Star Sprinkler wrench

[strik9]

I found this in a pile of junk at a local autobody shop.    I was able to get it before they modified it to be actually useful  in today's world.

    This is the wrench required to install Star flush mount sprinkler heads from the 1949 patent.   The arquitect's dream, to be able to maintain style and meet fire code.

[mvwcnews]

Fire sprinkler head installation wrenches are an interesting subset.  Many of them have those relatively narrow jaw openings and slotted jaw faces which make them truly single purpose tools. 
According to my notes of long ago sales, there is another larger one marked STAR SPRINKLER CORP. STARGARD MOD-E.

[strik9]

     The picture didn't work here ( it did on the Garage Gazette ) but the other side  is marked Phila, PA in the center block.    Pretty darn easy to research too.   

    My focus is on general mechanic's tools and car kit stuff of the 20's to 30's but this was too cool to see it get chopped up.    I do still have a 'useless oddities' section in the collection though.
     Ebay one recently  sold for $38 and another couldn't get a bid.   I traded a few cheaper modern tools for it that were in the sale pile.

[Chillylulu]

This is what I do - fire sprinklers since 1982. Star products were big in the midwest, Tyco bought the company some years ago.

The wrenches are common, they were left in a "spare head box" on jobs where they were installed.  Many of them have a kind of flange on the opening so they cannot slip on the head.  The value is less than $10. 

They  look good with a display of old sprinkler heads for people that are into that kind of thing.

Chilly

[strik9]

      How this ended up in central Mexico, in a city with no real fire code and not too many multi story buildings is a bit of a mystery.     Still a cool find.


       Thank you Chilly for the info.    I just plan on keeping it as a curiousity really.      I didn't figure they were truly rare if a little google-fu got me two on Ebay so quickly.     Knowing that the prices there can be off the scale either direction doesn't make it easier to trust as a source either.
  It did surprise me that a search of TT didn't have anything at all.  I had to fix that.

[Chillylulu]

      How this ended up in central Mexico, in a city with no real fire code and not too many multi story buildings is a bit of a mystery.     Still a cool find.

Newest codes require sprinklers everywhere.  Funny thing is, prior to the 80's, sprinklers weren't required in high rises. Many are not sprinklered. They have been required in mills, manufacturing plants, and storage warehouses for a long time. It wasn't municipal codes or fire departments that required them, it was insurance companies.  They were installed before electricity, central air, or plumbing. 

Early mills had a system of perforated pipes with a water tank outside. When something caught fire, the valve controlling the water was opened, flooding the mill.

Chilly