Tools

A Miners Box Head Pick. Made from iron and wood. Size 32″ x 12″ inches. This pick has a removable blade held in by a metal wedge. These picks were used for undercutting the coal. This pick was used in and taken from Cwmtillery Colliery, Abertillery, Gwent in the late 1970’s. The tool bar hole is 23″ from its head. …

A Miners Sledge Hammer. Made from iron and wood. Size 26″x 8″ inches. This sledge hammer was used in and taken from Cwmtillery Colliery, Abertillery, Gwent in the late 1970’s. The tool bar hole is 23″ from its head. Used all throughout the early 20th century.

A Steel Coal Wedge. A steel wedge made by Hardypick Ltd, Sheffield, England. This wedge is a No.397 and is 2lb in weight. There were seven different sizes of this wedge made by Hardypick – 1lb, 1 1/2lb, 2lb, 2 1/2lb, 3lb, 3 1/2lb and a 4lb version. Made from steel. Size 8″ x 1 1/2″ x 1″ inch. Weight …

A Miners Pry Bar. This type of miners pry bar had many uses from levering coal and rocks from the coal face and headings to moving and aligning machinery etc. The majority of these bars were made from old rock boring drill rods though this example is a purpose made pry bar made from strengthened 1″ and a 1/4″ inch …

A Miners Track Laying Sledge Hammer Head. Made from iron. Size 9″ x 2 ” inches. Date unknown. This hammer head has a long point back-end.  

A Miners Track Laying Sledge Hammer Head. Made from iron. Size 7″ x 2 1/2″ inches. Dated 1941. This hammer head has a wedged back-end.

A Dobbie Key. A Dobson “Dobbie Key”. Made from hollow iron tube, solid iron head. Size 16″ inches long. The head is 2″ inches wide with the handle being 1″ inch in diameter.  This key was used to pump up the hydraulic Dobson dobbie pit props on the coal face by placing the key into the pumping valve on the …

A Dowty Key. Made from solid iron. Size 14 1/2″ inches long. The head is 2″ inches wide with the handle being 3/4″ of an inch diameter.  This key was used to pump up the hydraulic Dowty pit props on the coal face by placing the key into the pumping valve on the side of the prop and move the …

A Plough Punch. Made from iron. Size 9″ x 1″ inches tapering to a 1/4″ of an inch. This punch was used to knock the pins out of the coal cutter head that held the cutter bits into the plough coal cutter (used on the Garw coal seams). This punch came from Rose Heyworth Colliery, Abertillery. 

A Coal Cutter Bit. Made from iron and tungsten. Size 6″ x 1 1/2″ inches. The word “Padloy Sulmet” is embossed into the side of the pick.