I started making these cutaways for my own understanding. Over the years they have come in handy explaining things to employees and customers. Some of the valves are new but most are old pieces that I have pulled out of jobs over the years. You can click on the pictures to see an enlarged view.

	Ball Valve This is the type of valve we use for the majority of applications today. They are durable and easy to use. The handle turns the ball inside 90 degrees, opening and closing the valve.
	Butterfly Valve The handle on this valve also turns 90 degrees but instead of turning a ball it turns a disk. There is rubber around the edge of the disk that seals against the valve body when it's closed. This is a more compact type of valve that is often used for larger diameter pipes.
	Wiped Lead Ball Joint This piece was taken from a water service line coming into a house. Lead pipe cannot be threaded because it is too soft, so a special brass fitting called a wiped nipple was butted against the pipe. More lead would then be melted and wiped around the joint sealing the connection.
	Wiped Curb-Stop Curb-Stops are underground shut off valves. They are usually located in the parkway and allow the city to remotely shut off your water. This is an old model made for lead pipe. You can see how the above wiped lead joint would be made on both sides of the valve.
	Lead Cupped Joint This is another type of lead connection seen mostly on drain lines which is a thinner walled pipe. Here the lead was connected to a male adapter, but this joint could just as well connect two pieces of lead.
	Lead Cupped Joint In this picture you can see the lead pipe was flared out and the male adapter pushed inside the pipe. Then melted lead was wiped in the space between the two, sealing the joint.
	Crane CAT.440 Crane Co. made the best brass gate valves I've come across. All of these valves are old examples that I've pulled out of service over the years. Although they don't look like it, because I've had them cleaned, I'd say the average age is more than 50 years. Crane's main manufacturing plant used to be in Chicago on S. Kenzie Ave. Often times when you try to operate old valves of other brands the handle crumbles in your hand or the stem strips out. Never with a Crane valve because they were built especially rugged using high quality brass.
	Crane CAT.440 Here you can see the inside of the valve. It's a rising stem which means the stem and handle rises or lowers when it is turned. It has a two piece gate which expands to seal when closed.
	Crane CAT.431-UB Rising stem gate valve with a solid gate. This is a higher pressure model that has an extra nut around the bonnett allowing for higher pressure. There is also a piece around the packing nut which Crane calls a glad hand, this helps secure the packing around the stem.
	Crane CAT. 410 This is a non-rising stem gate valve. The threads of the stem travel inside the gate rather than along the bonnet. This makes it more compact than the rising stem models.
	Crane CAT.7 Brass globe valve. This type of valve is directional, the flow of water would come from the bottom, through the opening in the middle, and out the top. They are used when throttling the amount water is needed.
	Crane Ball Valve This is an early Crane ball valve from the 60's. The brass plate on top allows the plumber to install the handle in either direction, a novel feature even our current ball valves don't have.
	Crane CAT.440 This is what all the above crane valves looked like before they were cleaned. The brass on this one is so tarnished it could pass for steel. This particular valve's handle doesn't turn, and the gate is frozed in the lowered postition. You can see the packing has been leaking but otherwise it is in good shape and will clean up nicely.
	Here you can see why all these valves will inevitably be replaced. It is the galvanized pipe they are connected to that rusts out and either leaks or kills water pressure. If this valve had been connected to copper pipe it would most likely still be in service.
	Crane Catalogue #53 This 1952 Catalogue has 580 pages and it dosen't even include all crane's products. At one point Crane was producing 40 train box-car loads of product every day and had branches all over the U.S. and Canada.
	Names of Parts Here you can see cutaways for all the brass gate valves in Crane's catalogue. In this list the higher the number the more robust the valve and the higher the pressure it could handle. I've made scans of the corresponding pages to the above Crane valves so you can see the original specs and prices, recommended uses, etc.
	Crane CAT.410 100-Pound Brass Gate Valves Wedge Disc Non Rising Stem
	Crane CAT.440 125-Pound Brass Gate Valves Rising Stem
	Crane CAT.431-UB 150-Pound Bronze Gate Valve Wedge Disc Non Rising Stem
	Crane CAT.7 150-Pound Brass Globe Valve

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Last modified: 01/12/10