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Vintage Solid Brass Lock Key or Windlass ?

alan_fincher

By alan_fincher
in Boat Equipment

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Tuscan Veteran

Tuscan

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I have 2 brass windlass bought as a job lot with an old Buckby can and dipper. Had them for a couple of years before a chance wipe with some bras so showed there was brass under the grime. I have always thought they were decorative.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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Looks like gunmetal to me

 

I'm still struggling to see that.

 

I have seen this style in cast iron, but never in gunmetal.

 

In fact, thinking about it, I'm not convinced I have ever seen anything other than single eyed windlasses in gunmetal.

 

That's not to say such things weren't cast as one-off items, but I'm still thinking this is iron based.

 

Sorry if I'm wrong!

I have always thought they were decorative.

 

The cast gunmetal one I have was my regular windlass in the 1970s - or at least on the large spindle size that GU paddles then had. Very usable and durable. I think if a windlass was cast in just brass rather than bronze or gunmetal it wouldn't be much good for actual use.

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BruceinSanity Influencer

BruceinSanityDonate to Canal World

Posted
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I have 2 brass windlass bought as a job lot with an old Buckby can and dipper. Had them for a couple of years before a chance wipe with some *bras* so showed there was brass under the grime. I have always thought they were decorative.

The bras or the windlasses?

 

;)

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David Schweizer Veteran II

David Schweizer

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Looks like gunmetal to me

 

Surely the seller has checked with a magnet !

 

Looks like a bad design prone to breaking, to me.

 

Agreed, there is a distinct reddish brown hue to some parts which do not look like rust, and there are areas of what looks like verdigris, all of which suggests that it is Gunmetal or Bronze.

Edited by David Schweizer
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Bee Veteran

Bee

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Yes I did some in phosphor bronze, I thought I might sell a few for £150! I think I made about £2.50 profit! I don't think brass would be tough enough, the second picture does show a bit of a yellowish gleam, sort of looks like it might have been sunk or buried for a while, it looks a bit thin around the spindle holes to be cast iron.

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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

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Crap windlass!

 

Dave

Have you come across this exact design before or are you just commenting on its obvious flaws visible in the pictures?

 

I'm intrigued as I am a big windlass fan but like Alan I have not seen this exact pattern - I wonder if cwdf member Lawrence Hogg would be able to comment on it? I have an idea its a short run or maybe a one-off made by mr A.N.Onymess

/anorak off/

wipe with some bras .

Does this also work for mushrooms and tiller bars?

(with apologies Bruceinsanity)

I contacted the seller and he assures me he knows brass from iron but has not put a magnet beside them.

I bet he has now :lol:

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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Agreed, there is a distinct reddish brown hue to some parts which do not look like rust, and there are areas of what looks like verdigris, all of which suggests that it is Gunmetal or Bronze.

 

Yes, I concede my eyesight was probably not good enough in the first place. :blush:

 

What threw me is I have never ever seen a brass/bronze/gunmetal windlass with multiple eyes.

 

I guess in the same way that the moulds that were used to turn out cast iron single eyed windlasses got used for small runs of bronze ones, that the same could have happened in this case.

 

It doesn't look fit for purpose though, and I still think it already has a bend in it!

 

I'm also thinking it has "old sized" eyes, and probably the small eye will be too small for some modern paddle gear, whereas the large eye looks like old GU size, and isn't probably suitable for much.

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Tacet Rising Star

Tacet

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I guess in the same way that the moulds that were used to turn out cast iron single eyed windlasses got used for small runs of bronze ones, that the same could have happened in this case.

 

It doesn't look fit for purpose though, and I still think it already has a bend in it!

 

 

Are any windlasses made of cast iron? Wouldn't it be too brittle and the one in the photo seems to have a bent handle?

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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Are any windlasses made of cast iron? Wouldn't it be too brittle and the one in the photo seems to have a bent handle?

 

Yes, many of the standard windlasses used on hire boats over a large number of years were just cast iron.

 

Unlike the modern cast alloy ones, which we have now smashed the head off two of, I have never broken a cast iron windlass, or seen anybody else manage it.

 

However clearing out the shed today, I decided to take several old windlasses to the tip, and no less than three of these that were fabricated in steel by bending and welding methods had significant bends in them, usually just short of the head.

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