Treasures have their own story to tell
Tucked away at the back of Morrinsville Museum lies a treasure trove of precious artefacts, most of which have a history and a detailed description of where they came from and what they were used for.
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Like any other museum, Morrinsville Heritage Centre takes the responsibility of looking after artefacts that have been donated or gifted to them very seriously.
Thousands of items are lovingly preserved and have their own stories to tell.
Like the copper, kerosene gas powered soldering gun from the 1940s, which was according to Mike Gribble and Barbara Dalziel, used by plumbers and other tradesmen to join spouting and copper pipes.
The earliest version of a soldering gun would have been the blowtorch which is of ancient origin and was used as a tool by gold and silversmiths. They began literally as a ‘‘blown lamp’’, a wick oil lamp with a mouth-blown tube alongside the flame.
This type of lamp, with spirit fuel, continued to be in use for such small tasks into the late 20th century.
The blowtorch is commonly used where a diffuse (wide spread) high temperature naked flame heat is required but not so hot as to cause combustion or welding.
Temperature applications include soldering, brazing, softening paint for removal, melting roof tar, or pre-heating large castings before welding such as for repairing. It is also common for use in weed control by controlled burn.
It was an innovation at the time, and plumbers would have been required to know how to use it properly Gribble said.
Before gas powered guns, an open fire would have been needed to heat the gun up.
One artefact Morrinsville Museum staff and volunteers would like to found out more about is a metal object some have said was used for puncture repair when tyres were tubeless. It is not known where it came from, how old it is or what exactly it was used for. Some investigating has been done but there was little information available.
If you have any information about this artefact or would like to contribute more information about the copper soldering gun, please call Morrinsville Museum on 889-4190 or email info@morrinsvilleheritagecentre.org.nz