Found a restoration manual from 1892 that changed how I clean flues

I was digging through an old auction lot last weekend and found a chimney sweep's handbook from 1892. Turns out they used weighted chains with wire brushes way back then, almost the same basic idea we use today. Has anyone else run across old manuals or tools that surprised you with how little the trade has actually changed?

3 comments

3 Comments

elizabeths5128d ago

Building on what you said about the weighted chains, I've been thinking about how those old manuals probably didn't have the fancy patent drawings and diagrams we see today either. They just had straight talk about what worked after years of trial and error, no marketing fluff. The real reason we switched to poly and fiberglass is probably because it's cheaper to ship and easier to mass produce, not because it cleans better. Those old iron chains and steel rods were basically indestructible and the weight actually helped push through tough soot. Modern stuff might be lighter to carry up a ladder, but it breaks way faster and costs more in the long run. Makes you wonder if we traded durability for convenience and got the short end of the stick.

lopez.quinn29d ago

Wait you're telling me the old timers were using basically the same gear as us but without the fancy marketing and overpriced handles? I guess some things really are timeless when they work right, even if the patent ran out 130 years ago. Makes you wonder how many "revolutionary" new brush designs are really just rediscoveries of something grandpa used on his Sunday chimney rounds. The real shocker would be if they also had to deal with those cheap fiberglass rods that snap in half on the second job like we do. Bet their weighted chains worked way better than half the modern junk on the shelf anyway. So much for progress I guess.

alexk6029d ago

Hold up, if those old heads figured out the perfect brush and rod setup way back then, why did we ever change to poly and fiberglass? Was it really about weight and cost, or did some big company just want to sell us a whole new system every few years? I bet the real reason is that canvas and leather handles lasted long enough to be a one-time buy, and nobody wants that. What stopped some old timer from just welding a steel rod and passing it down to his kid for fifty years of work?