Tea Kettle. What do I Have Here

[Tom Reisdorf]

I immediately thought .....

What do you think

[Russell Ware]

Nice teapot. I like the fact that the initials are WM no matter how you look at them.
Blacklock teapot lids are one of the few items that have the name on them. Could be a candidate for early Lodge.

[Dwayne Henson]

Im with Russell, not known for sure, but could be an early Lodge. Interesting that Blacklock and many Lodge tea pots or water kettles, have the Chatanooga Star on the lid. Perhaps pointing to where the pattern making shop is located, Chatanooga?

[Tom Reisdorf]

I was thinking  early Lodge, never concidered the B word because the lid wasn't marked. My first teapot. I liked
 its looks.

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

I would also say, early Lodge.

Also, I seem to remember I read somewhere that Joseph Lodge bought his teapot molds from somebody in Chattanooga, but I can’t remember where I read that. I believe the article talked about Williamson and Company ... which later became Gibson and Lee and also was Gibson and Love.

Williamson was founded by William Frye ... I like to think he made one of the teapots I have and put his initials under the lid ...

[Dwayne Henson]

That is an interesting one Surgeon!

[Tom Reisdorf]

I was thinking this wasn't marked for size but after looking at an old thread about Blacklock kettles and then looking closer at the spout I see a 7.

[Tom Reisdorf]

So holding it in hand and examining it, were more than two mold sections used to cast the body? I'm thinking there had to be at least 3 because of the inside roundness of the kettle.   Is the line along the side and along the spout where the mold sections met?

[Tom Neitzel]

Here are a couple old patents that should give you an idea of how the mold was made.  As you have noted, there appear to be two patterns needed to make the outside (not counting the separate lid).  Then there would be a core set inside, kind of like an inside mold, that would form the inside walls and prevent the iron from filling it up.  The core would break up like the mold after casting leaving the teapot.

Patents 5,442 and 357,778 are examples.  The core is letter C in the first, and letter S in the second.

Tom

[Tom Reisdorf]

Thanks Tom,
Though a member for years I have never plunged as deep on the dark side as this morning looking at patents for improvements to tea kettles (who knew).  Some that were incorporated into the one I have and some that came after it was made. Very interesting.
Tom

[Tom Reisdorf]

When this came home I was wondering what reaction I would get from my better half. It was the opposite of what I thought. look where it landed... on her corner hutch.

[Dwayne Henson]

Congrats Tom on tricking her to start decorating with cast iron, genius!

[Sandy Glenn]

Tom, you are one Wily Coyote!  ;)  :D