Unusual Ideas for Tiller Pins

[Goldberry]

Thistles, cats, birds... all the usual things. I've got an owl. Lets think up some new ones

[DHutch]

We dont have a tiller pin.

 

- What about an Eeyore?

[Chertsey]

Thistles, cats, birds... all the usual things. I've got an owl. Lets think up some new ones

 

Well, it doesn't look very unusual, but it's made from an unidentified object that we bought off Malcolm Braine at the Ellesmere Port jumble last Easter. We also got some lengths of brass step edging and four lovely handrails which are all being put to good and innovative uses!

 

pic link

[tony collins]

Well, it doesn't look very unusual, but it's made from an unidentified object that we bought off Malcolm Braine at the Ellesmere Port jumble last Easter. We also got some lengths of brass step edging and four lovely handrails which are all being put to good and innovative uses!

 

pic link

 

I say! Thats a damn fine bow you've got under you woman!

 

Tony.

[allybsc]

We have a bull, the horns are a bit of a hazard if your not careful.

[minimoman]

Thistles, cats, birds... all the usual things. I've got an owl. Lets think up some new ones

 

not a very good picture but you can see the viking head with helmet which we use as a tiller pin

click on the picture to enlarge

 

growing old is unavoidable, growing up is optional

[David Schweizer]

Well, it doesn't look very unusual, but it's made from an unidentified object that we bought off Malcolm Braine at the Ellesmere Port jumble last Easter. We also got some lengths of brass step edging and four lovely handrails which are all being put to good and innovative uses!

 

pic link

I am pretty certain that I know what that tiller pin is made from. You are almost certainly the proud owner of a traditional Tiller Pin made from the handle of a Victorian brass Fire Iron. The working boatmen, forever resourceful, would buy fire damaged pokers for a few pence from Scrap merchants, or Junk shops and saw the end off.

 

I have a box full of Traditional Tiller pins, one for every day, although even my Sunday best one is not as magnificent as yours. Unfortunately it would appear that someone has replaced the original brass stem with a modern Stainless steel one. The stem should be made of mild steel covered with a layer of rolled brass, pinched into a slot to hold it in place. Stair rods were made from the same material, and I have a box full of them as well, I would happily let you have a piece to make your own if you are interested, they are usually either 5/16" or 3/8" diameter and the thread is usually BSW.

Edited July 25, 2007 by David Schweizer

[carlt]

I used a phllips screwdriver for many years, knowing the right one would turn up.

 

It did, rescued off a ricky motor about to be dragged out by BW.

[AMModels]

We used to use a steel ...'thing' when we were boating with USK for Walsall council, sometimes we'd bring along our own brass poker handle as someone mentioned higher up the thread but with so many kids and 'enthusiastic' teachers on the boat it was safer to use what was basically a glorified 6 inch nail

 

[AllanW]

Bet there's a couple of bob to be made by some enterprising soul who wanted to do boot sales and turn some of the brass curios into tiller pins...

 

I seem to remember Faries Wear Boots looking for a faerie tiller pin a while back

 

Allan

[Chertsey]

I am pretty certain that I know what that tiller pin is made from. You are almost certainly the proud owner of a traditional Tiller Pin made from the handle of a Victorian brass Fire Iron. The working boatmen, forever resourceful, would buy fire damaged pokers for a few pence from Scrap merchants, or Junk shops and saw the end off.

 

I have a box full of Traditional Tiller pins, one for every day, although even my Sunday best one is not as magnificent as yours. Unfortunately it would appear that someone has replaced the original brass stem with a modern Stainless steel one. The stem should be made of mild steel covered with a layer of rolled brass, pinched into a slot to hold it in place. Stair rods were made from the same material, and I have a box full of them as well, I would happily let you have a piece to make your own if you are interested, they are usually either 5/16" or 3/8" diameter and the thread is usually BSW.

 

Yes, I think you're right, that it was a handle of some kind of fire implement. It was in two pieces, and was one of a pair, so we have a spare if anything should befall it. But we had to add the pin - which is made from an old poker - mild not stainless steel (you can see a drip of rusty water already forming in the photo) so I hope that's sufficiently traditional!

[StoneHenge]

Ours is a turtle, but I saw a pretty fine spread eagle tiller pin a couple of days ago, and the wings looked leathal, but very beautiful.

 

I think they should bring out some with really ornate celtic type shapes. They would look cool.

 

Cars, why not one with your boat on it? Or would that be cheesy?

[Sir Nibble]

Erm, if anyone sees a brass hamster at a boot sale..........

[Chris-B]

Erm, if anyone sees a brass hamster at a boot sale..........

With or without the singed arse ????

[drunkensailor]

Would a gnome be insufferably naff?

[magpie patrick]

My pseudonym comes from being a life long supporter of a no hope football team, Chorley FC: they play in black and white and are known as the magpies and I post there as Magpie in Exile.

 

Their badge used to be a magpie sitting on a football: now if I could get one of those for a tiller pin...

 

Riple does have more urgent priorities though!

[Timleech]

If you were able to step back a bit in time, I'm pretty sure you would find that fancy tiller pins, including the 'traditional' poker handles, were 'a bit of flash' for the working boaters and not the essential kit which they're seen as today. After all, they didn't use them to hang their lines A coach bolt would do the job just as well (without the nut).

The same is certainly true of brass tiller bars, I remember them as being the exception rather than the rule in the last days of Narrow Boat carrying, certainly in the NW. Steel tube, with some multicoloured stripes if you were lucky/motivated to do it, was the norm.

 

Tim

Edited July 26, 2007 by Timleech

[magpie patrick]

I suspect my two loos, eight berths, shower and gas cooker would be regarded as a bit flash as well...

[BigRoj]

Friend of mine has a rather nice pin made from the bonnet mascot off a Jaguar car. It really looks the part.

[Goldberry]

Judith Chalmers Tiller Pin

[Sir Nibble]

How about an old Guy indian head?

[honey ryder]

Id like a voluptuous naked lady as my tiller pin noggin thing.

 

where can i get one of those?

[Chris-B]

Id like a voluptuous naked lady as my tiller pin noggin thing.

 

where can i get one of those?

Full sized or scaled down ??????

[Nine of Hearts]

In the name of authenticity we've had old poker ends, old poker ends on mild steel shafts, down to a bit of unpainted old scaffolding for the tiller handle. Where is this going? Am I going to be sneered at for having the forward part of my boat devoted to living space instead of filling it with coal like in t'old days?

 

NB: I've got a cat, rather obviously. Couldn't find one walking by itself, so I had to settle for one that just sits.

[Purple Fairie]

Bet there's a couple of bob to be made by some enterprising soul who wanted to do boot sales and turn some of the brass curios into tiller pins...

 

I seem to remember Faries Wear Boots looking for a faerie tiller pin a while back

 

Allan

 

We were! We ended up getting a bog standard tiller pin from Crick, of course a couple of weeks later we found a pewter fairy that was just the right size and a welder friend put a steel rod up her backside ( ) It worked a treat, except that he dropped her and broke a leg off!