The Forum at Handcuffs.Org

Bean Giant Survey

17 visible archived posts · 17 preserved total · topic ID 2005

lauher 29 Apr 2007

Good Morning. It is sort of a gray day here on Long Island this Sunday morning so to pass the time I want to take a survey of everyone's Bean Giant cuffs. I am interested in three things. What are the markings? (If any.) What is the mass of each cuff? What does the hinge look like?

I have three cuffs.

Cuff A is marked: PAT. NOV. 1, 87. It is the smallest of the cuffs and has a mass of 338 grams.

Cuff B is unmarked. It is the heaviest with a mass of 368 grams.

Cuff C is unmarked. It has a mass of 346 grams.

Cuff A is lighter and shorter than the other two cuffs. Note that Cuff A is the shortest, but it has the widest plate over the lock mechanism. Cuff C has been opened for repair.

Cuff A has what I call a simple hinge. Cuff B has a "complex" hinge with an extra spacer.
Cuff C also has a simple hinge.

There are also other differences between the cuffs, but these are the most notable.

It seems most likely that Iver Johnson made most Bean cuffs. Does anyone know for sure? Was any other company involved? Any information at all would be most welcome. Please look at your cuffs and let us know what you have. Maybe by combining all of our information we can learn something.

thanks

Joe

larho01 29 Apr 2007

Hi Joe,

My specimen is unmarkt and the mass is 341 gram. The hinge type is the simple one (A). It also seems like the size of the key hole differ. If you look at my set the key hole looks slightly smaller compared to yours. More information about Bean Giant is most welcome.

Lars

Unresolved image reference ↗

Bruce thomson 29 Apr 2007

Mine has the simple hinge and a 6 stamped on the back plate (or a 9 if you spin it halfway around). The words 'PAT. APL'D FOR' are stamped on one bow arm.

Stan Willis 29 Apr 2007

I have 3.
One is identical to Joe's A, except that it weighs 346 grams.
One with the patent date on one bow is slightly thinner and weighs 310 grams
#3 is larger and is unmarked and weighs 342 g. It is the same thickness as the 310 gram cuff.
Stan

jbushey 29 Apr 2007

I have two. Neither is "normal". One has a keyhole post,
and the other was gaffed, quite probably prior to plating,
perhaps at the factory. I'll weigh them and respond here.

Bean Giants are cast handcuffs. The Casting process has a certain amount of shrinkage when the metal cools. I believe for steel it is about 2-3%. Perhaps whoever cast them used different mold patterns, which would account for the size variances. As for the spacers---it could be that if bows from different pours or castings were slightly different, and when machined (the inside of bow where it attaches to the cuff bodies) they ended up a little thinner a spacer would be needed to line the bows up with the hole in the handcuff body. You hate to waste parts!! How many out there have the spacers in their hinges?? Interesting thread--I Look forward to hearing from others.

Stan Willis 29 Apr 2007

None of mine have spacers, and I don't recall seeing them before this thread. There is a slight difference in the width of the keyholes on mine. 2 are very narrow, like lars" and one is a little wider.
Stan

Ron Spitz 30 Apr 2007

I have three not including the McColl gaffed set. Two of them have the "normal hinge" but only one is stamped with the Pat. date, the second set has no markings. The size seems to be the same. The third set has the larger hinge with the spacer. It has no markings and is slightly larger than the first two.

silvermy 01 May 2007

No markings. Not sure of the weight. I do have a spacer in the hinge. Both buttons work and it does not appear to have ever been repaired, or it was, it was done very professionally and doesn't show..

Brad Darling 01 May 2007

One pair. Identical to your A, but smaller size keyhole. Weighs 12.2 oz.

Brad

Gordon 02 May 2007

#10

I have 3
#1 unmarked,largest in size,narrow key hole,354g
#2 PAT. APPLIED FOR marked on back,340g
#3 date on back like Joe's A,360g
None have spacers.
I have heard that the unmarked is probably the oldest and is the largest. So
it is the largest. Any one else believe that?

Atame.Muc 02 May 2007

#11

Mine has no markings, weights 340g and has an A-hinge.

Best regards,
Guenter

Chris Gower 03 May 2007

#12

Sorry I am unable to help in this survey, all I can offer is that I have only ever had 2 sets of Bean Giants in my collection and have over the years traded both of them. I believe that there is only one set located here in England (this is the set photographed in Alex Nichols Book) that I bought from Don Hinz and was not working, I sent it to Ian McColl who did a wonderful job restoring it and we both think it may have been one of the last sets produced because it did not have all the holes drilled and the casting was not finished. From what I remember it did not have any stampings on it.
Chris Gower
PS Did you receive my email Ian?

Mikeintightpants 04 May 2007

#13

Hey Chris - I remember your Bean Giants too, damned shame you traded them but I know you were satisfied with the deals at the time. I've long since lost count of the number of times I tried them on at your place, as you know they were always one of my favourites - boy was I envious!

Clyde Lowe 04 May 2007

#14

My Giants are #A and say Pat. Apl'd For on the edge of the arm, that should mean they were made before Pat. 1887 models

Chris Gower 07 Jul 2007

#15

Last week I received the set of Bean Giants that Michael Griffin sent in photos of (see posting dated 17th May).
They are model 'C' and weight 346 grams. There are no markings and they have the simple hinge. The key (an original)that is attached to the strong wire used by the escape artist Captain Williams to escape from them is well made. However, I have not actually tried them on yet to test how well it works.
Notice Mark that you got the Bean Giants on ebay that were used over here. Have they arrived yet? They looked very nice but I was a little puzzled with the single sided key. Still not sure how they ended up here in England?
Chris Gower

Mark Lyons 07 Jul 2007

#16

Hi Chris,
Since you brought them up, I will tell you the story about them.
First of all I thought it was odd that they were from a UK seller myself. The seller wrote that her Grandfather used these in 1900. They looked nice so I went to put a modest bid on them. I totally forgot that they were English and that I should be bidding in pounds. By mistake, I bid in dollars. Since a dollar is about equal to 1/2 pound, I ended up bidding much higher than I expected and it was no small wonder that I won them. I wrote to the seller and offered to pay her all fees and then some if she would let me opt out of the deal and relist them, but she rightfully told me I was obligated to purchase them. I agreed and finalized the deal with my payment.
But to answer your question, yes, they just came today and they look better than the photos. The key is obviously not correct, but it is a nice key. It might work in a Cummings or Tower bottom key cuff. I will see if one of Ian's keys will work and make a more appropriate mate.
The cuff came with a nice picture of the sellers Grandfather in uniform and a short biography. How his constabulary got to buy and use these cuffs would be interesting to know. From what I know, Police officers on your side of the pond turned in their cuffs and guns (if they were allowed to have one) when their shift ended and may still do so even today. The arming buttons work and have nice springs. The key needs to be turned 180 degrees to unlock both claws.
My other cuff does not have the patent date on them so this variation will be a welcome addition to the collection. I forgot to look to see if it has the complex hinge. I will keep my fingers crossed and if it does, it will be an even better purchase.

mark
O--O

Mikeintightpants 08 Jul 2007

#17

Hi Chris, it's good to hear that your Beans have arrived safely, we can try them when we meet up again shortly.

Mike
a.k.a. Mikeintightpants
Birmingham, England