio34EZpKggylgXyTguxrW2cJK2eNLQ6PZ26OjTaTtv2GSQ-L4UtMR96JKoXBhWz1v1Iu7YwjlbJSgqfMpwXOxH7V2c/s1600/IMG_3678+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYdK66XarRlfpPdxjV7LT4Llt_DWgsDCJsSYv45_9Ii5uCuxZQio34EZpKggylgXyTguxrW2cJK2eNLQ6PZ26OjTaTtv2GSQ-L4UtMR96JKoXBhWz1v1Iu7YwjlbJSgqfMpwXOxH7V2c/s320/IMG_3678+copy.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fitting the supply leg back the first time I can see there will be a problem. There is no room for gaskets and the lower union joint is slightly off angle. </td></tr>
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When I saw that the cold side supply would barely fit back into place with no face gaskets at all I knew I had been right. The hot side would certainly need to come away as well. That would mean only the two brass screws at the shower arm would be holding the entire unit in place though so it was time for four hands. For a moment I became the photographer. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfylozOKTpQlloNmqcJRSpK6A7JyLxqRKwxXw60iUUBo_KcH3CaBmnmCz6xc3xECq-lr_tKnsx6fhViFbj_FZx-2RFYCRg0SfTR3R6M5MQeVUjswZlFa_KWOm8imcfgSpzUXVWI9exPMo/s1600/.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfylozOKTpQlloNmqcJRSpK6A7JyLxqRKwxXw60iUUBo_KcH3CaBmnmCz6xc3xECq-lr_tKnsx6fhViFbj_FZx-2RFYCRg0SfTR3R6M5MQeVUjswZlFa_KWOm8imcfgSpzUXVWI9exPMo/s320/.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My wife is a better helper than I am a photographer. </td></tr>
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The hot side had two matching fiber washers, one at each union. I had brought several fiber washer assortments plus my gasket cutting tool and two thicknesses of fiber gasket sheet goods. I had to make room for washers on the cold side so the hot side was going to need thicker washers. Each original washer was about 50 thousandths of an inch thick, I was going to double that. That made room for washers on the cold side but there was the other problem still to deal with. The brass faces on the cold side were not flush. This was caused by two things, the original installation was not perfect and the lower cold union tail had been removed and set back into place but not as tightly as formerly. It was ever so much higher than I wanted it and I tightened it a little but was shy of really turning it down hard. I did some trial and error. I had the house water on and off again with each trial. Finally it struck me what I had to do. I selected a fresh gasket from the kit I was drawing from and took up a semi coarse bastard file. I then began to thin the gasket on only one side, from twelve to six on the clock face and then working back slowly toward three but taking nothing away at three. I needed a wedge shaped gasket and I was hand tooling one in the palm of my hand with dinner cooking while sitting on the side of the tub.<br />
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One last time we turned the house water on and this time there was only a slight moistness where the leak had been persisting before. The fiber washer was wet and would swell with the water so I drew down on the joint with my flat face wrench, tightening it just a bit more and wiped the brass dry. Finally it remained dry.<br />
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There had been some leaking at the stem of the inline valve above so with the main problem solved I thought I would take care of the other leak as well. I removed the set screw and removed the handle of the valve. Then I removed the packing nut and cleaned it. It had some of my own packing string in it that I had sent with the standing waste valves a few years before. I took a fresh package out of my tool tote and repacked the valve stem. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WA9IcbI52lAa5ZO9P3JyPLyPXlDIfpntyCDHEPZPyQ6TRRFTuvlsNIdO3-4PrTv4F1wyXWfttIjfUFTntIV4rqaoyOXZ3EwUTy6OGd2Ze8zCELzcZMrXDnWbYHuLWahZQtPnK0aO-mQ/s1600/IMG_3679+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WA9IcbI52lAa5ZO9P3JyPLyPXlDIfpntyCDHEPZPyQ6TRRFTuvlsNIdO3-4PrTv4F1wyXWfttIjfUFTntIV4rqaoyOXZ3EwUTy6OGd2Ze8zCELzcZMrXDnWbYHuLWahZQtPnK0aO-mQ/s320/IMG_3679+copy.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always a flat jaw wrench. I never even noticed the wash cloth until later, single minded as ever. Finding the work in my trifocals. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmVEwcLqJkXUSTfvDpRJF0raeb7rdMHqhOkk5gSShS4nKgPrvcDAvBmfEve4W3Oq9bILH7jo61lZyVdS5Epe5TOe2y6-IPn0uSdQUW2zvRIM0V8lf_ZXuhKobFvPdnSghbDvWzMl4g8s/s1600/IMG_3681+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmVEwcLqJkXUSTfvDpRJF0raeb7rdMHqhOkk5gSShS4nKgPrvcDAvBmfEve4W3Oq9bILH7jo61lZyVdS5Epe5TOe2y6-IPn0uSdQUW2zvRIM0V8lf_ZXuhKobFvPdnSghbDvWzMl4g8s/s320/IMG_3681+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have been making my own packing string for years, I even tried to market it once. </td></tr>
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Dinner was served. What I had tried to do in thirty minutes turned out to be somewhat harder, it took an hour. I checked it again after dinner and it remained dry so I enjoyed the balance of the evening and slept well that night.<br />
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I have been turning wrenches sense I was twelve, I am sixty seven now. What I can't get I make or have made. What I can't do, well frankly I don't tend to think in those terms. Is it magic? No, it is positive thinking, a lifetime of problem solving, and a deep knowledge of materials. It kind of looks like magic though. <br />
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<br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-15172733117513551162017-11-02T18:01:00.000-07:002018-02-18T13:03:58.847-08:00 1911 "Standard" claw foot "Taft" tub. <br />
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This 1911 <a href="http://www.plumbing-geek.com/Standard-claw-foot-tub.html">"Standard" claw foot "Taft" tub</a> is ready for a new home. It measures 66" x 34".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5gHYHSWu9b50_TPT0ByZPV71nrv31wNsawHnNwntQtP7T3DTqgJ12tobKfWnXMPzPVYOxHYzQfBpZ3glRnjUkrrB-hdjYur1NiMLyNbOxWACTAnPi9-tfN7h37GtAky9PRuQ5MRIMuvA/s1600/009+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5gHYHSWu9b50_TPT0ByZPV71nrv31wNsawHnNwntQtP7T3DTqgJ12tobKfWnXMPzPVYOxHYzQfBpZ3glRnjUkrrB-hdjYur1NiMLyNbOxWACTAnPi9-tfN7h37GtAky9PRuQ5MRIMuvA/s320/009+copy.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Standing Waste kit is fully restored to full function and beauty. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzexQ4IBtdyXnG-eqO-uC75o56bPSC3LuCS3BPRPgQMkGl1cOQrbWJXSSrkZGYniDe9FMJ2HjDBTHc6RGgO_uERGxDgxh9uIvxK73BNjSJIlk3h0WKjRozpSPGbw0C3ZunQhVWwCll0g/s1600/017+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzexQ4IBtdyXnG-eqO-uC75o56bPSC3LuCS3BPRPgQMkGl1cOQrbWJXSSrkZGYniDe9FMJ2HjDBTHc6RGgO_uERGxDgxh9uIvxK73BNjSJIlk3h0WKjRozpSPGbw0C3ZunQhVWwCll0g/s320/017+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On blocks in order to complete the exterior resurfacing. The tub's exterior walls were originally plastered except for under the rim and under the tub. There was damage to the plaster coating and that was repaired. Now the tub is primed and ready for paint.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzr9jEDp1QzGGYf1uPrhYlYMNLR24c0pB-5R8UMrQQT4j0uZfpcV71Vb_im1ppp9Xg7Xd2fm_ivvG-WF7t_TqYWQPl5MB0BRJmt4NQRovxQxEA4C8BAfja82MbBCYUps1OZakk-3vueM/s1600/035+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzr9jEDp1QzGGYf1uPrhYlYMNLR24c0pB-5R8UMrQQT4j0uZfpcV71Vb_im1ppp9Xg7Xd2fm_ivvG-WF7t_TqYWQPl5MB0BRJmt4NQRovxQxEA4C8BAfja82MbBCYUps1OZakk-3vueM/s320/035+copy.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tub leaked so long that the porcelain has been eroded under the button spout. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtzA-n7YRsJynUM_wWgHldPyAkou1xNIvG3Yy7AedpuLejUHBbMAtoCokfnwZNq6MgftDje0z2N484QLGJneCJgYzB1rPYbCj5evBKjGrbqJ3oiUfGr6L_lZrc0y8CmSxOvHlE_EIUg0/s1600/014+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtzA-n7YRsJynUM_wWgHldPyAkou1xNIvG3Yy7AedpuLejUHBbMAtoCokfnwZNq6MgftDje0z2N484QLGJneCJgYzB1rPYbCj5evBKjGrbqJ3oiUfGr6L_lZrc0y8CmSxOvHlE_EIUg0/s320/014+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There is also some staining in the porcelain .</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnw-_NWjSuZiFrO9vcjN4PbUWVdLSUJBz7AtlqukkcNxleCvEkmW_2uPGkBT50wjRtUz7LqVtPrOo9-RO6UB3N-xGb9s5kIJsfXYDLbzQMVIXxoSMwlBZZwgQuXqtCUYl5BD8JgvHl5w/s1600/036+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnw-_NWjSuZiFrO9vcjN4PbUWVdLSUJBz7AtlqukkcNxleCvEkmW_2uPGkBT50wjRtUz7LqVtPrOo9-RO6UB3N-xGb9s5kIJsfXYDLbzQMVIXxoSMwlBZZwgQuXqtCUYl5BD8JgvHl5w/s320/036+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Date of foundry pour. The bottom of the tub was not plastered smooth. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKo2K17WED-Yf3y-zAVkwalakRpeJMXmepXF5vatZIBh88_Cz3fXGvdKUI2RcUZ_Zy_giDVz4Z4Ewv8HpElnkvjuQKeFYv_n0ZNGrS3sNxglEha6NsqxbtKP_5GBNPTsQAEa9O_jqYzPg/s1600/037+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKo2K17WED-Yf3y-zAVkwalakRpeJMXmepXF5vatZIBh88_Cz3fXGvdKUI2RcUZ_Zy_giDVz4Z4Ewv8HpElnkvjuQKeFYv_n0ZNGrS3sNxglEha6NsqxbtKP_5GBNPTsQAEa9O_jqYzPg/s320/037+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Standard" Made in USA</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkp2gxATfbiDCq_CV82jLVgNhuL90qGYQGLS1GbFloc2cz-FbIiCGJ3BWKgXr5nfPmG9fU5IEz6pkeg6Wxx48qyjydG47K28tUnsmOJDZT9vYA920BvyuGfOdGWRKTCAJkBJahqqd2-s/s1600/043+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkp2gxATfbiDCq_CV82jLVgNhuL90qGYQGLS1GbFloc2cz-FbIiCGJ3BWKgXr5nfPmG9fU5IEz6pkeg6Wxx48qyjydG47K28tUnsmOJDZT9vYA920BvyuGfOdGWRKTCAJkBJahqqd2-s/s320/043+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The claw feet are full balls, including the rear claw. They have never been removed, Note the square nail holding the foot to the tub. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhRZsfwCYoov9xcKwBvm9FyMMGmmDYcxPUpkabCE2Z7VxOL8jRgk_6VxNh8XdShhGGAAfI4dTW6ktYxpAMcNU-LpWWSZP03bhJ43pWPjg4K2qUI1yEaulvsxOZawkwSPoFLGpEsG04Q8/s1600/049+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhRZsfwCYoov9xcKwBvm9FyMMGmmDYcxPUpkabCE2Z7VxOL8jRgk_6VxNh8XdShhGGAAfI4dTW6ktYxpAMcNU-LpWWSZP03bhJ43pWPjg4K2qUI1yEaulvsxOZawkwSPoFLGpEsG04Q8/s320/049+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeGLurSezSLPNGa-jB0hfJfNcpd5TUJGxmDbIFDmk74bv9D3tNaIZYPs8irGTsxcNSu8-ZiaNXOvtisOq7k21xGda4V4lC_tXCt2bQSGbDW5-du2fDG4Wbi1FPG8fXyXKVYRTVg87KvnQ/s1600/055+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeGLurSezSLPNGa-jB0hfJfNcpd5TUJGxmDbIFDmk74bv9D3tNaIZYPs8irGTsxcNSu8-ZiaNXOvtisOq7k21xGda4V4lC_tXCt2bQSGbDW5-du2fDG4Wbi1FPG8fXyXKVYRTVg87KvnQ/s320/055+copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6-ZX8ysWM8BYqHf4zydnOQtedYIjoZBGE1e1HOrUCrT7HgfSrC0nMrDm3T1DqrPFt_nbcHRovU-G-DiqL8IIbha6qH_6nkSNffCIMmpmDIIMvzvKIwElpT-kt99_kccn0f5gCUkCcic/s1600/IMG_0203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6-ZX8ysWM8BYqHf4zydnOQtedYIjoZBGE1e1HOrUCrT7HgfSrC0nMrDm3T1DqrPFt_nbcHRovU-G-DiqL8IIbha6qH_6nkSNffCIMmpmDIIMvzvKIwElpT-kt99_kccn0f5gCUkCcic/s320/IMG_0203.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before and after solder work to build the valve bodies back to fully spherical. </td></tr>
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Years ago, before I had the skills and the tools to restore it, I was given a vintage Standard claw foot tub. The tub was originally installed in a home built in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Portland Oregon. I was called because the hot and cold valves would no longer fully stop water from running into the tub. The supply risers had service valves and those must have been used to control the water for a number years because they also would no longer control the flow of water. I was told by my client that water had leaked into the fixture for eight years by that time.<br />
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As a plumber my concern was to stop the incessant leak. I wasn’t there to perform a restoration on the fixture. The obvious place to begin was the service valves. I would need to turn all of the house water off to repair them. Once they would work I could isolate the fixture to work on the main valves. Once the water was turned off and the pipes were drained down to the floor below I removed the valve stems of the tubs service valves. The bib washers were worn out and unfortunately the brass seats the washers seal to were worn out as well. The valve seats were of course milled directly into the bodies of the valves as was done with service valves then and even now to a large extent. Those brass seats were rough and one had a fair-sized gap that allowed the water to leak past even with a new washer. The old school way of stopping the leak was to use one of those toothed hand-grinding tools to grind the seat back to good brass so the new washer would come to rest against a smooth surface once more. At that time, I was using a moto tool to do the same thing. I was able to machine the seat surfaces down to good brass on both hot and cold valves. After that the rebuilding of those valves was routine. I changed the washers and seals then reassembled the valves. They worked well enough to finally stop the leak.<br />
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Next I turned my attention to the tubs main valves. Those valves also had seats that were milled directly into the brass valve bodies and like the service valves the seats were rough and notched. Grinding the main valves seats would not be a good option as the gap in the brass seat was too deep and there would be no seat left if I ground down past the gap. I told the client that I would have to think of a strategy and that I would contact her when I had a plan for the work. The client contacted me a few times and I still had no way to make the needed repairs. The valves themselves are too unique to be replaced; they would need to be rebuilt but as I said above, I didn’t at that time have the tools or skills to rebuild them. Aside from that I was still a full time plumber at that time and was always busy. When six months had gone by and I was no closer to a solution, she asked me if I wanted the tub as she had decided to replace it.<br />
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I accepted her offer. In consideration of the gift and because I was somewhat chagrined that I hadn’t been able to complete the repair, I removed the tub at no charge. The tub was on the second floor of a fine old craftsman-era home and I had no way to safely remove it from the house so I contacted a moving company and had them remove it. I disconnected the water and waste pipes from the tub and they took it out of the house. The moving company delivered the tub to me and it went into storage here at my home shop.<br />
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The reason I was willing to do so much to get and eventually begin to restore the tub was its size, shape, features, and the beautiful standing waste that was fitted to it. The tub is sixty six inches long and thirty four inches wide. It has a single backrest with the standing waste set on the other end. The standing waste controls sit atop the extra-wide rim of the tub making it what’s called a “through the rim tub”. The outside of the tub has been plastered smooth, covering the normal rough surface of a sand-cast fixture. The feet are not the normal cast iron claw foot that is hollow in the back. They are full balls with a fourth claw in the back. The cast iron itself is much thicker than normal, making the tub much heavier than a normal three hundred fifty pound tub. I don’t know what the tub weighs but I would think between five and seven hundred pounds dry.<br />
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I worked on the fixture from time to time when paying work was caught up. I took the standing waste kit apart and cleaned all parts thoroughly; I had decided from the beginning that I would have all of the parts re-plated in polished nickel.<br />
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The main valves were still the biggest problem I would have to solve. Those valves were originally beautifully cast so that the bodies had a spherical shape. Not only were the seats in very bad condition but the valve bodies had been partially flattened by large wrenches that had been used on them. The wrenches had been placed on the thinnest sections of the brass and the spherical shape was lost, destroying some of the visual appeal of the valves. I considered everything that came to mind, including having new valve bodies cast in a foundry and hiring a machinist to complete the remanufacture of those replacement valves.<br />
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As years went by I continued to develop my skills. I was even able to obtain vintage tools that were made to reseat that kind of valve by cutting threads into the original water port and threading new brass or bronze seats into the valve body. As for the damaged shape of the valve bodies I formed a plan for that after I began working with a new plating company. The plating company I had been working with would fill deep wrench scars before they plated the parts. I asked the new plater about that and he encouraged me to do the filling myself. When I showed him the damaged valve bodies he told me I should be able to do it with a good lead free solder; then he would plate the finished valves. I decided he was right and entered into this line of work to expand my skills and work on projects that were new and interesting to me. Reforming the valves for my tub qualified on both fronts.<br />
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It took a lot of time and patience, not to mention solder, to make those valves look like they once had. I added solder and then hand tooled it with a shallow-toothed rasp. I laid on layer after layer of solder until the coatings were too thick and then had to remove some of the solder to try to restore the spherical shape of the valve. There was definitely a learning process and it probably took longer than it should have but in the end I was happy with the result.<br />
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What I have done with the standing waste kit is:<br />
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• I fully restored the main valves.<br />
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• I had new stems and bonnets custom made. My plater buffed them to remove any sharp angles recreating the soft lines of a true vintage fixture.<br />
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• I reseated the bodies so that the washers on the new stems fit down to new brass.<br />
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• I made new gaskets and repacked the stems with new packing<br />
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• I tested the valves at normal house pressure to ensure the function is fully restored.<br />
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• I recreated the original shape of the valves to restore the original esthetic.<br />
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• I replaced the original brass supply risers with new brass, polished and plated in nickel as are all of the parts. I made them short enough to allow new service valves to be set into them above the floor level. Below the service valves new brass pipe will carry the supply riser to below the floor.<br />
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• The original waste pull and its tube were missing when I received the tub. I assembled vintage original “Standard” parts, including the porcelain drain pull, to create an inner tube that is indistinguishable from what was once there when in place. It functions to hold water in the tub to the standard of the time, being that the functionality is original.<br />
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• The button spout and drain strainer are original parts, as are the yoke assembly, supply nuts, spout tube assembly, outer drain tube assembly, and the trims at the tub rim penetrations.<br />
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• The horizontal tailpiece at the drain boot is new brass tubing. A new nickel plated brass vertical tailpiece (not shown in photos) will be provided.<br />
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Altogether the restoration of this tub has been a journey in microcosm, part of my overall journey from residential plumber to restoration artisan. It came to me at about the time of the inception of plumbing-geek.com and, like the creation of the website, many many hours have gone into it to make it what it is today.<br />
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This beautiful tub is available for sale at <a href="http://www.plumbing-geek.com/Standard-claw-foot-tub.html">www.plumbing-geek.com</a>.<br />
<br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-61717044824118816232017-08-27T12:55:00.002-07:002017-08-28T18:54:28.511-07:00A few things to know about shipping I live just beyond the city limit of Gladstone Oregon. Gladstone is one of many small cities that surround metropolitan Portland Oregon and though we are not residents of Gladstone we are served by its post office and therefor have a Gladstone address.<br />
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All of my work as a plumber over the first three decades was in and around the city of Portland Oregon. In the coarse of that period I began to work on older fixtures so as to keep my work interesting. Now I am almost entirely engaged in what has become my specialty, the restoration of vintage plumbing fixtures. There are plenty of fine old homes here and many of them still have original fixtures. Year by year the nature of my work has migrated toward repairing and installing vintage fixtures. For me that means 1965 and earlier, for the most part.<br />
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The creation of Plumbing-geek.com in 2010 changed my work again. As the website grew I began to include my vintage restoration portfolio. There was no great impact at first but for the last several years I have answered hundreds of questions and worked on scores of fixtures. With the exception of the projects I will actually travel to, a range of about one hundred miles, all of these fixtures have been shipped to me and were shipped back when done. <br />
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Shipping is like anything else, there is a lot to know if you want to do it right and doing it right is how you get a good result. I have seen some mixed results and a few disasters, mostly with incoming packages. I have reached the point of getting a consistently good result on outgoing product delivery. At the same time I am increasingly frustrated by disasters and near disasters on incoming shipments. To address this I thought I would take the time to write this blog post in the hope that a few pointers would alleviate the bulk of this frustration.<br />
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I guess the first thing to say is an admonishment. The older and the rarer a thing is the more likely it is to be made of a substance that might best be called "<span class="st" data-hveid="64" data-ved="0ahUKEwiX96n1hafTAhVG_mMKHfVbCqsQ4EUIQDAC">unobtanium</span>". If you have one, and it is near impossible or really costly to replace, handle it carefully and thoughtfully.<br />
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<b>Insurance </b> </div>
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Being thoughtful myself, one of the first things I did when I was faced with putting a finished fixture that wasn't mine and couldn't be replaced into the hands of a shipping company employee was worry. The second thing I did was insure it. I would like to say that I studied the whole shipping insurance deal but at first I didn't. I like what I do and I talk about it. I especially talk about it with the people I hand these packages to, perhaps thinking that they might respect the shipment if they know how rare the contents are. Early on one fine person told me my package could not be insured for its full declared value. There are limits to what may be insured and how much value may be declared. What this means is that the fine print of the insurance agreement exempts the shipping company from being liable for certain types of loss. Antiques in particular may be problematic to file a claim on. <br />
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It is not at all uncommon for me to ship packages with actual values exceeding $5000. Because of the nature of the contents, being rare antiques, plus the value of some packages, I was unable to satisfactorily insure with any shipper. Faced with this insurance dilemma I did go into the fine print of the various shipper's agreements and found no clear path. I suggest that you read the fine print of the agreement with your shipper and perhaps speak with a knowledgeable representative before you go blithely forward. <br />
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In the end I treated the issue the way a contractor does. I contacted my business liability insurance agent and had a frank discussion with him. He was happy to write a rider on my general liability policy and we revisit the topic annually to keep it at an appropriate level. I am now able to say that I separately insure my outgoing product. Unfortunately I am unable to insure incoming product. If you are unsatisfied with your shipment coverage you might speak with your agent to see if he or she can offer a solution. That worked well for me.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Containers </b></div>
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Typically a cardboard box makes a good shipping container. Cardboard boxes though are not all equal. There are various types and weights of cardboard and boxes may be rated for strength and rigidity. Many boxes are marked on the bottom with the details of their maximum rating.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwZzuoQXqHhsxlQHAbf-cenWKBzYpIgAq9gxy-9yMpOe-vT3nPUGy42ufJzs4EkSr7glv8a2qr-Th0aBTaFwqyU-7AZkqS5015fmwlWlxsrMIjWORUBBp8wz30HMJfTeh37szVJM4C0o/s1600/IMG_3585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="800" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwZzuoQXqHhsxlQHAbf-cenWKBzYpIgAq9gxy-9yMpOe-vT3nPUGy42ufJzs4EkSr7glv8a2qr-Th0aBTaFwqyU-7AZkqS5015fmwlWlxsrMIjWORUBBp8wz30HMJfTeh37szVJM4C0o/s320/IMG_3585.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Double wall construction. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Try not to use boxes with tears, scuffs, or crushed corners. Seal your box by using broad plastic or fiberglass tape, not duct tape. Seal the edges of the flaps, top and bottom, and reinforce the original center tape on the bottom of the box. Many times the bottom of a used box may have accumulated dust so wipe the bottom before you tape it and make sure your tape holds firmly in place.<br />
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photos here]</div>
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If you plan to let a shipping company label your shipping container they will probably get the required information from you when they generate the label. If you will address the box yourself mark it just as you would an envelope. In either case, place the information on the top of the box. <br />
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Here are a few tips. If you write your destination address and return address on a sheet of white paper it will be more legible. Tape that sheet of paper to the box covering it completely with clear tape to keep it from being soaked, torn, or soiled. If you write directly onto the cardboard tape that as well.<br />
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If you selected box was originally used to carry alcohol or a flammable liquid, and is so marked, you may have to wrap the entire box in paper to legally ship it through the mail.<br />
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Older shipping labels should be obscured with black marker. Do not try to remove them as they often take the outer skin of the cardboard with them, compromising the integrity of the box. <br />
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<b>Insert sheet information</b></div>
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Prepare a page or two to go inside of the box before you seal it. This page should begin with the same information you marked the box with to insure delivery of a badly damaged container. Next should be your contact information, preferred phone and email. Lastly, give instructions and perimeters of the expected work. This last is helpful for me as I speak with so many people during any given week.<br />
I often get printouts of emails I sent or received, that can be helpful, especially if a few months have gone by. <br />
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<b>Wrapping Parts to be shipped</b></div>
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Wrap parts in bubble wrap, toweling, or any other type of cushion to keep parts from damaging each other or the inner surface of the box. Do not rely solely on styrofoam peanuts as parts my migrate during carriage. After parts are individually wrapped bed them in your box filler material. Crumpled paper will work for light weight parts but bubble wrap, styrofoam, or foam cushion work better. Try to keep parts from directly touching sides, top, or bottom of your box, especially the bottom. Picture your box being dropped flat onto the ground and plan accordingly. If fragile parts, like porcelain faucet handles, can be removed and wrapped separately, do so. <br />
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<b>Carrier selection </b></div>
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Due diligence is important. Bare in mind though that most reviews and ratings are in fact complaints. Few make the effort to praise. I receive shipped packages from every shipper. Anecdotally my worst experience is with USPS and my best experience is with FedEx. I must say this though in all fairness. Many problems resulting in lost and damaged goods originate with the sender, which is my primary impetus for writing this page.<br />
In any case, take the time peruse the online suggestions of your shipper. A few key words will get you there. For instance, "preparing packages ups" will generate fair search results.<br />
As will "preparing packages usps". <br />
The best page I found as I poked around while writing this page was this,<br />
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<b>https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm100/preparing-packages.htm</b></div>
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<b>Tracking and notifications</b></div>
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I ship via my FedEx account. When I set up a shipment I include the email of the recipient and instruct FedEx to send notifications of both the initial shipment and the estimated delivery info. Those notifications include the tracking info. With most of the packages I receive I get no notification, though I have been emailing the client and tracking services are available through the shipping company. Providing tracking information, especially estimated delivery time, can be very useful. Luckily my door is well removed from the street.<br />
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<br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-58610438272146170352017-01-13T09:48:00.000-08:002017-01-14T11:06:06.257-08:00Fixing a Dripping Vintage Bathtub FaucetI get many interesting questions here at plumbing-geek.com. Sometimes I get a bit carried away answering them, proving again to myself that my knowledge of this stuff really is encyclopedic and I really am a plumbing geek. <div>
<br />Often, as I am writing my answers, I feel that I should perhaps post the questions and answers on this blog. I feel so especially if I think that it may be generally useful material. With that in mind, and with apologies and thanks to the person who submitted the question, I post this for the general aid to you DIY folks out there.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Q. </span>I have an older (1920's) bathtub. It is still in very good condition, but I can not get the faucets to quit leaking. I have replaced the faucet seats and it still leaks. I put in beveled washers and that helps, but only for a short while. Within a month or 10-15 baths later, it starts dripping again. The name on the faucets says Republic. They are nickel plated brass with porcelain handles.<br /><br />P.S. I am very handy and love restoration but this one has me frustrated.<br /><br />Appreciate your help! <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"> A.</span> Here are some tips, I hope they help.<br /><br /> 1. Was the seat you used identical to the seat you removed? After market manufacturers follow the rule of making them identical because there are so very many seat variations it is impossible with that visual aid. It would have to have had the same thread count per inch, the same depth of thread, the same height above the thread, and the same circumference at the rim. It should fit into the sweet spot of the washer, not way in or out at either edge. It should have turned in with no trouble. <br /><br /> 2. Did you use threat seal when you installed the seat? If water can seep through the seat thread it circumvents the washer to seat seal. <br /><br />3. Did you use a fairly hard washer? Harder washers last longer in service, I use "Drip Proof" "Gator Skin" and a few others of that hardness. To test them I try to twist them in my fingers, if they twist I won't use them. <br /><br /> 4. Did the faucet turn off easily and hold water when first repaired? Following that, did you instruct all users that the faucet is now repaired and must be turned off with no great force. Many users continue to force repaired faucets closed as per habit. This destroys new washers, especially soft washers. <br /><br /> 5. Does the faucet naturally take a bit of time to stop dripping because it must flow out and there is no screen there to create surface tension? And because of this do users then turn it down harder, damaging the new washer? <br /><br />Hot water softens the washer on the hot side, making it more vulnerable to excess pressure. That is another reason to use hard washers, especially on the hot side. Speaking of which, how hot is your water? <br /><br />6. Is the washer retainer cup at the end of the stem intact? Without it the washer will not hold its shape well. <br /><br />7. Is there a lot of debris coming through the line that may be embedding itself into the washers when the faucet is tuned off? <br /><br />8. Is water finding its way past the washer screw? Especially if the stem washer retainer cup is bad. <br /><br />That's about it, Almost everything there is to know about washers. BTW, I rarely use beveled washers. I use them only to gain height at the stem. <br /><br />Good luck.<br />Brian.</div>
plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-52222829097686487492016-08-09T12:02:00.001-07:002016-08-09T12:02:34.752-07:00Thomas Maddocks and more yetAt long last I have completed my Thomas Maddock's Sons Co. project. It was unusual in various ways, not the least of which being that I had the faucet and trim but not the fixture. It is almost always the other way around.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xD_wbhdGm034fkvNhA-TNjqw0mJqhj1coydo7UoIcEmq5sGON08dzVOSjvLcn6wni4aXtUGvI7EoLMGYz5zOA01MgHjH10HG4gGJYHoQvfcEEqdMJUvfl0UgHZvquvzez92eI837i5A/s1600/367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xD_wbhdGm034fkvNhA-TNjqw0mJqhj1coydo7UoIcEmq5sGON08dzVOSjvLcn6wni4aXtUGvI7EoLMGYz5zOA01MgHjH10HG4gGJYHoQvfcEEqdMJUvfl0UgHZvquvzez92eI837i5A/s320/367.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This fixture is now featured on the main website, <span id="b-user">plumbing-geek.com, </span><br />
<a href="http://www.plumbing-geek.com/ThomasMaddockssons.html">Thomas Maddocks Sons Co. Pedestal Lavatory</a><br />
It is available </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I ended my previous blog post concerning Thomas Maddocks, "Learning Thomas Maddocks and more", with the question, "<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;">anyone have a Madbury for sale?" That was a few years ago. I had an opportunity to pick one up last year but it was in Roswell New Mexico and I am in Portland Oregon. I don't mind a road trip but the timing was never right. Then about three months ago I got an email from someone in northern Cal. who had one with non-original faucets. He wanted to complete his Madbury with the proper trims but as we discussed it he decided it would be too much project for him and it was too remote for me to do the work. In the end he decide to look for an easier vintage integral spout fixture as the thing he was most interested in was having something with an integral spout. That left his Madbury available. He let me have for what I consider to be a wholesale price. I offered two figures, a fair price and a price that was better for me. He accepted the latter, saying he "wanted the fixture to be completed". An arrangement was made for me to meet his friend half way, in Eugene Oregon, to pick the fixture up. I was very excited, and even more so when I saw it. It is in terrific condition. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLrHSngyyui8Hi1x-u-8KHtV3JOhGhcdJMx6M0veMDP41tmGzb9GnfuQYEa4n8WzilBXKOy-E4bBoDngNoCZZtfHnSp5ZAnfkrDyl1Fzy-dSTyjgVgRO2mEKjsoByLGAvTObIQr___54/s1600/393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLrHSngyyui8Hi1x-u-8KHtV3JOhGhcdJMx6M0veMDP41tmGzb9GnfuQYEa4n8WzilBXKOy-E4bBoDngNoCZZtfHnSp5ZAnfkrDyl1Fzy-dSTyjgVgRO2mEKjsoByLGAvTObIQr___54/s320/393.JPG" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The circle around the anchor is a belt and buckle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;">Not only are there no chips or fractures on the basin or base, there is the most interesting crazing I have ever seen. It took me a while, working with the fixture, to notice that there are a few runs of glaze that flowed out of the bracket anchor holes during the last firing. One of these formed a small drop at the back edge of the fixture. This drop is clear glass which tells me that he last glazing was in clear glass. This, at some depth below the surface, crazed. Being below the surface however the crazing does not detract from the glossy sheen that the glass finish give the fixture. The crazing of the base is finer than that of the basin, the basin displays broader lines. to my eye, the intense crazing of the base is exquisite. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7U_FvcXzXETJwD64N4Jen75psQQ5eEAqauBf-_RgRWmVpdQ28a0bxwu8UJsljwhReeEYIafX_ddqJ41AwQtzPy-SjbxhFIE3gPcGdUzqwO6OGz_v1ImqPJ5bN1q3nc5KXjial_-T4VfY/s1600/384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7U_FvcXzXETJwD64N4Jen75psQQ5eEAqauBf-_RgRWmVpdQ28a0bxwu8UJsljwhReeEYIafX_ddqJ41AwQtzPy-SjbxhFIE3gPcGdUzqwO6OGz_v1ImqPJ5bN1q3nc5KXjial_-T4VfY/s320/384.JPG" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note the crazing in the run of glass glaze</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlehdxQio9ClboNCdQxwEkIHLMIHITWSHnLTC1hwAO2F9PQsOjf2UEWEliekCqNstCPVt5j6hg_3olAw5lxXapz8eWPVLZSHIHAsaj0fm1Y4nEg8UM2F4RV7CoFx6JMpCe0N9r-moxR6g/s1600/403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlehdxQio9ClboNCdQxwEkIHLMIHITWSHnLTC1hwAO2F9PQsOjf2UEWEliekCqNstCPVt5j6hg_3olAw5lxXapz8eWPVLZSHIHAsaj0fm1Y4nEg8UM2F4RV7CoFx6JMpCe0N9r-moxR6g/s320/403.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was totally captivated by this intense crazing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVdn72Wx2i6wQIHRVfH-Lt4vO5JDimLe-MVR0Nq-peDiV-sHJBN9LLlFnPDJYQTndtT8Q2aJUGo4lR1GGelsDhrxBZ7cPivNGumSuP2qV6U6PVOG8IZZWtK8X2wUMhuLK8wma3TjYw8M/s1600/20160804_123425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVdn72Wx2i6wQIHRVfH-Lt4vO5JDimLe-MVR0Nq-peDiV-sHJBN9LLlFnPDJYQTndtT8Q2aJUGo4lR1GGelsDhrxBZ7cPivNGumSuP2qV6U6PVOG8IZZWtK8X2wUMhuLK8wma3TjYw8M/s320/20160804_123425.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;">I
began work on it as soon as I got it back to my shop. I had to make the
rubber gaskets that seal the valve bodies to the china as the china is
the water porting with an integral spout fixture. I also had to make the
threaded brass fasteners that hold the escutcheons in place under the
handles. I had to select a pop-up assembly that was the proper size,
cast brass, and the right vintage. There was no way I was going to find
an original Maddocks drain assembly or wait on one to come to me. I had a
fixture to build and the right drain assembly could always be swapped
in if one were to show up. I had seven or eight parts that needed to be
plated in polished nickel as well. As the parts were made ready they
were placed into a "job box", as I do with my client's projects. In the
meantime the fixture had been washed, any paint, plaster, or old putty
had been removed. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgJRTyn7UPqVPfzJ-nOvO9ON21aG1anS3T5lejvyMCpwwua5PaZnPf-mncAfqaOjgzsjbMpsoHcp6wZQDekSISR3p-C_mROSyYy7IT6qwKrP1MikCTJeAWoaBRHoB2E7-yn7P79-Uxww/s1600/IMG_2369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHgJRTyn7UPqVPfzJ-nOvO9ON21aG1anS3T5lejvyMCpwwua5PaZnPf-mncAfqaOjgzsjbMpsoHcp6wZQDekSISR3p-C_mROSyYy7IT6qwKrP1MikCTJeAWoaBRHoB2E7-yn7P79-Uxww/s320/IMG_2369.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The measurements are actually approximations. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhnoRapd9SXmFWotNbG8I-lQGZHE1br7CEu0yIjnZtAKwEtZ12uC8nXfTug3YZS_iXAnIHt8QHh6GmJ1AlRzAKIxn_FRZ9i7Mxv0DaDPodyA4O35tex4_DdlHs_SzopmOrAMcAHUk89s/s1600/IMG_2368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZhnoRapd9SXmFWotNbG8I-lQGZHE1br7CEu0yIjnZtAKwEtZ12uC8nXfTug3YZS_iXAnIHt8QHh6GmJ1AlRzAKIxn_FRZ9i7Mxv0DaDPodyA4O35tex4_DdlHs_SzopmOrAMcAHUk89s/s320/IMG_2368.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Of the three sizes listed, this is the small. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;">These
are images from my 1924 Thomas Maddock's Sons Co. catalog. They show
the intended installation and the manufacturers specifications. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;">The
distinctive thing about the fixture is that no metal shows above the
basin deck when the facet is not in use. The handles and drain pull are
skirted to hide the metal fasteners. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old valve bodies have been given new seats and stems. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of the china trims are original.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtIjHXqFn8XywGU0Z9IT9Zpn1ba_ymoG48xQtzMwWjn1_mt5PaYFyGRZOyNRS_WWQ0vSj9yahQzvVrFom0eXDUvj5HvlWJc47bBV_bi57hNg493K7LgGLSEs7eX4OaC7Msx6qzcZJrEPY/s1600/406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtIjHXqFn8XywGU0Z9IT9Zpn1ba_ymoG48xQtzMwWjn1_mt5PaYFyGRZOyNRS_WWQ0vSj9yahQzvVrFom0eXDUvj5HvlWJc47bBV_bi57hNg493K7LgGLSEs7eX4OaC7Msx6qzcZJrEPY/s320/406.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I made the threaded escutcheon fasteners. </td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;">The integral spout of this fixture is above the overflow inlet. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;">When plumbing was first being brought into the average home many things were done to show how sanitary it was. Everything was white white white. Maddocks went so far as to hide the metal fasteners to give the product a sanitary look. The overflow channel, where germs could hide, could be flushed with running water if you had a Madbury. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTodguc66QtqI-6wUsgH6SWCndxqj6JdOryKwlrD6tO8ZLQC07iLzx0h7mZiQW3DkY6CXirzWOpXm2uuutQAt5ubaq2mgDwON9XAG_Ph2YXkU6U5BvrpowQfzmgLvS84Epav1wohrSV8/s1600/IMG_2371.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTodguc66QtqI-6wUsgH6SWCndxqj6JdOryKwlrD6tO8ZLQC07iLzx0h7mZiQW3DkY6CXirzWOpXm2uuutQAt5ubaq2mgDwON9XAG_Ph2YXkU6U5BvrpowQfzmgLvS84Epav1wohrSV8/s320/IMG_2371.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></span> plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-49938423522709471392016-04-17T09:44:00.000-07:002016-04-17T09:44:33.609-07:00Quality in-Quality out<div data-contents="true">
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<span data-offset-key="7m35p-0-0"><span data-text="true">I have been specializing in the repair and restoration of vintage plumbing fixtures for nearly twenty years now. I long since came to the conclusion that being old does not make something good or worth restoring. Yes, there is a correlation, and yes, things do not seem to be manufactured today with the same high levels of care and integrity that seemed to exist long ago. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="e6ara-0-0"><span data-text="true">Think about this though. Of the product that has lasted and endured for the last sixty, seventy, and eighty years, how much is that longevity associated with good design? By good design I refer not only to solid enduring function, but to timeless visual appeal. Yes they last but do they last longer because we like the look of them and continue to keep them in working order? What of the product that was not attractive? What of the product that was not designed well enough to last, be appealing, or be easily serviceable? If it wasn't well designed all those decades ago how much of it do we still see today? I have to wonder how much our estimation of the value of older product is skewed by the quality of the remnant while we do not see the quality of the whole. </span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="d0rs5" data-offset-key="5gaav-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5gaav-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="5gaav-0-0"><span data-text="true">My point is this. When quality materials and good design come together enduring product tends to be produced. When economical materials and design by necessity come into play the resultant product will not tend to endure. I typically express this notion by simply saying, 'Quality in-Quality out.' I have not, until now, put my thoughts about it into written words. So there you have it. </span></span></div>
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plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-88561245303661455022016-03-25T16:18:00.001-07:002016-05-18T23:55:58.844-07:00Victorian Railway Car Basin. Every now and again, in the process of keeping old fixtures serviceable, it is prudent to make their functions just a bit more modern. Case in point, look at my page...http://www.plumbing-geek.com/victoriantoilet.html<br />
The project I want to write about today though it is a bit more extreme.<br />
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A while ago I was contacted by a local man who had purchased a very old and unusual fixture. He had acquired it at Aurora Mills, an architectural salvage house in nearby Aurora Oregon. They had referred me to answer his questions about getting it installed. He contacted me and upon my request, sent me some photos.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VTVJocULRgfZKg6aA17eABXKSLoPV8AH9HpApitTY66e2GPmYy-0vBgRj1OouzjoPvm2Kpf3fbiTImafSx5aorD9Hzg5LGpkgwgJKPsIyrrPX5Rp9ud_CBB2hxcKYUGeh-81UqhgAmg/s1600/RR+sink+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VTVJocULRgfZKg6aA17eABXKSLoPV8AH9HpApitTY66e2GPmYy-0vBgRj1OouzjoPvm2Kpf3fbiTImafSx5aorD9Hzg5LGpkgwgJKPsIyrrPX5Rp9ud_CBB2hxcKYUGeh-81UqhgAmg/s1600/RR+sink+4.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Open tank water source in back splash holds water at room temperature with gravity flow.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq4gRcmdo32bBfYauwWglY-sjiHW3MMNpBsHnkDr9_J2ONUo5W3SFmcWrX_hQHwQmT-LnSFroO3jRksonqRHdTGn2AMd1X0hVVNxp6T2Z_TQ7spMJbwZjZg7G6md45QFLr3Eaoh1P4Fx4/s1600/RR+sink+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq4gRcmdo32bBfYauwWglY-sjiHW3MMNpBsHnkDr9_J2ONUo5W3SFmcWrX_hQHwQmT-LnSFroO3jRksonqRHdTGn2AMd1X0hVVNxp6T2Z_TQ7spMJbwZjZg7G6md45QFLr3Eaoh1P4Fx4/s1600/RR+sink+3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Basin has no drain fitting, just an open hole.Note the tank with affixed spigot middle left. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oG-ozEx2ripb9AuIQJJCapElTPD6o-K8mKDFpas9e_UCeEy4XFO_FO5i-LGu150f8p8Xt0rd6MFg3qaAB9saOaUUmXzl79Z6rpLgq07dy-vbU2kBOkw5ny-4EkX5BtWNqmirMOXxMl4/s1600/RR+sink+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oG-ozEx2ripb9AuIQJJCapElTPD6o-K8mKDFpas9e_UCeEy4XFO_FO5i-LGu150f8p8Xt0rd6MFg3qaAB9saOaUUmXzl79Z6rpLgq07dy-vbU2kBOkw5ny-4EkX5BtWNqmirMOXxMl4/s400/RR+sink+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pull knob at bottom right rolls wooden ball into drain hole to hold water.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">When ball is rolled away, drain water drops into tin funnel and from there into a vessel that is later emptied by a porter. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjzybmL6RRXYGHu10tmakwtc2Y7O6di7NvZi7ocLHPCVal6cixpgC-POXdP952fUdynhuo87CcIxpKCtqZTLDYHI_DUdsWfd-NKpT1dNNKqEhA0f-k1VIjZcAogs0APdBAgll5SV1yRE/s1600/RR+sink+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjzybmL6RRXYGHu10tmakwtc2Y7O6di7NvZi7ocLHPCVal6cixpgC-POXdP952fUdynhuo87CcIxpKCtqZTLDYHI_DUdsWfd-NKpT1dNNKqEhA0f-k1VIjZcAogs0APdBAgll5SV1yRE/s400/RR+sink+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">New holes in back splash to accommodate new hot and cold water taps.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6oJgBXIH62RK_TpmCebqHKRSd3Kum7tCiuOKOaUT7MUso-SIazknFl3peA8RYzzKiprk_3ihSA-PWhHCMxQc2h5hpup_l7c4uHm3Cx1d5uH4ZYAYQzDbN_p8VsknbKUiITXziKX0z4s/s1600/RR+sink+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6oJgBXIH62RK_TpmCebqHKRSd3Kum7tCiuOKOaUT7MUso-SIazknFl3peA8RYzzKiprk_3ihSA-PWhHCMxQc2h5hpup_l7c4uHm3Cx1d5uH4ZYAYQzDbN_p8VsknbKUiITXziKX0z4s/s1600/RR+sink+1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rear view, tin tank not in place.The photos above were sent to me. Only the basin itself was brought to my shop. It fits to the bottom of the marble countertop with wooden stays. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> I was asked to install a drain fitting into the open drain
port of the basin so that it could be connected to the drainage system
of the house. The only problem is that the drain opening is smaller than what a modern drain can address. I would have to make my own drain assembly. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOaVlevibmnMSTBd2Xw4mKY4Et-WZY4_RbrMTrYDTf8ZWsn0JHtPFNuQRlCPjcvuklbMyruoFOAJCQgOQZeLxYthncC4oeTzCWFTN41xb80xkg02i-zUGL43E7oLIMbU2wWoGnoYdbZ4/s1600/Railroad+basin+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOaVlevibmnMSTBd2Xw4mKY4Et-WZY4_RbrMTrYDTf8ZWsn0JHtPFNuQRlCPjcvuklbMyruoFOAJCQgOQZeLxYthncC4oeTzCWFTN41xb80xkg02i-zUGL43E7oLIMbU2wWoGnoYdbZ4/s640/Railroad+basin+5.jpg" width="505" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is the cast brass lower portion of a regular 1-1/4" vessel drain assembly, I started with that. I have cut a section of vintage 1" threaded tubing that had a lock nut on it and soldered the lock nut to the modern brass flange. I had to lathe cut the internal thread of the flange to allow the nut to penetrate it evenly. The threaded tubing is a close fit into the open drain hole of the basin</span>. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXkXPjfP3hP8zRjcW-YdkEZoYLqHJaErwc42MGhixqHs8u5oYNwJG5MGTYofJwiUP4Q4vSS3SlC7GGh2C1Mw6rZOjSKZslMBNkqKZjxiVLhCPysWVjo50iHw1XMx_BigrWupr8-Kblj8/s1600/Railroad+basin+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXkXPjfP3hP8zRjcW-YdkEZoYLqHJaErwc42MGhixqHs8u5oYNwJG5MGTYofJwiUP4Q4vSS3SlC7GGh2C1Mw6rZOjSKZslMBNkqKZjxiVLhCPysWVjo50iHw1XMx_BigrWupr8-Kblj8/s400/Railroad+basin+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then I needed a grid strainer to joint to the 1" threaded tubing. I decided that this large brass washer would work. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlxiuRucElTb6JXepCBPARdZghH-xSUFHs4nQx4dj-NZPjcUWISHdfGB7purmXajAmAfJQxNTGCzWNqA5X4plYE3K4I6Q21cxWNIN_D3nQlok8fwmGMQ1Hwgwe0PUa8p2b5wd_wdiU7c/s1600/Railroad+basin+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlxiuRucElTb6JXepCBPARdZghH-xSUFHs4nQx4dj-NZPjcUWISHdfGB7purmXajAmAfJQxNTGCzWNqA5X4plYE3K4I6Q21cxWNIN_D3nQlok8fwmGMQ1Hwgwe0PUa8p2b5wd_wdiU7c/s400/Railroad+basin+6.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Searching for a motif to follow the client and I decided that the little five petal flowers painted onto the basin would be appropriate. I knew that the result would match a common strainer pattern circa 1910. The brass washer gave me a free center hole, I would need five evenly spaced holes around it. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsPPDkUsJNpEMPiug6NJVrQk1iwuBkZbJupNDyvbq_-pRaDieMhFjo27uA6_oHn4GjRXDB5Zg_RvcFB67GkyETERF3q3pXJbxvplCwQcK7pVZPYi9xk6LyyqeuCflIipLg0YjwZUcFQo/s1600/Railroad+basin+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsPPDkUsJNpEMPiug6NJVrQk1iwuBkZbJupNDyvbq_-pRaDieMhFjo27uA6_oHn4GjRXDB5Zg_RvcFB67GkyETERF3q3pXJbxvplCwQcK7pVZPYi9xk6LyyqeuCflIipLg0YjwZUcFQo/s400/Railroad+basin+3.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once I had the penciled on rays, evenly spaced, I added two circles. The outside circle represents the ID of my 1" tubing. The inner circle is the center of my holes and I drilled 1/8" holes where the rays and the inner circle intersected. I walked the holes to match the 5/16" size of the original center hole by degrees, using larger bits in turns. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTI1qqqzYEOaHtQoOhy8z5d1KQbMfFo8M2T9ssMLHBdAZYJTM86eub08ztk36LnsGcIu0mAeZi8vrTqhtrKFCAeWpl8zse5SdmJCKLpjonu3ataB3-D2hGl4NkfdMSNwrf2Y0jMObh9M/s1600/Railroad+basin+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTI1qqqzYEOaHtQoOhy8z5d1KQbMfFo8M2T9ssMLHBdAZYJTM86eub08ztk36LnsGcIu0mAeZi8vrTqhtrKFCAeWpl8zse5SdmJCKLpjonu3ataB3-D2hGl4NkfdMSNwrf2Y0jMObh9M/s400/Railroad+basin+7.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I then soldered the new strainer onto the 1" tubing. I had prepared the tubing for this by cleaning the edge on the lathe. Five minutes on the buffing wheel smoothed the inner edges of the drilled holes. Then it went to the plater for a coating of polished nickel. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaujKjFWQxqZuVAnjJPQQunQkh66WuNGOQxxrSyM6oJpXkwMD7a_DdJPxNUur7Id0EehocnE8D4eYwZ0gym2557HO-bgP9xico0ma2ytBsUpVNjnTb2iN3DxaCvzhUAtnwUUSggmS95g/s1600/Railroad+basin+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeaujKjFWQxqZuVAnjJPQQunQkh66WuNGOQxxrSyM6oJpXkwMD7a_DdJPxNUur7Id0EehocnE8D4eYwZ0gym2557HO-bgP9xico0ma2ytBsUpVNjnTb2iN3DxaCvzhUAtnwUUSggmS95g/s400/Railroad+basin+4.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The new drain assembly, ready to install. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqGvs1GegIuEy7cSSwDRCreacs6qLCOQW7jUh4rEabbHmPmn3t9cB1CUxveS7-tPJaa8luDjnfz7H9WfZ92ehJmZEADrhMq0MFKjlhi7BGP9npBV3heHcHFCx2Kr-8rasjNIB8tFo1WIs/s1600/Railroad+basin+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqGvs1GegIuEy7cSSwDRCreacs6qLCOQW7jUh4rEabbHmPmn3t9cB1CUxveS7-tPJaa8luDjnfz7H9WfZ92ehJmZEADrhMq0MFKjlhi7BGP9npBV3heHcHFCx2Kr-8rasjNIB8tFo1WIs/s640/Railroad+basin+8.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I used a closed cell foam gasket that I cut to fit. that material would seal my drain connection without adding undue force to the vintage china surface. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGz-nZWtuVJU_wkPT3FGEKL3UQH7NA4SrIi-hBpAZNc3V8z89ag_kNDs-vhFdRppOAwUptrSgLH9ifpLgANCFkqpikf7jgosCvUZ9N9zFY7BfeG8j_w5kgJhIO8RXL2VNhPtu26adRRao/s1600/RR+basin+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGz-nZWtuVJU_wkPT3FGEKL3UQH7NA4SrIi-hBpAZNc3V8z89ag_kNDs-vhFdRppOAwUptrSgLH9ifpLgANCFkqpikf7jgosCvUZ9N9zFY7BfeG8j_w5kgJhIO8RXL2VNhPtu26adRRao/s400/RR+basin+9.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another happy ending.</span></td></tr>
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Rising to the challenge of such a unique request makes the job very special. </div>
plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-77301482841658716082016-03-13T15:23:00.001-07:002016-03-22T13:56:00.799-07:00Mid-Century Modern<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmRSrJxCsYyPRoBhyphenhyphen0Zv-_Wbx-m_jm9awtNj95ms3j9hOMKLudR2SpLBp2HL8kms8fUlQLS5tBHmok0GwxxWhFz4ZdZhS9v3dhDkmZkgGcv0AAblxtUQ1yEMz7WJP6wfVC3mQ_fE8DkA/s1600/ad+grphic+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
Currently I, with the help of my clever and creative daughter, am preparing the graphics and text for my new advertising campaign. A local preservationist group, Restore Oregon, has offered to allow me to advertise in this year's tour guides. They will have two self guided tours this year, both are featuring homes in the Mid-Century Modern style.<br />
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I knew without hesitation that I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity be an advertising sponsor of this year's tours. For the same reasons that I love my work I am very sympathetic to Restore Oregon's drive to preserve the at risk older structures in our area. Aside from that, the timing is perfect for me because I am endeavoring at this time to forsake general plumbing repair and turn my attention exclusively toward the repair and restoration of vintage plumbing fixtures.<br />
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Collaborating on creative work requires not only the knowledge of what one desires to create but the ability to express how and why one would use the designs and language proposed. For my part, I had several ideas about what I would want to do and say. My daughter is doing a good job of keeping me grounded, helping to keep it simple, balanced, relevant, and meaningful from the layman's perspective.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmRSrJxCsYyPRoBhyphenhyphen0Zv-_Wbx-m_jm9awtNj95ms3j9hOMKLudR2SpLBp2HL8kms8fUlQLS5tBHmok0GwxxWhFz4ZdZhS9v3dhDkmZkgGcv0AAblxtUQ1yEMz7WJP6wfVC3mQ_fE8DkA/s1600/ad+grphic+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmRSrJxCsYyPRoBhyphenhyphen0Zv-_Wbx-m_jm9awtNj95ms3j9hOMKLudR2SpLBp2HL8kms8fUlQLS5tBHmok0GwxxWhFz4ZdZhS9v3dhDkmZkgGcv0AAblxtUQ1yEMz7WJP6wfVC3mQ_fE8DkA/s1600/ad+grphic+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">The pantry faucet image is out of</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">my 1897 L. Wolff Mfg. Co. catalog.</span><br />
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We are so pleased with the result so far that it will become the pattern for the next batch of business cards. During the first phase she and I had several preparatory talks and at last one long creative session to agree upon the main elements of the primary graphic that will go on Restore Oregon's website. She then produced nine mock-ups and we selected the best elements from the lot. After that I wrote the text for the accompanying promotion. Yet to create is the material to fill the space I have been given in the tour guides.<br />
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A good deal of research goes into the work of creating a design that will convey a message. The fact that I have been giving new life to fixtures from the thirties, forties, fifties, and sixties for many years is not enough. I needed to know what the term Mid-Century Modern means, not only to me and not only to others, but what the usual range of meanings are because these things can be somewhat controversial and I am not interested in taking a stand but in communicating at large.<br />
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I was intrigued to see that the colors I am familiar with in the fixtures of the period were repeated in design and advertising. I learned not only the origin of the term Mid-Century Modern but that it and indeed most of the terms used to describe periods in design came well after the end of the period in question. I searched and read through a good deal of material, the consequence of which is a whole new appreciation of the period. I no longer see Mid-Century Modern only as it relates to<i> my </i>work but to furnishing, architecture, art, and even open spaces and life style.<br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"It feels refreshing to think about what, to me, were good and positive times."</span></blockquote>
I was born in 1950 and grew up in the suburbs of Long Island, New York. I have an old familiarity with the colors and forms we are working with on this project. Formerly when I perused my old manufacturer catalogs I would focus on the fixtures, remembering which I had worked on and who I had done the work for.<br />
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Now it seems as though my reminiscences have really come alive. I can't help but think of the bright colorful advertisements for the refreshments available at the concession building before they began to play the Tom and Jerry cartoons at our local drive-in theater. I think about what it was like inside the Cape Cod style house we lived in, the floors and counter tops, the tables and chairs. It feels refreshing to think about what, to me, were good and positive times.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RestoreOregon Mid-Century Modern Home Tour Advertisement.<br />
The image comes from an old Standard catalog.</td></tr>
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Perhaps the enjoyment I feel when I work on the fixtures of that period is not simply because the work is easier. I know that the styles and forms speak to me artistically but what I had not considered is that I probably associate those fixtures with pleasant memories. <br />
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Is is easier to work on the fixtures from those decades than it is to restore fixture from near the turn of the century. The parts are easier to attain and the valves were meant to be repaired with parts that could be easily replaced.<br />
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While the porcelain on cast iron was about the same grade of product as it had always been, the vitreous china ware was much better material. You never see the crazing in it that is so common with the older stuff and because of that it seems more sanitary.<br />
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Mid-Century Modern plumbing fixtures are also plentiful. There are many to be had and many remain in their original settings. I am particularly fond of the wall hung lavatories that were set with stainless steel legs in front, what we call Leg Lavs.<br />
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I have been able to acquire various fixtures, faucets, and sets of hardware from the period that are "New old stock". I have sets of lavatory legs, some with integral towel bars along with faucets by Crane and Standard. I'm hoping the new advertising will help me find more work on Mid-Century fixtures and help me find homes for some of the new and used stock I have to offer. </div>
plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-40007771474085991122016-02-21T14:14:00.000-08:002016-02-21T14:14:09.321-08:00Glorious Day Another great old standing waste arrived today. I restrained my urges enough to get a photo of the large box before I took it to my basement shop to open it and lay out its elements on one of my benches. Inside the box were four packages. Two were the hot and cold supply valves on their risers, the drain tower and yoke were in another. The fourth package held the strainer assembly with its drain boot and the tub spout. It is a "fuller ball" style tub filler with accompanying tower drain. The set was made by the American Standard company and is marked with their trademark, "Stanard". <br />
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I had been emailed images of the parts before me and knew what the complaints were. I found, of course, the usual toothed tool scars that I find so cavalierly brutal considering that there are hexagonal wrench flats on all the parts that need them. Lifting the sections out of their packaging I set the packing material aside separately until I confirmed that it held no further small parts. While I did that I examined the emerging assemblies, seeing them as both what they were and what they could be. The problem solving, the making of the mental list, and first insights and strategies had already begun. <br />
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I had to stop myself at that point. I needed to get my before photos. Stopping my process to photo journal does not come naturally to me but I am always disappointed in myself when I don't have a set of before photos. I couldn't just snap some quick pix either. The result of that would not likely render anything worthy of publishing and there are more than enough disappointing photos on my website already. Photographing my work, before and after, has become a separate project in itself. Since we are all busy being creative around here it is not a project I can delegate regularly. Even if it were though I would want to embrace learning new skills. <br />
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Previously I would open and view new projects as they came in but not begin actual work on them until I had cleared the benches of already begun projects. I was trying to be extra careful of keeping the parts separated and turning out work in a timely manner. Now, with the amount of work that is arriving, I have begun a job box system so that various projects are kept separate and proceed as parts and materials arrive. I begin to process each project as it comes in and am no longer idle while awaiting deliveries. I was never really idle because there is plenty of work to do locally but my goal is to eventually move all operations into the realm of vintage repair and restoration. <br />
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I am pleased to say that I have turned the corner at this point. Last year the shop generated more income than the van did. I am steadily refusing more and more types of non-vintage work, though it is difficult to refuse the clients that have supported me over the years. As I write this, I am preparing copy for my new "vintage-only" ad campaign. <br />
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plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-55300661855229981582015-12-12T08:31:00.001-08:002016-01-24T20:01:06.464-08:00Worn to Brass<br />
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A few weeks ago I was contacted, via my plumbing-geek web mail, by a new client in Texas who was restoring an 1850s cabin on a rural property there. He had been looking at lav taps on sites like Ebay to compliment the lavatory he was using. He told me that he was searching for a pair of taps that were "worn to brass". He had found a single tap that suited him but had not purchased it and wanted to know if I had a potential mate for it. He went on to say that if I had a pair in stock he would be interested in seeing them but that in any case, whether he provided or I did, he wanted me to work up a pair of taps for his cabin. In the original contact email he included the URL of the web page where the one tap was being offered. I looked it over and proceeded to root through my stock of unfinished taps for something that might match what I had seen on the web page, or failing that a pair that might be suitable. The two problems with the tap on the internet were that I couldn't tell it's size from the photo and I didn't know if it would turn out to be serviceable.<br />
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As I sorted the contents of boxes, selecting out singles and pairs tied together, looking at their surfaces with the term "worn to brass" in mind, the usual inner dialog was playing. I have never been a fan of the bare brass look. It reminds me of the early days of the restoration movement when people would strip old faucets of their nickle or chrome and install them in that raw state. From time to time someone would ask me to repair such a faucet or pair of taps and it always seemed so wrong to me, as a plumber with a mind set upon sanitation, to work on something that I just knew would get all green and funky. Those faucets were the very first vintage work I did though I didn't relish it at the time.<br />
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I laid out the result of my search and inspected what I could choose from. The term worn to brass was bugging me because it seemed so specific. I was looking at bare brass that had been tank stripped, wheel buffed, and maybe even sand blasted. A lot of my potential product had come in as a lot and I had been pulling the <i>best</i> of it out for work, not the most worn looking. Now, looking at these pieces my intuition was giving me red lights. I went back to the office and contacted my client to confirm and make sure I was reading him right.<br />
I asked, "When you say "worn to brass" I assume you are looking for authentic
aging and not stripped, sandblasted, or buffed down finishes".<br />
I got back, "Thank you Brian and you are correct I basically want an unlacquered
brass finish of an older unit. If it was an original brass finish then
one with some patina. If it was nickel or chrome over brass then most of
the nickel and chrome pitted or worn in places to show the brass
beneath. <br />
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Thank you for your diligence".</div>
<div>
The thing is, I was really becoming intrigued by this, and frustrated. Everything I looked at was off the mark. I understand patina but that usually concerns the remnant condition of a plated finish. For this project I was looking beyond patina to deep wear. </div>
<div>
Unable to find anything in storage I went to the shop where I keep a stock of "product" to be put on the bench in times when there is a dearth of client work. These are select sets and the really raw stuff would likely go to the plater. Now I was thinking that might be a mistake and a good thing that I had found very little bench time that was not filled with client work. I selected three sets of taps and pulled each apart to confirm that they were yet serviceable. Once I was content that I could make each set function like new I started taking photos with my phone.<br />
Interestingly enough, all three sets had the "Standard" stamping that
showed they were made by American Standard yet each set was of a
slightly different vintage. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4RFe15Z-M_OMoWU65Aq5IjLoLfDs7c3lh40RLIaJ3D_65aYUKfoprjGZXAu4QLAXvHJyxvL-CsQqp5GPOYkiLgopcFonua-AgIcHvqttnwGFpldBHiFm4njBjyWGjJ_wn3tjFP2prTc/s1600/Worn+2+brass++16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4RFe15Z-M_OMoWU65Aq5IjLoLfDs7c3lh40RLIaJ3D_65aYUKfoprjGZXAu4QLAXvHJyxvL-CsQqp5GPOYkiLgopcFonua-AgIcHvqttnwGFpldBHiFm4njBjyWGjJ_wn3tjFP2prTc/s320/Worn+2+brass++16.jpg" title="Separate Taps with porcelain handles " width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First pair, nickel plating fairly intact under green oxidation.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIkEMvAsnVrMDoaWihWwC5rvZnr9SzKgRLjukjptLGHuTPmg8-AR3AmerkknEsheKkxVPT3H8J7an4SKeh-P95YHD3PitVpyhdNWFsd1DtCHrIjDtUKnqgeT9v7zBiZPnvcDGlvGGXs4/s1600/Worn+2+brass++15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIkEMvAsnVrMDoaWihWwC5rvZnr9SzKgRLjukjptLGHuTPmg8-AR3AmerkknEsheKkxVPT3H8J7an4SKeh-P95YHD3PitVpyhdNWFsd1DtCHrIjDtUKnqgeT9v7zBiZPnvcDGlvGGXs4/s320/Worn+2+brass++15.jpg" title="Vintage "Standard" lav tap" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Standard" tap, independent packing nut. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJsRWED1jlRlhObPwd17mdrt-2CM6QmoCU8RlNLHCmHii824uoXfQY8ZAuCw5MwTz-HLD26jJ14O-e8qOiy2NKZF62LBHrA9br2-lWfSU4TmIW_17b5H6VqGXRlFlM4ttAus51QWaOqbw/s1600/Worn+2+brass++14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJsRWED1jlRlhObPwd17mdrt-2CM6QmoCU8RlNLHCmHii824uoXfQY8ZAuCw5MwTz-HLD26jJ14O-e8qOiy2NKZF62LBHrA9br2-lWfSU4TmIW_17b5H6VqGXRlFlM4ttAus51QWaOqbw/s320/Worn+2+brass++14.jpg" title=""Standard RE-NU lav tap" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RE-NU indicates replaceable seat and dates</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tap to </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> mid-twenties and beyond. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Second pair, nickel worn off of high points and pitted with some green patina present. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif7ech1R-Y4hmXFfFYsQlNJp06y5EGpaEVrR0DYPeCh8_rrICTD9RZAP0_hMGMeMmC9AvijkgOzzzaOr22saLwa9HpfFuaz1Mu1u0MlPhyacslHPC0CBgpYP0kVWzfQWnBJDfWuTgwHFI/s1600/Worn+2+brass++12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif7ech1R-Y4hmXFfFYsQlNJp06y5EGpaEVrR0DYPeCh8_rrICTD9RZAP0_hMGMeMmC9AvijkgOzzzaOr22saLwa9HpfFuaz1Mu1u0MlPhyacslHPC0CBgpYP0kVWzfQWnBJDfWuTgwHFI/s320/Worn+2+brass++12.jpg" title="Joined pair of lav taps" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Pre RE-NU lav taps, more sculpted bonnet nut. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12hkk40DimImXlwSDcBsMPCwoCvQBLKvUz6fL2mFac9gNs0DfIkdKPVUSoDOZ8gXMGj1pzDYkXv2PBf7EfkxGJREl1wsabWHVaDcVDgDc9xShaAovGYUuwJIBasTnpMdKid5k5PcYDrU/s1600/Worn+2+brass++11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12hkk40DimImXlwSDcBsMPCwoCvQBLKvUz6fL2mFac9gNs0DfIkdKPVUSoDOZ8gXMGj1pzDYkXv2PBf7EfkxGJREl1wsabWHVaDcVDgDc9xShaAovGYUuwJIBasTnpMdKid5k5PcYDrU/s320/Worn+2+brass++11.jpg" title="Worn to brass by use." width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seats milled into the castings on early faucets. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_c9dS7B2akek_JkqUiX2tt5OKeoRoCbFv9IzIxrP0XmFyYNF2XTIVR0f48FYi_0mIZBod5MdyUX5jWPr4TnxTCvhQ8eR0WzbjknXycEwW6Fy_7ps8I3gMIrivm_GtqyjsWEwwa-I6ho/s1600/Worn+2+brass++8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_c9dS7B2akek_JkqUiX2tt5OKeoRoCbFv9IzIxrP0XmFyYNF2XTIVR0f48FYi_0mIZBod5MdyUX5jWPr4TnxTCvhQ8eR0WzbjknXycEwW6Fy_7ps8I3gMIrivm_GtqyjsWEwwa-I6ho/s320/Worn+2+brass++8.jpg" title="Large taps, large porcelain handles." width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre RE-NU, circa 1900 to 1925</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The third pair turned out to be not a pair at all, one is "Standard" the other is what one would call "Other". There are slight differences in the shape but I am convinced that these taps were once mounted side by side. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkS3LP3v0n3mArtX_QtHwb4IrZWKfcCWzZq4ETrLPP8xz9Mpshow3IZS7gQMi_wncGbckqQ71CtrODIxcc2xJp5jL1AEdmsW_f0sCHZfBYbiN6vRHpFQ_px74aMurT6RG36E2YAI_OpRI/s1600/Worn+2+brass++5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkS3LP3v0n3mArtX_QtHwb4IrZWKfcCWzZq4ETrLPP8xz9Mpshow3IZS7gQMi_wncGbckqQ71CtrODIxcc2xJp5jL1AEdmsW_f0sCHZfBYbiN6vRHpFQ_px74aMurT6RG36E2YAI_OpRI/s320/Worn+2+brass++5.jpg" title="Lav taps worn to brass." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At first glance they are a pair.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1XXG1yxeNeb2q-IYOtdsOZWYzaOYuX6rUwrW9vVV9qUOIdOn71VJGN6AQyfHjHUeF6BBHhqijfqqPzdTg_X5THNjSKWoqLaV3ORt6ftFIWKqSzLr1xOk0QqxzKkrl4U6hxhdZKLnWHw/s1600/Worn+2+brass+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1XXG1yxeNeb2q-IYOtdsOZWYzaOYuX6rUwrW9vVV9qUOIdOn71VJGN6AQyfHjHUeF6BBHhqijfqqPzdTg_X5THNjSKWoqLaV3ORt6ftFIWKqSzLr1xOk0QqxzKkrl4U6hxhdZKLnWHw/s320/Worn+2+brass+1.jpg" title="Only time and circumstance create this patina." width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add caption</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlvkSpM_7-EJIbWYT75NrAtd3A4rAksuwQpxG5suE2hqisv819U_fuahwhi7saBofVFr6J9xKahZCqLI8dhfT-pWmva0KAbuEWEZM286ucoV6dIktoG3ND97SZaAROYrh4Eyibli-pHc/s1600/Worn+2+brass++3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlvkSpM_7-EJIbWYT75NrAtd3A4rAksuwQpxG5suE2hqisv819U_fuahwhi7saBofVFr6J9xKahZCqLI8dhfT-pWmva0KAbuEWEZM286ucoV6dIktoG3ND97SZaAROYrh4Eyibli-pHc/s320/Worn+2+brass++3.jpg" title="Worn but servicable" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These taps must have been immersed in with some iron. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhts_L1XE2szxl7ghbVb7o38xVyDnl4Ct48gmTcAeUU0qctMISUSglOB5JR1e3b4bgFEr1AsglYeSD4l_DR21YAEW93eHmPZPP8p5AKBWl6QaMegepyxWQGRan1wc9JLBMnhsA4yXwmbB0/s1600/Worn+2+brass++2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhts_L1XE2szxl7ghbVb7o38xVyDnl4Ct48gmTcAeUU0qctMISUSglOB5JR1e3b4bgFEr1AsglYeSD4l_DR21YAEW93eHmPZPP8p5AKBWl6QaMegepyxWQGRan1wc9JLBMnhsA4yXwmbB0/s320/Worn+2+brass++2.jpg" title="Unusual but interesting rusty patina. " width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iron introduced by dripping water and years under something rusting away. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqYProL9adyxs1TQVxeLerdVPOwEKhVD6nqJ7cMkY-Na_sWXJnzpsY0zRfA1MjWerWYHgP4ysJzsYz6069an6tTd5UhVe67-bE21SyGSFRBXPvvgdF5YXMQQKUak30aoYMxjKtzWeDU8/s1600/Worn+2+brass++4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqYProL9adyxs1TQVxeLerdVPOwEKhVD6nqJ7cMkY-Na_sWXJnzpsY0zRfA1MjWerWYHgP4ysJzsYz6069an6tTd5UhVe67-bE21SyGSFRBXPvvgdF5YXMQQKUak30aoYMxjKtzWeDU8/s320/Worn+2+brass++4.jpg" title="Staying together as a pair." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note the immersion rings on the spout of this lav tap. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-74181287450200371862015-03-21T10:23:00.003-07:002016-03-16T19:49:20.566-07:00WaitingNo one likes waiting. It seems that the more restoration projects I take on the more waiting I do.<br />
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Right now I have a 1920s surface mount tub valve on the bench. Actually it is in a sorting box to keep it all in one place and separated from other projects as it is disassembled. It had seats that were milled into the body and were worn out. I had to tap the body for new seats and that is normal enough, it is also normal to have the required seats in stock. These seats though must be 13/16ths" OD by 27 threads per inch and I am out of that size. Because that is not a seat size anyone makes I must have them made so I am in line with the specialty machinist I use. He is making me twenty of them. <br />
I have two sets of standing waste valves right now as well. Each about 1915 vintage and each in its own sorting box and waiting for parts.<br />
The first has been here for at least 60 days, too long in my opinion but I had to have stems made for it and they are not stems anyone stocks. The original handle mounts were gone and the stems had been filed down to fit handles that were not original to the valves. I had to extrapolate what they would have been and discuss the required specs with the machinist. That took time but eventually the new stems were fabricated and delivered. I had them sent sans plating though because my local plater produces a better result than I can get from the plater the machine shop uses. The difference is the fineness of the polishing, If one wants a mirror bright nickel finish one must have the raw brass polished to mirror bright before it is plated, not after. My plater is an artist and knows exactly what I want. He is also very busy so my new stems are not back yet though they should be soon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqWIZL8cPRKSj_Dpd9AwLfefwHFr-I_GMiih8NSS7DZ0YPzJCoqDSR6L68zrfU4xI5HEZYsk4fEfwoy19q6HjYJzGThSDMZ3zeUHjThKOzii3pXeMs84KRiZQM1EWZcR28a14WGxAa2U/s1600/worn+out+stem+broach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqWIZL8cPRKSj_Dpd9AwLfefwHFr-I_GMiih8NSS7DZ0YPzJCoqDSR6L68zrfU4xI5HEZYsk4fEfwoy19q6HjYJzGThSDMZ3zeUHjThKOzii3pXeMs84KRiZQM1EWZcR28a14WGxAa2U/s1600/worn+out+stem+broach.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
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Not much left of this stem's "broach", the faceted top that the handle fits to. <br />
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The second set of valves are not being plated but they had to be tapped for new seats. The seat size I need for this set is almost as large as I can tap, 7/8ths" by 27 thread per inch. These really large seats are what one must use for the large standing waste valves that supplied lots of water for the old extra large claw foot and earthenware, (china), tubs. The "reseating" tools I use originally came with a large assortment of seats to be installed after tapping the brass valve bodies with the tool. These seats were made of bronze, not yellow brass. They were made to last! I am almost out of this size seat though I once had quite a few of them. The good news though is that my machinist is not only making me twenty new seats, he is making them from the new required lead free brass. He tells me that I can expect the new brass to wear very well indeed and be much less corruptible than the old leaded yellow brass. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUDiQIjt8pziFMhrKowc-vwjpHNsqFdKf0NTwEaBgh_2C6Ghs0gHEpXh2kUYy1E-o6siVSoaD8QaTE3F5_Csm0L0HgBqqbRBoPc-2hKJKb20HzLv0terXqMZ4GXKgNZmbwtMJPdkA_LM/s1600/corrupted+valve+seat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUDiQIjt8pziFMhrKowc-vwjpHNsqFdKf0NTwEaBgh_2C6Ghs0gHEpXh2kUYy1E-o6siVSoaD8QaTE3F5_Csm0L0HgBqqbRBoPc-2hKJKb20HzLv0terXqMZ4GXKgNZmbwtMJPdkA_LM/s1600/corrupted+valve+seat.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
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You can see the notch in the original "milled in seat". <br />
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These valves are also waiting for stems. The original stems arrived at the machine shop two days ago now. They must have them in order to replicate them.<br />
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While I have been waiting I have cleaned every surface and thread on these valves. All of the new gaskets are also made and waiting. <br />
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Here are the new bright threads my tool creates for the upgrade seat. <br />
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Here are a few pictures of my last 7/8ths inch by 27 threads per inch bronze seat. As faucet seats go this thing is huge. <br />
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The wrench required to tighten this seat into place is certainly not a normal seat wrench. By using this seat though, with it huge orifice, I compliment the original engineers intent. That was to create a large flow of water that would fill the oversize tub quickly enough to have it not cooling already before it was full. <br />
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The last of the currently waiting projects are a pair of fuller ball taps that were sent to me to be serviced. I had them done and ready for pressure testing the day after they arrived only to find out that the stem nuts were not sent with the rest of the taps. I must have them in order to test my work. They are in the mail, I thought they would be here by now. I'm going to be really busy if all of these parts come at the same time.plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-73438821117531871182015-03-10T12:39:00.000-07:002015-03-10T12:39:04.793-07:00Learning Thomas Maddocks and more.<div>
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Gleaned from emails:</div>
<div>
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Client: Looking for faucets for an integrated spout Thomas Maddock sink. <br />
<br />
Brian: I have those faucets and have been looking for a sink. What model is it? How about a few photos.<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
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Client: It's
really in good shape. I little dirty from sitting in the barn for 20 or
so years. It has a pencil or 'peg-leg' pedestal. I will send a better
pic of the whole thing once I clean it up. I have some handles and escutcheon pieces that I think will work. </div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">That would be awesome if you had some valves I could use for this project.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Brian: </span>As I had hoped it is a "Madbury". I have everything but the drain pop-up
assembly. I will get you some pix of the handles, they are special.
Somewhere I have a photo of the original catalog page. I will piece it
together and send you an email. Let me see what handles you have please.
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Client: Cool, sounds great.</div>
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<div class="ajR" data-tooltip="Show trimmed content" id=":1qk" role="button" tabindex="0">
Brian: OK, I sent you a bunch of iPhone photos of your fixture
in the 1924 catalog, the parts I have for it, and how they come together
to form the motif and esthetic the designers created. I could fax you
scanned images from the catalog if you like. As you can see the handle
is skirted and fits over the escutcheon in such a way as to prevent any
metal from showing when the valve is off. This is what is alluded to in
the written description that says, </div>
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"All metal parts above the slab are
completely covered with china." <br />
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It was the supper sanitary look that was
craved at the time. Kitchens and baths were all white, white, white. I
see that you have the drain pull still, if it is original it has the
same feature. There is a slight cupping at the bottom of the pull that
fits neatly over the metal hold down of the escutcheon.<br />
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I
had a client print a page from the internet, this was before I had my
own Maddocks book. He had a Maddocks lavatory like yous but with the
full size pedestal, not the stiletto pedestal. In it were the valve
bodies only, no stems, no trim. He wanted me to not only complete the
faucets but to make it all original as in the photo. It was a real
challenge to me and I dove into it. Being challenged is what
plumbing-geek is all about, it is what has taken me from plumber to
artisan. In the course of the next year I researched and resourced
Maddocks valves and trim. When I found extra on e-bay I picked it up. I
had fresh stems made by my faucet specialty machine shop. Enough for the
one project plus more to complete the extra valve bodies I had found.
Almost no one has the understanding of this fixture that I have
attained. "Thomas Maddock's Sons Co." simply referred to as Maddocks
stems are not in any of stem replacement catalogs, not even the vintage
specialty companies I use for the normally no longer made parts I get
for people. I had these stems made special, to my specs. I had to send
the valve bodies to Colorado and talked to the machinist at length to
get the specs right. The most difficult part was the drain assembly. I
found an original but the guy would not part with it once he understood
how rare it was. In order to secure it I had to design and fashion a
replacement part for his restoration project, we then did a swap. I
actually fulfilled the task of creating what there was only a vintage
photo of. It took about a year to manage it. <br />
</div>
In the end
my client had no appreciation or understanding of the journey I had
undertaken for his project. The completed fixture, assembled and
installed, secured to the wall with vintage brackets was a triumph for
me but a simple expense to him. Other facets of his extensive remodeling
had run over budget by then and I was just one more guy with my hand
out. I had taken nothing up front, I never have.<br />
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The fixture
restoration and installation was my task, the rest of the remodel
plumbing was being done by a regular plumbing contractor. I tried early
on to get the drain they had installed lowered but the response was,
"Are you sure it needs to be lowered?" I took my measurements and told
them it would make it by a quarter inch, so we let it stand. The thing
is though that at that time I was planning to use a non-original drain
assembly. I had no idea that an original would become available. When it
did, later on, the client would not settle for less. The wall in the
meantime was closed and the drain was too high. I was on budget, exactly
as I had proposed. The client thought that I should lower the drain at
no extra cost and I deferred. I had already provided the original drain
at no extra cost though I had to make gaskets for it as well acquire it.
Another contractor lowered the drain and installed my drain assembly, I
did not get my non-original drain assembly back. Much later, to my
great surprise, I was paid the bid amount. The client seemed so bitter
that I had thought that the job was going to be a total loss.</div>
You
are probably wondering why I have related this story to a prospective
new client. First, I think it helps to let you know what is involved in
this kind of work. This work is not in the realm of what is ordinarily
possible to get. Second, I want you to know that I go all out, but I am a
plumber. When a plumber goes all out there is money involved. The job I
described above came in at under three thousand, I thought that was
remarkable, considering what I achieved. Third, I want you to know the
way it plays out sometimes working with the public. Some people will
understand, while some never do. It has become part of the challenge,
this aspect of staying on the same page between effort and recompense in
such a small and narrow field of expertise. Just recently I had this
incredible response to my efforts to stave off financial
misunderstandings.<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Hi Brian,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Thank
you for the update. Yes I am comfortable with that amount. I've
posted to you today a check for the total anticipated amount of
$####. As far as I’m concerned you can deposit it immediately if
you wish. Of course if there are any unforeseen expenses that come up
later I'll be happy to reimburse you for them.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Brian
you are clearly an artist, scholar and master craftsman of the first
order in your field. I admire and respect that. No matter how this
ultimately transpires this has been an interesting adventure and a
learning experience. My wife asked me to say that if you are ever
in Atlanta, we'd like for you to come by the house for dinner. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Again, we both appreciate all of your patience, guidance and creative efforts on our behalf. Thanks. Regards,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">I
hope this has not scared you off. On the other hand, if you thought
that this is easy and inexpensive, I hope it has. I would love to
explore your project further and get to the required wall supports and
the parts you may actually be using. I am mentally playing with a way to
upgrade this to ceramic disc by switching the rough-in valves to
mid-century Crane integral spout valves, though the reach is a bit
less. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Thanks,
Brian. BTW, this long winded response was also intended for the
blog as a new post. I do not normally carry on so in my emails.</span></div>
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Client: You
have some great experience with these sinks it sounds like. I have attached a picture of some faucet handles
I rounded up from deep in the workshop. So if I can get these to work,
they have a square receiver for the valve stem, all I need are two valve
stems and a bracket to hang the sink on.</div>
<div>
Do you have some stems that you would sell me?</div>
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<div>
Brian: Showing the valve body without the gaskets or gasket nut. I have not yet made the gaskets. </div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Client: Those
valves look like they would work. The sink holes, where the valves are
installed, is about 1.5 inches. The escutcheons I have measure about 1 5/8
inches from the base of the <span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">escutcheons</span></span> to the top of the square
receiver. </span></div>
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Do you think those valves will work?
Are those something you pieced together? They look great. How much for a
set of two if you think they would work?</div>
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Also how is this mounted to the wall?</div>
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Brian: This is a link to an item for sale on eBay. 20 hours left, no bids.
These brackets are for holding a free standing sink to the wall. Free
standing in this case means that there is a gap between the sink and the
wall, usually an inch, but the sink must still be stabilized by the
wall. These brackets attach to fittings that mount into holes in the
rear bottom of the sink.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Wall-Mounted-Cast-Iron-With-Porcelain-Pedestal-Sink-Brackets-/151555081839?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234963066f" target="_blank">http://www.ebay.com/itm/<wbr></wbr>Vintage-Wall-Mounted-Cast-<wbr></wbr>Iron-With-Porcelain-Pedestal-<wbr></wbr>Sink-Brackets-/151555081839?<wbr></wbr>pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=<wbr></wbr>item234963066f</a><br />
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This type of fitting fits into the china with some rubber to keep the china safe from the metal. </div>
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I don't know about your trim fittings, handles and escutcheons. The
valves I showed you are made for your sink. They seal with rubber above
and below because the china becomes a water channel. I have not made new
gaskets for them yet. I am considering a price, I may need to go back
and consider my cost for the work I had done to make them.</div>
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Client: I have put a bid on brackets. Let me know about the valves.<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Thanks for all the info!</span></div>
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Brian: The two sets of valves I have are
slightly different. I am setting you up with the ones that have a longer
reach to accommodate your 1-1/2" depth. </div>
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I will send you a photo of one of them in a separate email momentarily. </div>
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I have done my research on how much I have into these valve parts. </div>
The original cost of the Maddocks valve bodies on eBay, <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> $120</div>
Cost of machining I had done on them to create replaceable seats where the milled in seats were, $60</div>
Cost of two new stems custom made to my specs, <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> $120</div>
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My shop time to clean all parts before machining, create two upper and two lower neoprene <br />
mounting gaskets to seal the bodies into the ports in the sink, and assemble the valves.<br />
Two hours each body at $120 per hour, </div>
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$480</div>
I don't think your trim will work as I cannot stay in the 1-5/8ths inch zone. </div>
The tops of my stems are at about 3". My 2" tall china escutcheons will work and I will throw those in.<br />
Square inset handles will work with them to have exposed plated stems. </div>
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I don't currently have escutcheon hold downs or handles I favor for the stems</div>
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but your square inset handles might go onto the stems. </div>
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The stem squares are .340" and are drilled and tapped for set screws. I can provide the set screws. </div>
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So the complete valves, assembled and ready to install, the porcelain escutcheons, and the set screws would come to $780</div>
Let me know. </div>
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Client: Thanks for putting all that together for me</div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">So
$780 is pretty expensive for me. I wonder what, to help rationalize the
cost, I could sell the whole sink system for? Do you have any idea of
what a working sink of this type is valued at?</span></div>
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Thanks for all your help!</div>
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Brian: I have been trying to find one, as I have said. I was willing
to pay $500 for one in good condition, shipping is always a question.
Once I had it restored I would be displaying it for a prospective buyer.
That is the hard part, the prospect of sitting on it till I could find a
home for it. I would ask no less than $2000 and no more than $2500 for
it uninstalled. That of course would be with the no metal showing look
that matches the image in the catalog. That is the selling point, the
recreation of the designers intended look. <br />
At this time I do not have an original drain for it and would have to deal with that as well. </div>
I
know the cost of my parts and help are expense, it is a constant
problem for people at the casual level of interest. Many people acquire
fixtures at very low prices, because the seller has no idea, then are
shocked at the difficulty and cost of completing the fixture. Even
fixtures that are complete must be made to function again, sometimes
after decades of not being in use. </div>
Let me know what you would like to do. <br />
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Client: Sounds good.<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">I have the original drain and stopper. It needs a little work but should be operable.</span></div>
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Thanks and we will talk soon.</div>
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Brian: Great, I will prepare the mounting gaskets.</div>
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I had some other projects to finish but I got to your gasket fab. and assembly today. <br />
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The valves are now tested and the gaskets are in place.</div>
There is a thin top gasket, a thick tapered bottom gasket, a friction washer, and a nut.</div>
The
stems are unusual because the escutcheon hold downs are male instead of
female. I thought this could present a problem for you so I cleaned up
an old pair of female trims. They could use to be re-plated but they fit
and I am giving them to you. I will see about also throwing in a pair
of porcelain escutcheons, I have lots of them. I would like this
installation to go smoothly for you. I will leave the handles to you,
but let me know if you get stuck trying to find a proper fit. Here are
the final photos. </div>
I will invoice you via PayPal.</div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">They look good. I really can't afford them right now, this being our slowest time of the year at our B&B. </span></div>
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What did you say the price would be? I think you said about $700?</div>
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I do appreciate your work and passion. </div>
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The price was $780. I totally understand about the slow season.</div>
Thanks, Brian.</div>
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Epilogue: Looks like I misinterpreted "sounds great". So it goes, anyone have a Madbury for sale? </div>
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plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-70715468071121326842015-02-01T16:41:00.001-08:002015-02-01T16:41:55.991-08:00How bad could it be? I found myself reviewing the text on my page <a href="http://www.plumbing-geek.com/diy-plumbing.html?unique=14228290483193341">DIY </a><a href="http://www.plumbing-geek.com/diy-plumbing.html?unique=14228290483193341">Plumbing Project.</a><br />
I was reviewing it because there are no photos on it and having photos on the pages is good for being found on Google. Thinking about what photos I might want to place on the page led me to remember a job I recently had. <br />
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I was called to alter some of the plumbing in a little food mart that was attached to a gas station. They had run to the limit on some old plumbing permits that were outstanding. In order to close out the permits they were going to have to pass an inspection. The permits were so old that they predated the current lease and the current lease holder was stuck with the problem.<br />
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There was a fiberglass double laundry sink on metal legs serving for a wash sink in a room that had been a restroom. The old sink drain was too high and the pair of drains from the double sink were joined to a sagging p-trap that emptied into a 1-1/2" ABS pipe. That ABS pipe dropped off at a steep angle, past a 1-1/2" PVC supply 90 degree ell and then past a Wye-branch clean-out. It then was inserted into the open toilet flange where the restroom toilet had once been connected. There was a lot of room remaining in the 4" drain at the toilet flange that was not being taken up by the 1-7/8" OD of the sink drain pipe. There was "hardware cloth" shoved into the old toilet drain to keep anything other than sewer gas from emerging from it. There were of course rat traps set with bait under the double sink. I can't tell you how many rat traps I have seen over the years, they certainly wake one up.<br />
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Once I had finished connecting the sink drain to the properly vented drain in the wall I sealed the old toilet flange with a compression plug made of galvanized steel. I carried the scrap pipe away as usual and it went out with the next load of refuse. Before it did though I took a bunch of photos. Here are a few of them.<br />
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Here is the section of piping I pulled out of the toilet flange, it is now upside down. <br />
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This section of pipe with the clean out must have been salvaged from another use. It certainly was not going to clog in the 4" toilet drain. <br />
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Those marks on the pipe are teeth marks, but not from any kind of a saw.<br />
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I think they made it out of the drain and into the room. Once they became a problem the pipe was shoved farther down and the hardware cloth was added, along with the rat traps. <br />
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plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-20392826681327138152015-01-24T16:37:00.000-08:002015-06-21T11:45:26.031-07:00Fuller Ball Style Faucets<br />
I service and restore "Fuller Ball Valves". If you don't know what those are, let me explain. All pre-washerless faucets have washers, that seems logical enough but it isn't true. There are also fuller ball faucets.<br />
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With a washer style faucet, also known as a compression faucet, the washer at the end of the stem presses to the brass seat of the valve body to form a seal against the water pressure. This system is a bit high maintenance as the washer needs to be in good condition to hold the seal.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygGrJorT0Gp_qpyMkmewA0k6FKOBp_WSTAQRwPQsS4UxcZqXUDPvzeGUDhVi4XqbSqjGxARoR6NZoxdQTlVqUyD0HJjHe7gTYr1tmOpzKxtLyoKWt57zycnmRMp8GM6H7mwwvya4s4ZU/s1600/Lav+tap+circa+1920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygGrJorT0Gp_qpyMkmewA0k6FKOBp_WSTAQRwPQsS4UxcZqXUDPvzeGUDhVi4XqbSqjGxARoR6NZoxdQTlVqUyD0HJjHe7gTYr1tmOpzKxtLyoKWt57zycnmRMp8GM6H7mwwvya4s4ZU/s1600/Lav+tap+circa+1920.JPG" width="150" /></a> I prefer hard washers, about 80 on the "Durometer Harness Scale". They hold their shape, especially in hot water, and seem to last longer. The greatest flaw with using them is that particles of rust, lime, water heater dip tube, or bits of pipe metal that may pass through the faucet may be forced into the surface of the washer if the particle becomes trapped between the washer and the brass at the critical moment when the faucet is being closed. When this occurs the washer can be dented by the particle. The particle may also become embedded into the hard rubber where it may stay until the washer is replaced. These occurrences are manifested as drips or leaks from the faucet spout.<br />
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Softer washers, 40 to 60 on the scale, have problems of their own. They can become soft enough in hot water to be cut by the seat when a very firm hand is used to turn the faucet off. They also deform more readily and in general do not last very long. On the positive side they don't tend to hold indentation marks or foreign objects.<br />
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The higher the water pressure the more perfect the point of washer/seat inter phase needs to be to prevent dripping. So we tend to employ washerless faucets in the modern home. In the vintage home, where older style faucets are part of the charm, part of the interior architecture, we become good at changing faucet washers.<br />
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This brings us at last to the alternate pre-washerless faucet, the fuller ball faucet. A fuller ball faucet is comprised of a ported body with a main stem, a secondary stem, and a rubber ball that fits to a seat on the water pressure side of the valve. This is the main advantage of the design, the water pressure assists the valve in sealing, it does not fight against it. The main stem controls the position of the secondary stem. The ball is part of the secondary stem. When the secondary stem is drawn toward the the center of the valve the ball encounters the seat where the water pressure sets it firmly into place. This can create an audible "thunk" noise at times with some faucets but it is not universal.<br />
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Note the position of these handles, these faucet valves are both in their off position. I know this because the handles are flaring outward. This design feature makes using the valving intuitive. <br />
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The primary stem works like a crankshaft. All it does is rotate. Because the action is not up and down like a compression stem the packing seal is not challenged by a stem that travels through it. The stem packing therefore rarely leaks. The secondary stem works like a piston rod. The fuller ball is fitted to the threaded part of it's shaft. Rotating the primary stem draws the ball to and away from the seat. <br />
Note, the handle mount is set to agree with the aspect of the eccentric offset. <br />
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The water enters this valve at the port on the far right. It passes into the chamber that the cap in the foreground seals, this is the house pressure side of the valve. It enters the chamber via the moon shaped port to the right of the cone shaped fuller ball. When the secondary stem is pushed away from the center the ball moves off of the seat and allows water to flow toward the spout. <br />
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When I receive fuller ball valves to repair the balls are usually rotted and shriveled almost beyond recognition. The seats are pitted from decades of soaking. The stems are worn from improper adjustment resulting in pressure on the brass. After disassembling and cleaning all parts I fashion a new fuller ball from my own stock product. I use 60 durometer neoprene for this, the rubber must compress so that the brass does not experience wear. I hone the surface of the seat. Unlike compression valve seats the fuller ball seat is milled into the thickest part of the brass, there is plenty of room to go down to bright metal. Also unlike a compression valves the brass stem can not grind into the seat so the seat is never gouged. A smooth seat and a new ball, when tuned properly, make an impeccable seal that could last for decades. This is especially true of my work because I use a neoprene that unlike older rubber products will not rot in the presence of water. When my valve is tuned the handle will rotate freely through a 360 degree rotation. The merest resistance may be felt at the closing of the valve, the water is doing the work, not the brass. One is not able to pull the handle down hard as with compression style valves. Because of this the brass endures on and on with almost zero wear.<br />
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Now I come to the impetus for writing this blog post. I have twice heard this comment regarding fuller ball style valves. <br />
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"Fuller ball valves were invented when
water pressure was low because of either gravity flow systems or the
early pressurized water systems did not maintain the higher level of
water pressure that they do today. Because of this, as they wear, the
fuller ball valves do not fully seat and hold back the increased
pressure that modern systems have." <br />
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I simply cannot agree with this. The fuller ball must first and always be in good condition, just as a bibb washer must. The seat must be smooth and unobstructed, Just as a compression valves seat must. The water pressure though is my friend with a fuller ball, the greater the pressure the more likely they are to "thunk" a bit but the seal at the seat is not challenged by it, it is helped. On the other hand higher water pressure against a bibb washer turns even the slightest irregularity into a drip.<br />
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The design of the fuller ball faucet appeals to my idea of tight, highly functional, and enduring engineering. It is not a machine that wears itself out. It does not respond differently to different hands and so cannot be brutalized or handled too lightly. My practical experience with them is that they work, then they continue to work, on and on.<br />
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If you have visited my home page at plumbing-geek.com, you have seen a picture of a fuller ball valve. That's right, that awesome Crane Pedestal lavatory is fuller ball. I did that restoration project about twenty years ago and used to ask the client if it was still working OK. I got tired of asking. Even though I had a fraction of the understanding of vintage plumbing I now have, though I fabricated the fuller balls in a way I would not even consider now, it continues to work properly.<br />
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I am going to close with a few new views of the fixture, though they are early cell shots and not that good. then I will add some other shots of fuller ball faucets. Thanks for visiting.<br />
Brian, the plumbing geek. <br />
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The plumbing-geek flagship.<br />
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If you could have seen the pliers scars that were filled to make it look this good. <br />
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L. wolff manufacturing co.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPm31o0MQeyqP8X-A4QspKv7TOFIGbl6xJ8VABuRiXau9OPaOIKYmhQ5m_lou6YB__7IaGdVufVxNTZ8CZai7oORts2mX09cDQdNYOE6oaGlRvSt5ika1Jy4g5ghKJPNg_TmeFdzFdVRI/s1600/Wolff+fuller+ball+tap-after,+apart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPm31o0MQeyqP8X-A4QspKv7TOFIGbl6xJ8VABuRiXau9OPaOIKYmhQ5m_lou6YB__7IaGdVufVxNTZ8CZai7oORts2mX09cDQdNYOE6oaGlRvSt5ika1Jy4g5ghKJPNg_TmeFdzFdVRI/s1600/Wolff+fuller+ball+tap-after,+apart.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Fitted with new secondary stem, new ball, and a clever conical nut that splits the water flow to avoid the possibility of erosion, not that that happens. <br />
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Ready to go to work.<br />
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Fuller ball seat before.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HyiIkgniYlWrkqdAvzQbgpkwsKVNQuLmdxo2IpyDtmWa1XOX0l0qdLbN1x-GW7HcZ8ohXqqXygAGbkIlkFL7vmPxcQqZjjG80J-m4BU4QoCmcyAwyF4nIv5HEARCN1onKZAqy577OTk/s1600/New+fuller+ball+stem+turned+on+my+lathe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HyiIkgniYlWrkqdAvzQbgpkwsKVNQuLmdxo2IpyDtmWa1XOX0l0qdLbN1x-GW7HcZ8ohXqqXygAGbkIlkFL7vmPxcQqZjjG80J-m4BU4QoCmcyAwyF4nIv5HEARCN1onKZAqy577OTk/s1600/New+fuller+ball+stem+turned+on+my+lathe.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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New secondary stem I turned on my lathe.<br />
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Honed seat, new stem, my own cut gasket.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAljN1r9VIyns5QNlv-FRZUS_-pcqCQEeocuhc7nNH_obpwmkVMr2sj6Hd6kCQ_9gRC-sdq2V-sw8NwG_DnicWv3mxN1_3OyWOgAgrOoLnM3aLoiQ08jzy7t4FQztcKGFBZ6tBN7cp0GU/s1600/Cam+style+fuller+ball+stems.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAljN1r9VIyns5QNlv-FRZUS_-pcqCQEeocuhc7nNH_obpwmkVMr2sj6Hd6kCQ_9gRC-sdq2V-sw8NwG_DnicWv3mxN1_3OyWOgAgrOoLnM3aLoiQ08jzy7t4FQztcKGFBZ6tBN7cp0GU/s1600/Cam+style+fuller+ball+stems.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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This one is a little different, but it works fine.<br />
Good luck replacing either stem. <br />
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I have a lot of fuller ball taps, from Victorian on. <br />
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Matched pairs as well. plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-39874105109757506772014-12-26T13:31:00.000-08:002014-12-29T10:01:40.607-08:00Hair clog in the bathroom sinkDo you ever wonder why the bathroom sink drain clogs with hair? On the pages of my site, <Plumbing-geek.com>, I talk about the drains that are plumbed in iron pipe and how that kind of pipe tends to accumulate the hair that goes into it. The question is though, unless you are washing your hair in the bathroom sink, why does it have hair in the drain? <br />
My 1935 house has a large main bathroom with a vintage cast-iron pedestal sink. The sink has it's attendant lit mirror but the bathroom also has a built-in vanity with it's own lit mirror. I brush my teeth at the pedestal but I brush my hair at the vanity. Because I don't brush my hair over the sink the sink does not receive hair and the drain does not clog with it. <br />
Most bathrooms are smaller than mine but placing a second mirror anywhere else and using <em>it</em> to care for your hair is going to have a relieving affect on the amount of hair that goes down into that iron pipe, causing you to deal with that unsavory job. plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-78602842731912529522014-12-20T16:49:00.001-08:002014-12-20T16:49:38.437-08:00Ear WormI was setting up to work yesterday at a relatively new client's home. They had done an expansion that involved two bath remodels and a new bar sink. It was going to be a full days work at the least. No sooner did I get going than I noticed that the young housewife was humming as she worked. It was a Billy Joel song that I recognized and after a few moments it occurred to me that I was receiving an ear worm from her brain to mine. Her task for the day, aside from caring for her young son, was to wipe sheetrock dust from a hundred different surfaces. She would be working in my area the entire day and she was humming and humming the same song. Ugh! <br />
I kept thinking, 'turn on the radio, turn on the radio.' and what do you know, she did! It was a little countryish but what the heck, it was a different tune. A few tunes later though what do you think came on the radio? That's right, it was the Billy Joel song, the very same tune. 'That's weird,' I thought. Then back to songs I didn't know for a few selections and again that BJ song. 'That is not a radio is it?' I asked myself rhetorically. The ear worm was weaving a nice fat cocoon by that time. <br />
This went on for so long that I think she realized it was becoming noisome and turned the machine off. I couldn't figure out what device she had been playing. Sandy suggested it was an iPod when I told her how my day had gone. "I could get more songs on an iPod while falling down a flight of stairs!" I remarked at the time.<br />
In any case she had finally tuned off the incubator. What though do you think she began to hum and sing to fill the silence? Ack!!!<br />
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Brian 12-20-14plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-57999348725590441082014-11-30T12:03:00.002-08:002015-02-19T20:31:13.569-08:00Help Identify this tapRecently I have been receiving requests for help with the identification of odd old "faucets". Far be it from me to claim that I know and or have seen it all. Frankly I'm not even certain some of these things are meant for use with domestic water. After a few emails and some time spent puzzling over the photos I am sent I come to the point where I would have to say, "Search me buddy".<br />
That is where I was yesterday with this item. Then it occurred to me that I have a blog now, and it is getting traffic! Maybe I could use the blog as a forum, someone out there must know what this thing is. At that point, wanting to be correct in my internet civilities, I asked for permission to post the photos that were sent to me. Permission was granted and so here they are.<br />
I will paste the brief conversation that has transpired to this point. <br />
<br />
I recently purchased a unique faucet and have spent hours trying to
figure out what exactly it is. I was hoping you could help. It is large
nickel plated (I think) with two valves, but only one supply line.<br />
<br />
OK I'm intrigued but I am going to need some photos. Brian, <<a href="http://plumbing-geek.com/" target="_blank">plumbing-geek.com</a>><br />
<br />
Thanks for looking at these.<br />
<br />
That is really quite large. I would guess that the handle
that alines with the shank controls flow rate while the handle on top
merely is an on/off control.<br />
<div>
<div>
I would not assume that this valve
was intended for domestic water, it could be some kind of a beverage
tap. The rubber spout suggests a bottle filler.</div>
Perhaps I should put your photos on a blog page and invite comments. </div>
Thanks for the look at it, Brian. <br />
<br />
Go ahead and share the pics. The spout is not rubber. It is a plastic like material that threads on to the tap. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmRC2lsYp1bFW4CH16RKAQCn-Q69aIW4lpkkzCmSUfPWaTjf5DgGGZ3ohKZAkt1QdC8YDWNakp9P6Xd_jJ8R8RGJoPHoL672PWieLEiAqRpfqqrDpLlZZldzPVA5cU4-V0plwk_-fmcU/s1600/CAM01240.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmRC2lsYp1bFW4CH16RKAQCn-Q69aIW4lpkkzCmSUfPWaTjf5DgGGZ3ohKZAkt1QdC8YDWNakp9P6Xd_jJ8R8RGJoPHoL672PWieLEiAqRpfqqrDpLlZZldzPVA5cU4-V0plwk_-fmcU/s1600/CAM01240.jpg" height="296" width="400" /></a> The photo with the measure was not the lead photo, when I got to it and realized how large this tap is it helped me see that the seeming narrow shank is probably at least 3/8ths IPS.<br />
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There it is, anyone out there know what this is? <br />
How it works, and what it is used for?<br />
Post comments here or email me at, <br />
<plumbing-geek.com><br />
Thanks, Brian.<br />
<br />
<br />plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734497506318740121.post-38995526109702036692014-11-13T19:41:00.000-08:002014-11-13T19:41:01.469-08:00Generous replies Plumbing-geek.com is receiving emails on a daily basis now that the site is exceeding 500 unique visitors a day. I answer each query personally, this is a one-geek show BTW. My experience through the years has been that the really nice folks far outnumber the difficult clients and the internet has proven to be much the same.<br />
I thought I would share some of the closing responses I have received lately, They are much appreciated.<br />
<br />
Your thankful servant, Brian. <plumbing-geek.com><br />
<br />
<br />
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You da man. The back flushing hot
water lines worked as promised. Made our life much easier
today!
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Thanks too for your great website and
what you are doing to restore pieces versus throwing things out! I'm
restoring a house and it is quite sad how hard it is to find anyone
with skill sets to really build or repair things like they did in my
parents' day. I wish I had more of the necessary skills to get things
like this done. </div>
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That was extremely helpful, and saved
me the trouble of driving an hour to get handles I couldn’t use! </div>
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Thanks so much. Cheers!
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Brian, thanks for the info. that's just
what I was needing to hear. <br />Steven
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
: Dear Mr. Geek,<br />My name is _____
and we spoke earlier. I am thankful for a person who is as
generous as you who would spend more time with me than my
dermatologist did while charging me up the yin yang. I cut out the
brass bushing and I am on my way. </div>
plumbinggeekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01570205832953847494noreply@blogger.com0