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My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:41 pm
by Greynomad
Apart from woodturning & furnituremaking, I collect decorative & useful cast iron.
So far I have collected three doorstops & eight boot lasts.
The boot lasts are easiest to find... in the 19th & early 20th centuries, most homes had one.
Recently came across a bloke with two, one at the front door and one at the back. One was dated 1884, the other branded 'Sunshine' (but I doubt it was made by the harvester factory, unless as an unauthorised sidline by the foundryman!). He wouldn't part with either of them. :(
Doorstops, on the other hand, are for some reason much harder to come by.
The biggest doorstop, the Kookaburra (far right), weighs 11.5kg. :shock: Must have been windy where it was made...
The boot lasts, while all looking the same, are unique. Even the two with the number '2' cast into them (Nos 3 & 4 from the left) are from different moulds, and vary in thickness & the angle of the lasts. Nos 2 & 3 from the right look identical, but the angle of the diagonal last is different... probably from the same foundry, but different moulds.
Iron.jpeg
PS. Anyone with a doorstop, boot last, or other iron ornament they don't want... ;)

Re: My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:55 pm
by Shirley
I have a cast iron money box, penny for the copper, it's a London policeman, Mum use to have it alongside our telephone when I was a kid, don't think to many put a penny in it. :lol:

We have a couple of boot lasts never looked to closely at them.

Re: My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:58 pm
by Greynomad
Shirley,
Mind if I drop by next time I'm around the Lake? :P

There's a pun in that moneybox: in England, a penny was commonly known as a 'copper'.... :D
The Americans made one with a similar mechanism, but the head was an American Negro.
Not very PC today... maybe they'll be cheaper because of that.

Re: My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:16 pm
by Shirley
We have one of the Negro ones too but it's not all there broken.

I saw one of the copper money boxes on eBay once for several hundred dollars, you always wonder if they get the asking price.

My copper money box looks like the torso part of a London copper with a slit in the side to put the coins.

Re: My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:24 pm
by Greynomad
Ah...
I assumed your 'Copper' was one with the pivoting arm where you placed the coin in his hand to tilt up & drop into his mouth...
I've never seen one like that, only the negro ones. (And it seems they are MORE expensive because they are no longer PC... :roll: )

Lesson #1: Never assume. 8-)

Can you post a pic, Shirley?

Re: My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:34 pm
by Shirley
I need to learn how to reduce the size, I'll try again.
The broken negro box is an arm one.

Re: My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:40 pm
by Greynomad
Shirley,
There's a "Photo Resizer" collection at the bottom of the Forum Index...
I've never used it, coz my Apple MacBook Pro is smart enough to have its own software to do that.. :P :D

Re: My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:50 pm
by Shirley
IMG_2019.JPG
Copper

Re: My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:52 pm
by Shirley
First attempt at resizing on the iPad :lol: :lol:

Re: My Collection

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 3:26 pm
by Greynomad
Ah! Another Apple person... :D
Shirley, If you open your pix in "Preview" (if that comes on your iPad) there are Tools in a menu of that name. One is Resize. Calculates the file size after changing the horizontal pixel-count (vertical changes to maintain proportions), and I have the option of changing it again - if the file is still too big - before saving the change.