William Sugg & Co

Brassware/Brasswork

The title ‘brassware’ applies to almost any brass item that carries a fluid. In the Sugg business this would predominantly be gas but it would equally apply to water.

Whilst many items such as gas taps control the flow of gas, ‘brassware’ equally applies to elbows, adaptors and a myriad of items as can be seen below. William Sugg produced millions of brassware items.

The following two advertisements in the gas press indicate the diversity of brasswork made by the Sugg company and were part of the effort to restart more normal business after WW2.

Brasswork Advt, Gas Journal July 2 1947 550 w

Advert in Gas Journal July 2nd 1947

Brasswork Advt 3, Gas Journal June 4 1947 550 w

Advert in Gas Journal June 4th 1947

Interlocking cock 550 w

The intricate device on the left above is one version of what was known as an ‘interlocking cock’. There are two taps on these devices usually to provide firstly a pilot supply followed by a main gas supply and the reverse when turning off. If you look closely at the side of the body you will see two circles, the left hand one larger than the right hand one. You will also see that the right hand one has a curved cut-out at the top and that the outer diameter of this circle interferes with the larger circle of the left hand one. As it stands it would not be possible to turn the left hand lever until the right hand one had been turned anti-clockwise so that the cut-out aligns with the outer diameter of the left hand tap.

The interlocking cock below also shows the two parts of a bayonet connection which has been sectioned for illustrative purposes. When the knurled ring is turned the ‘plug’ is released and the spring loaded plunger pushes the ‘o’ ring seal against the cone cutting off the gas flow.

Interlocking cockDscf3938 cut 550

Bimetal FFD 550 w

When Crawford and Ray Sugg were developing the Halcyon warm air appliances after WW2,(see Warm Air Heating) one of the devices they had to develop was a flame failure device (FFD) which they called an Automatic Pilot Device (APD) and much later in modern times was to be called the flame safety device. The three versions above are all APD’s using a bi-metal – a piece of metal that bends when heated – to press a plunger to allow gas to pass. If the flame goes out for any reason the bi-metal cools and straightens allowing the plunger to close and shut off the gas. The later volume production of Halcyon models encouraged the development of the ‘multifunctional’ gas valve developed specifically by Honeywell for Sugg, to provide all the individual controls required on these appliances, in one device. (A gas tap, a pilot supply, an FFD and a solenoid valve)

Brass Fittings 5Brass Fittings 6

 

The sales leaflets in this colour scheme were designed by Crawford Sugg when he took on the sales director’s job in addition to being the Technical Director after the war until the Company could fill the position.

Brass fittings 1Brass Fittings 2  Brass Fittings 3Brass Fittings 4

Copyright © Chris Sugg 2006-13

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Site Background & Header

The background to the site is a modern picture of Westminster, the ‘home’ of William Sugg for so many years. It was taken from the roof of The House of Lords during a visit by the Heritage Group of CIBSE in 2004 and centres on Westminster Abbey. The header carries a woodcut of ‘Vincent Works’, the Sugg factory, which might well have been visible from this vantage point. William used this on one of his letter heads. The first and oldest logo also shows the intimate connection with Westminster as it carries the Westminster portcullis with the inscription ‘en avant’ – ‘in advance’. The second logo replaced the earlier one around 1920 and was used right the way through the century until the ‘modern’ era when the ‘flame’ logo was applied to the new era of gas heating equipment with the new factory in Crawley.

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William Sugg & Co