The second most common problem that plagues old fire buckets is that of broken lugs and missing rings. If a ring or both rings are missing or are detached from the rim, the leather attachment lugs are most certainly broken. The images above are the top-down and side view of the area of the broken lug on the A. Chase bucket. The lug is snapped off clean at the rim, the other is still attached but is cracked completely through.
Lugs are the two loops of thick leather that attach the iron rings to a fire bucket on either side of the rim, in turn, these rings serve as the attachment for the leather handle. The rings allow the leather handle to swing back and forth making it easier to for a fire fighter to pitch the bucket full of water at a fire.
There's a reason why these lugs tend to break, the cause is often thought to be dry rot or mishandling-that's true but not the root of the cause. The cause actually started 200 years ago during the hardening process used in making the bucket.
In future posts I will go into step-by-step details outlining the construction techniques used in creating a fire bucket but for now, I will jump ahead and identify the root cause of lug deterioration.
Historically, once the maker had all of the components of the bucket assembled, i.e. the bottom, rim, lugs and rings, the entire bucket was then soaked in water. Once saturated, the bucket was removed from the water and taken to a controlled fire or hot bed of coals. Over this heat, the craftsman held the wet bucket, constantly rolling it in his hands until it began to steam. It took an hour or more to completely steam off all of the water held in the fibers of the leather. When dry, the leather was now hardened and had acquired a permanent shape memory. The French have a term for this process, cuir bouilli. The literal translation means to "boil the leather". I will elaborate more on this hardening process later but for now understand that while this process was an advantage for retaining the shape of the bucket-a bonus to it's utility-it also inadvertently hardened the ring lugs. This steam hardening reduced the natural flexibility of the leather and in time, due to their constant torquing by the handle and by the long term chemical reaction of the iron rings wrapped within the acidic leather, the lugs inevitably became very brittle.
Ideally, the craftsman making the bucket should have protected the lug leather from the heat process but this problem of breaking lugs didn't show up until many years later and so the early makers were most likely oblivious to the problem. It was not planned obsolescence, it was just an oversight. A word of caution: If you ever examine an antique leather fire bucket, DO NOT PICK IT UP OR HOLD IT BY THE HANDLE!!! It might snap off and the bucket may hit the floor.
Done well, restoring the lugs and rings is a tedious and time consuming job. I take the approach of do no harm when I restore objects but in the case of lugs it is necessary for me to remove the remaining amount of internal lug leather. I use 1/8 inch wide chisels, dental tools and micro drills to extract the "root" of the lug-taking great care not to damage the delicate leather surrounding the cavity of the lug hole, (I'm as careful a dentist...if not more so). It can take several hours to extract one lug, removing very small amounts of leather fiber at a time until a sufficient depth is reached to allow the replacement lug enough area to be firmly reattached with a pH neutral glue. The replacement leather lug is made to the exact size of the original and is artificially aged to match color and patina. If the original rings are missing, I substitute reproductions that are hand-forged and aged in the same manor as the originals. When the job is complete, the restoration is invisible, even the original exterior stitching remains intact.
Normally, I would never recommend hanging an original leather fire bucket from a hook or peg as was done in the period. When I see an original bucket hanging, I think to myself, "I should give them my card, they will eventually need my services". Although I don't recommend hanging an original antique bucket, if both lugs and handle have been replaced by my method, I can perceive no harm by hanging the bucket in the same manor as it was hung in the period.
Cost for restoration per lug is $150.00. Rings are $7.00 each.
Next, I will address paint restoration...stay tuned.
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