Wall spike?

[worms]

I’m needing to put up new plant-support wires on an old wall and looking for the correct period fittings. There is one remaining original one but I am at a loss for what you might call this, which somewhat hinders a google search. Reverse searching the image comes up with “rust”! Any suggestions, either of what it’s called or where I might get something similar?

 

[LadyArowana]

I’ve looked for ‘eyelet’ and ‘espalier support’ but only found modern things.

Vine eye yields something a little better, but not exactly the same as your original http://www.awbmetalwork.co.uk/blacksmithing/for-the-garden/vine-eye-80mm.html

 

[worms]

Thanks, LadyA! “Vine eye” seems to be the correct term - I had been trying all sorts of names and getting nowhere.

My remaining vine eye is quite similar to the spiked portion of the stays that I have on my down pipes, with the face to hammer on, so I wonder if they may simply have been produced by a local blacksmith. They’re probably not all that old, as the wall would have been the back of the stables yard and probably wouldn’t have had any embellishments until the building was converted to a house in the 1940s.

I should probably rake around in the debris at the foot of the wall in case others have simply fallen out.

 

[Feltwell]

That one does look a bit to me like someone has welded a repair washer to the end of a flooring brad!

 

[worms]

Yes, I had wondered about the ring being welded onto the spike! I appreciate that there is nothing to give scale to the picture, but the “washer” would be about the size of a ten pence piece, but twice the thickness. The top end of the spike is about the width of a pound coin. I’m not sure I would want my floor nailed down with anything that size!

 

[CliffordPope]

That style of washer on the end of something is called a "penny end".
I've found a few in boxes of old junk, and noticed them hammered into old walls for no apparent purpose - remains of attachments for shelves, wooden structures, etc.
They were used for fixing wooden posts to a wall- hammer the spike into the wall, then nail through the penny into the wood.
I've also noticed a few supporting fascia boards.
They almost seem like a rather crude but effective repair bodge to hold something that's meant to be attached but has come loose.

 

[Flyfisher]

We have sections of guttering fixed using wall spike like these: https://www.drainagecentral.co.uk/112mm-Half-Round-Cast-Iron-Style-Galvanised-Rise-and-Fall-Bracket-BRF4
The spikes are available separately.

I'm not sure about 'correct period fittings' for fixing plant support wires and grids to a wall - I suspect that almost anything handy would have been used, in much the same way that the 'welded washer' fixing looks as if it was cobbled together for the purpose in hand. I'll confess that I've just used long galvanised nails for fixing support wires and they work fine. Besides whatever is used probably becomes hidden by the plants once established, which is certainly true for our pyracantha.

But if 'authenticity' is important, I'd say Milady's suggestion hits the nail on the head (ouch!).

 

[CliffordPope]

It partly depends on what weight it is intentended to support.
The spike depicted would take a considerable weight, using a lattice of strong wires stretched along the wall.
For lighter weight a traditional method uses lead wall nails, still available. But they support the stems directly, rather than used to carry wires.

 

[MatthewC]

I have a couple of items like the photo which appeared to be used to hold a gate post to the house wall - certainly when I refitted the post I used them again for the same purpose, with a screw through the hole. Mine were made as a single piece, not a washer welded to a brad!

 

[worms]

Thanks for the comments.

I’ve had another look at the spike in the original picture and it is definitely not a washer welded to a brad. It’s a single piece of metal that’s been forged to shape.

As I mentioned before, the spike portion is the same size and gauge of metal as the supports for my down pipes, which are also clearly forged to shape.

The suggestion that it is too heavyweight for a plant support, the fact that there is only one of them and it’s location now have me wondering if it was to attach a stay to keep a door open. It’s at right angles to a wall of the building where there is now a window, but where it’s possible that there could once have been a door.

 

[Zebra]

That looks very much like a piton. Used for traditional rock climbing before the invention of modern climbing gear. Still occasionally seen, still occasionally used in desperation!

 

[steveb]

I can't believe that it would be a desperation measure - in order to use pitons it takes a rather deliberate act to start off with. Like climbing with hammer and pitons.

They're not the sort of things you find in your pocket randomly in a desperate situation. Or at least, I don't :roll:

 

[Zebra]

Oh no, I didn't mean carrying them, I was referring to those situations where, legs shaking, last tiny cam below your feet, you see an ancient rusty thing sticking out of the rock and you clip into it, thinking "that'll do!"

 

[LadyArowana]

Oh no, I didn't mean carrying them, I was referring to those situations where, legs shaking, last tiny cam below your feet, you see an ancient rusty thing sticking out of the rock and you clip into it, thinking "that'll do!"

Have you thought of a new career as an industrial abseiler? All the fun of climbing whilst simultaneously getting paid

 

[Zebra]

Oh yes I've thought about it. But climbing isn't as much fun as it used to be for me, since a bad fall involving a fractured spine. So I've moved on to safer pastimes, and will stick with my comfy desk job thanks!

 

[steveb]

Ouch. Sorry to hear about your injury.

I like climbing on slabs to at least allow me the luxury of time and minimise the chance of shaking legs forcing me into doing something in a hurry. Time makes up for my lack of strength. And technique.

That was of course up until a few hours ago, when all enjoyment was banned, probably for the greater good.

All enjoyment apart from interior decorating thankfully. If only I didn't have a 5 year old

 

[Feltwell]

Sounds familiar. I had the joyous task of telling my 15 year old daughter that her boyfriend was not allowed round for 3 weeks minimum. Ahh well, they've got Facetime on their phones, young love will endure I'm sure...…

Prising my 2 boys away from computer screens is hard enough normally, without giving them an extra excuse!

Hopefully this latest set of restrictions will prove to be effective, and we can all stay healthy and return to normality more quickly as a result.

 

[LadyArowana]

I had the joyous task of telling my 15 year old daughter that her boyfriend was not allowed round for 3 weeks minimum.

Ah well, that’s you in the cheap nursing home when the time comes

 

[Feltwell]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Be lucky to get a cheap one!

Actually, after the initial disappointment, she took it very well. She's a good kid - seems odd calling her that, she comes across as much more mature than 15. Boyfriend's mum has health issues so that adds weight to the decision.