Objects Database

Nairobi Hexentrics

Accession Number

1324.2016.1

Object Name

Nairobi Hexentrics

Created

22/06/2016

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

22/06/2016

Brief Description

Five hexentrics on wire

Materials

aluminium alloy

Dimensions

1.8x1, 2.3x1.2, 2.5x1.8, 3.5x2.5, 4.5 x 3.3 cms

Number Of Objects

5

Inscription Description

On middle one "CLOG"

Colour

silver

Maker

Clog, homemade

Object Production Place

Nairobi, Kenya, Wales

Provenance

John Temple had these bizarre nuts made by a metallurgist friend in the Nairobi railway workshops circa 1974.
American equipment manufacturer, Yvon Chouinard, had created the Hexentric shaped nut in 1973/4 and John asked his mate in the workshops to re-create the shape. Unfortunately, the workshops don't seem to have had the technology to create a Talurit swage, which is the way wires are 'welded' together. Instead, they used a bizarre and rather scary method of stuffing the wire back through the holes and using large amounts of glue to hold everything in place. However, John Temple used them and survived!
One of the nuts is actually a commercially produced hexagon by Clog, the other four are cut and shaped by the workshop's metallurgist who later went to work on Saddam Hussein's super gun.
Image 4 opposite shows how the wires were threaded back, or not in one case! A Talurit swage in the foreground shows how wires are normally joined together.

Acquisition Method

Donated by John Temple

Acquisition Date

22/06/2016

Condition Check Date

22/06/2016

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

22/06/2016

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