My Collection
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:41 pm
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. 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.
PS. Anyone with a doorstop, boot last, or other iron ornament they don't want...
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. 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.
PS. Anyone with a doorstop, boot last, or other iron ornament they don't want...