Herbert Morris & Bastert Chain Hoist

[Rhyolith]

I spotted this in a pile of various rotting items in an antiques centre's reclamation yard (such a waste... seriously). The lovely wheels caught my attention, and although I cannot use a chain hoist (not got a ceiling or frame to suitable to bare any serious weight) I thought it would like nice hung up somewhere once restored... beats being it being left to rot anyway :roll:

Herbert & Morris Chain Hoist by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Herbert & Morris Chain Hoist by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Herbert & Morris Chain Hoist by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Its Marked on the the wheels: Herbert Morris & Bastert LTD Empress Works Loughborough. They come up with a google search, and apparently made cranes ranging from massive dockyard ones to (relatively) little things like this. The name of the company was changed in 1912 to just "Herbert Morris" and they moved from London to the "Empress Works" In loughbourgh in 1897, so that dates the hoist 1897 - 1912.
My sources for this:
- http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Herbert_Morris
- http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.u ... 55b04a49de

There are further markings on the hook wheel rating the hoist at "1 Ton".

I spent a good part of today dismantling it, most due to a handful of jammed parts... yay my favourite! (sarcasm :wink: ). Managed to avoid having to drill out anything though, which makes a nice change from the last few big rusty things I have worked on #-o

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On a sidnote: I think it was bugbear whom recommended these locking Stanley adjustable spanners. Having recently got one after seeing it in home base (DIY store has a good hand tool in it :shock: ) this was its first real test... it really is a great design! Wish they made them in more sizes, could have done with a 15" today! The locking mechanism allows it to grip the nut far more tightly than a standard adjustable and makes releasing it quicker to, as you don't have to fiddle with the threaded adjuster once the spanner is set to the nut size. I would certainly highly recommend this to anyone who uses an adjustable regularly (not very often I recommend a modern tool!)

Stanley 10" Locking Adjustable Spanner (Locked) by Rhyolith, on Flickr

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The hoist is apart now and I have started cleaning it up. I intend to wire brush all the crude off and then rub oil all over it, the result can be seen here in the hook which is the all I have done so far:

Herbert & Morris Chain Hoist (restored hook) by Rhyolith, on Flickr

I have only briefly googled this so far, the company making real serious cranes is awesome on its own, but the possibility of this hoist being over 100 years old is even more so! I would raise my hopes too much yet though. Any information on the company or these hoists would be received with interest

 

[lurker]

I live in Loughborough
Like most of uk manufacturing Morris went down the pan when tax payers projects started using overseas suppliers

Empress works has almost gone although it was derelict for years
There is still a tiny bit of Morris left servicing cranes

 

[bugbear]

Superb item (love the lettering on the wheels) and you're welcome to the tip on the spanner.

How does the hoist work? It doesn't appear to be the usual "differential" design, and there's a gear box thingy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_pulley

BugBear

 

[AndyT]

Another brilliant rescue job! The oil finish shows off the quality of the castings and forgings beautifully. Every home should have one!

A quick flick through an old catalogue shows how important these things used to be - there's a huge range of types and sizes, with plenty of patented innovations. The 1935 Buck and Hickman catalogue has about 18 pages of pulley blocks, hoists and hooks, including some by Morris, though not this one.

It also has a couple of pages of kit with the wonderful brand name "Hyper-Acme" which I think is well worth a revival, if I could come up with the appropriate product. :wink:

 

[Rhyolith]

Finished! Defiantly one of my favourite projects!

Herbert Morris & Bastert Chain Hoist 1897-1912 by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Herbert Morris & Bastert Chain Hoist 1897-1912 by Rhyolith, on Flickr

The large lettered wheel is driven by the chain (person) and that connects to a small pinion inside the casing, which in turn drives that large visible gear. I have tried to show it here:

Herbert Morris & Bastert Chain Hoist 1897-1912 by Rhyolith, on Flickr

The chain drive is part of the large gear and is about 3rds the diameter at a guess. The chain connects to the casing at both ends an dangles either side of the drive, one dangle has the hook on (the one with the more heavy duty casing connection).

Its very smooth and that ratchet must be one of the most macho ones I have ever heard! The big wheel and pinion ride on brass bearings and the ratchet is also brass. Brass seems to have been a popular material pre-WW2.

There is a clutch mechanism behind the lettered wheel where the ratchet is. The wheel is mounted on a coarse thread and when the hoist is lifting this tightens itself agains the inside clutch, this reverses the opposite direction so the ratchet disengages. Very simple but works a treat!

I have never owned a chain hoist... I tried this one out on a 56lb weight (dare not risk more) and am amazed with how easily it moves it! It literally it unnoticeable Suppose it is made to lift a ton...

 

[Bm101]

Might well be wrong, that looks like a 6:1 from my rope access work but it's hard to tell.
1/6th of the weight lifted, for every metre lifted you pull through 6 metres of chain. I'm probably well out though. I'm a bear of little brain. Any engineers about?
Fantastic post Ryolith. Fascinating and lovely bit of kit. Great photos too.
Cheers
Chris

 

[woodbrains]

Might well be wrong, that looks like a 6:1 from my rope access work but it's hard to tell.
1/6th of the weight lifted, for every metre lifted you pull through 6 metres of chain. I'm probably well out though. I'm a bear of little brain. Any engineers about?
Fantastic post Ryolith. Fascinating and lovely bit of kit. Great photos too.
Cheers
Chris

Hello,

Ahh, the little 'gearbox thingy' Bugbear mentioned might make your simple ratio unworkable. Doesn't look like a regular differential pully system to me.

It is a lovely thing, though.

Mike.

 

[bugbear]

It's a beautifully made thing, although lacking the design elegance of the Weston system.

The gear ratio on that is quite extreme - the driven chain wheel is large, then there's the ratio
of the two gears, and the driving (final) chain wheel is small.

That's a lot of gear-down.

BugBear

 

[Alder]

Ghana In our home when i was a child of maybe 7 or 8 i found a Herbert Morris catalogue. My Great Grandparents were weavers. My Great Grandmother(who died in 1936) and two of her sons had World War one Identity Cards describing them as Master Weavers.
Add to this mixture an encyclopedia (London Illustrated?) with pictures of "dark Satanic Mills" and a child's imagination and you can see why i thought my Great Grandparents were Industrialists buying some of Herbert Morris huge cranes when in fact they were not much more than Cottage Weavers.
Russell

 

[Fitzroy]

Awesome kit, awesome restoration job, just awesome. I want one for my man-cave.

F.

 

[swb58]

Thanks for posting this up, a nice industrial look you've got there now.

Those shafts and cogs reminded me of a hand operated winch I've got, haven't really studied it since I got it ages ago but it works on the same principle. Is there a washer of some description on one or both sides if the brass ratcheting wheel? I don't know if mine has the remains of maybe a fibre type washer or was it just crud. Will post a pic if I can find a camera #-o

Cheers.

 

[Jcube]

Hi Rhyonith, I have just come across a similar chain hoist by Herbert Morris. I hope to pick it up next week. It is slightly different to yours but the head is the same. I was wondering how you managed to get it looking so good. You mentioned you used oil on it when you had wire brushed the rust off. What type of oil did you use? Was there any other anti rust prevention used?