A chimney is a channel or pipe that conducts gases away from a fire or furnace.  The word ‘chimney’ does not enter the English language until around 1330.  Until then, no one in that part of the world knew how to make reliable bricks.  The fireplace had existed there since the Normans, but these were really just scooped out spaces with a hole in the outer wall to permit egress of fumes.  Before then open hearths were employed, which gave excellent heat but accumulated clouds of unbreathable acrid smoke. 

Eventually the chimney became one of the great breakthroughs in domestic history, allowing “a whole new world upstairs,” as Bill Bryson so nicely put it. 

The Romans, however, had good bricks and good chimneys very early on.  With them, they created a system of central heating, called a hypocaust, sometime around 300 BC which circulated hot air through channels below floors and in walls.  During the Renaissance, the idea was rekindled to send steam and hot water through pipes, paving the way for our modern duct systems.

This odd looking crank driven device is a sheet metal crimping tool for fitting stove pipe, duct work, or roof panels snugly together.  It was manufactured by the same Peck, Stow, & Wilcox Company (Pexto) of the aforementioned bill hook.  Two conduits of ductwork will not interface without first being crimped, so it’s a handy device to have on hand.  Incidentally, this interface is not air tight and is often sealed with tape.  The tape first used for this was originally ‘duck’ tape, named for the long strips of plain cotton duck cloth employed as a substrate for adhesive.  It was designed in 1943 by Vesta Stoudt, who’s sons were serving in the Navy at the time, to provide more predictable reinforcement of ammunition boxes.  Only later, when applied to duct work, did it take on it’s more familiar name.

Ron used this sheet crimper recently to create an exhaust system  for his wood burning shop stove.