antique bung wrench

[lauraball]

i found (what i have been told) is a bung wrench. it says PAT NOV 30 1897 on it. i have no idea how much it might be worth or who might want it for their collection or something. any help?

thanks!

[Papaw]

Does it look like this?


Pictures would help.

Welcome to Tool Talk.

[jimwrench]

Didn't find a patent for a bung wrench on that date in datamp but every wrench is not listed.

[rusty]

I have most of the patents for that date, but all the wrenches I see look like ordinary handled wrenches for the most part....need to see it :)

[lauraball]

I will try and post a picture.  It doesn't look anything like the one above.  It is flat.  The picture is on my phone so I will have to transfer it first. 

[rusty]

It can't look like that papaw, if it's from 1897. The steel drum was invented in 1905 by a lady :)

If it is for a bung, it should be for a wood bung....

[lauraball]

here is the picture:

[rusty]

Hmm, I suspect I know what it is, but if I am correct, you probably aren't going to like it....

[lauraball]

Well, thanks for the help. We just bought the place up in the mountains and we are finding tons of old stuff. It's like a treasure hunt every time we go for a walk.  I thought if it was an old wrench, for sure someone on this site would want it. 

[Mac53]

That is still pretty cool. We have a lot of old warehouses (tobacco) around here that still have those in them.

[lauraball]

Well, now I know what it is but what did they use it for? I can't really tell from the picture.

[rusty]

It keeps the fire door against the wall when closed. Otherwise the draft from the fire would suck it away from the opening and let air in (fire doors aren't to stop fire, they are to stop air, so that the burning building doesn't turn into a giant chimney). The metal finger piece sort of hooks on the floor plate and into the wall when the door is closed. Because the door is hanging on top rollers only, it can swing away from the wall...

Oddly, for some reason, almost all the fire door hardware I have ever seen on old mills has patent dates or numbers on it, the folks making them seemed very concerned with that ;P

As to why it ended up in someone's odds and ends collection, could be someone just thought that what was cast into it was interesting in it's own right...(and it is)

Or perhaps they were supposed to go back and fix the door and the mill burned down before they got around to it....

PS: Your piece is , I believe, the diagonal finger shown on the bottom left of the door in the picture, improved slightly from the original patent by making the bold area wider (sensible).
Also explains the odd look of the pointed end, wear from scraping on the floor slot.

[lauraball]

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it!!!!