Circular radiators in Scotland
Our friend @Nick_Castrads shared these photos with me of circular American Radiator Company Perfection radiators in the National Museum of Scotland.
I thought you'd love them too, so he gave me permission to share them. Thanks, Nick!
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Comments
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Thanks so much for posting these @Erin Holohan Haskell! What I thought was really interesting was that they were imported from the US over to the UK around 1899, before ARC had built their foundry in Britain (and in any case, they never made this model in the UK). I think it illustrates both the reputation of the American Radiator Company at that time and the scale of ambition for the building!
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And may I add — if you should happen to be in Edinburgh, that museum is well worth visiting. Plan to spend some time…
Br. Jamie, osb
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England0 -
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@mattmia2 no I have not! I've never been to Detroit - I am planning a trip to Chicago early next year so I'll add Detroit to the itinerary and make sure to visit the Henry Ford Museum. Thanks for sharing!
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Those rads were shipped in halves and then joined together after being placed around the columns. Notice how the two halves are piped as individual rads.
And that bleed valve is a dead ringer for the ones in my house, which are 100 years old this year.
Before the Lyric Theater/Opera House in Baltimore was remodeled in the 1980s, it had circular steam radiators around the columns of the lounges. I don't remember what brand they were. Obviously they are long gone now.
All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting2 -
radiators in the National Museum of Scotland.
As seen in this image of Dolly the Sheep. Looks like she only needs half-heat?
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Those radiators are incredible. The first pic from further away, I thought I was seeing a modern Euro design. The up close see they are decorative cast iron. Great post! The Henry Ford museum radiators are pretty nice too.
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radiator in Inverness Scotland at a cafe in an old municipal building. I wasn’t tall enough to see the name!
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What a beast! @Dennis1679 that looks like an IRSAP steel column radiator to me - made in Northern Italy. Very good quality.
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That must be quite the mold
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When we were there we spent an entire day at Greenfield Village and about 3/4 of a day in the museum. In my opinion, that wasn't enough time to see everything, especially the museum. It really is incredible, even the building itself is amazing.
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I'd like to meet the men who carried that in. Or maybe not.
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I found this Round Radiator in a store located in In Southampton called Hildreth's. It opened in 1842.
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@bmcservice, that's a real beauty. I take it that's Southampton, Massachusetts right (as opposed to Southampton Engand)?
It's an American Radiator Company Detroit Ornamental I believe. Here's the brochure page from 1897. ARC also made a Plain version (the Detroit Plain), which we first learned about when we got involved with the refurbishment of Rochadale Town Hall in England a few years back. I've attached some photos of that model - again imported from the US to the UK for a spectacular neo-gothic Victorian building.
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@Nick_Castrads , thinking up some molds for curved radiators? 😁
Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.0 -
@delcrossv the molds stay the same whether the radiator is straight or curved - it's the machining that makes them curved. I'd absolutely love to make some but we don't have the machinery we'd need. Our facing and tapping line is 100% predicated on producing parallel faces - a circular radiator is made by joining sections that are milled with trapezoidal sections (or faces milled on two planes of a triangle if that's the correct terminology).
It would be a serious feat to make one though, and even if we don't have the machinery I'm sure we could find a machine shop that does… It's very tempting!
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That's a real beauty. I take it that's Southampton, Massachusetts right (as opposed to Southampton England)?
In Southampton, England, a store that opened in 1842 would be "the new store."
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Are those push nipple type radiators?
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@mattmia2 no, both the ones in Edinburgh that I photographed and the one @bmcservice posted from Southampton are threaded nipples. In my experience push nipples are a lot less common in the UK than they are in the US.
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It seems like it would be a whole lot harder to reach in and screw the sections together in a circle than to press them together.
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The sections are screwed together one by one so the angle is only ever n secs / 360º = 12º for a 30 section radiator.
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When we were there a few years ago my wife couldn’t understand why I took more pictures of the radiators than the exhibits.
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The Lovely Naoko just rolls her eyes when I do that ;-)
All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting0 -
I've seen the Round ones in New York State Armories when I was in the State Guard. You need a large entrance hall or lobby to do them justice. Mad Dog
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Slightly off topic, but I have two beautiful steam only radiators that I just can't bear to scrap. Don't know what to do with them however. Also know of several very decorative big wall-hung cast rads and a couple floor mount rads in a local church that are decommissioned and they want taken out. I just hate to scrap those beauties. I love seeing those things still in use but space seems to be a premium in most houses.
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where are you located?
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Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. If you need more info let me know.
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@epmiller , can you post pics?
All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting0 -
See my previous post. I would have to get into the church to get pictures of the others. I'll see if on some odd chance I have pics on my phone. It's been a couple years ago.
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