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Trip wire alarm


Feltwad
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Enclosed are images of what I believe to be a trip wire alarm of the Victorian period ..What it fired when it was tripped I can only guess it was some kind of  fultimate copper tube maybe some members have  the answer to what was used to fire it 

Feltwad

Trip Wire Alarm100_2385.JPG.c7ce620cbb1d13725bd3f1e97fcc8ace.JPG

 

 

Another image 

Feltwad100_2391.JPG.14607f131f7c8b22b16b604d5eb8e5b8.JPG

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13 hours ago, Walker570 said:

When did they develop the fog warning explosive charges to put on railway lines?   Could have used one of those.  They made one hell of a bang.  Still in use when I was a lad. Some of my pals used to put pennies on the line but I would never do such a silly thing.   Interesting bit of kit.

I think it is some device along the lines has what you explained has the hammer is worked by a long  flat spring mounted underneath when tripped , whether there is a part missing when the hammer falls I cannot say 

Feltwad100_2387.JPG.2942992c94d95f9cf57eb2f875f5ff2b.JPG

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31 minutes ago, old'un said:

Don’t know what it is, but I don’t think it’s a trip alarm, what makes you think it might be? What are the dimensions?

Ditchman might know what it is as he more than likely used one in his youth.:whistling:

When the hammer is set it is held in place by protruding part of three leg device which has  a hole in each leg which I would say is too connect a wire to each , this would be stretched across a footpath in any direction and when pulled by a foot  would trip the hammer which then fell onto a loaded device ..

Feltwad100_2389.JPG.11f809c09a5ab374f7e3325487456a19.JPG

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Lets say the age of it is around 1850s the cartridge of the day would have been pinfire, as you said earlier there are more than likely bits missing, but I am trying to picture how the mechanical movement of the hammer would strike the pin, the little V cut into the block is interesting, I wonder what that was for?

 

Love these types of thread, hope someone will come along and tell us what it is and how it works, in the mean time I will carry on scratching my head.  

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There appears to be no way of securing any form of cartridge.The missing bits if there are any, would appear to sit on the shoulders but there is no sign of any fixings.In fact it looks like the hammer would cut something passing through the "v".A real mystery.

And a great thread.

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15 minutes ago, wisdom said:

There appears to be no way of securing any form of cartridge.The missing bits if there are any, would appear to sit on the shoulders but there is no sign of any fixings.In fact it looks like the hammer would cut something passing through the "v".A real mystery.

And a great thread.

That is my thoughts also, the “hammer” has been filed to a knife edge (now rusted) as you say the v cut into the block could have had thread running through it.

Has a matter of interest what part of the country is it from, anywhere near cotton mill country?

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38 minutes ago, old'un said:

Does the little metal protrusion (white arrow) move up and down? Is it under spring pressure?   

trip alarm.jpg

The part you mentioned with the arrow is the connection to the flat spring. ,I still think that the V is hold a copper tube loaded with fultimate  with fires into some device  which is now missing . Has to where  it may have come from it has been in my collection for many decades  and if my memory is correct it came from the Norfolk area but it could have been anywhere

Feltwad

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27 minutes ago, old'un said:

So is the metal protrusion being pushed up, in the direction of white arrow or pulled down by the flat spring, can you see much on the back of the device?

When the hammer is set ready for firing  the part you marked  is also drawn up , for a better description lets call it a stirrup which connects to a  main flat spring just the same has a ordinary hammergun lock, when tripped it falls the same has shot gun hammer. I will have a look and see if it is possible to extract the mechanism from the wood base this may be impossible has the dog like nails have not be out  for a long time .

Feltwad 

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On 28/10/2018 at 14:06, Feltwad said:

When the hammer is set ready for firing  the part you marked  is also drawn up , for a better description lets call it a stirrup which connects to a  main flat spring just the same has a ordinary hammergun lock, when tripped it falls the same has shot gun hammer. I will have a look and see if it is possible to extract the mechanism from the wood base this may be impossible has the dog like nails have not be out  for a long time .

Feltwad 

Please don’t take it apart just to satisfy curiosity. Leave it be and take pleasure in imagining how it works or what I may be for. You may ruin the charm of it by dismantling. 

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On ‎31‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 10:48, Medic1281 said:

Please don’t take it apart just to satisfy curiosity. Leave it be and take pleasure in imagining how it works or what I may be for. You may ruin the charm of it by dismantling. 

Had another look to try and dismantled it but because of the state of the wood and the rusty dog nails  I think it will be better to leave  it has it is

Feltwad 

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it looks as a string should go thro' the "V" slot and if the hammer is sharp then once it falls will cut the string or knot thus realeasing maybe a cage or trap or hammer onto a large charge................

where the white arrow is ...it looks hollow beneath and i bet there is a strong leaf spring in there..........

Edited by ditchman
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  • 1 month later...

I wish i had never seen this .i cant help but keep looking at it wondering what it is. Im a hobby blacksmith but mechanical enginer by trade but now buy and sell old relics and vintage items as my main job so this is the sort of thing i love and cant get enough of .but im thinking its a trigger for a trap .meby there was once 10 or so different cages ect for different size birds .iv seen victorian bird traps that had the most elaborate and unconventional trigers .

Either way what an awsom item 

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