Re: What is it? LXXVII

[Bruce Bowler]

#444: Tool for pressing/forming caps onto small bottles. Like vaccine > bottles etc.

I'd think for likely it's for (re)loading shotgun shells

[Michael Houghton]

442: screw/bolt extractor 443: smithing hammer, for getting into highly raised work 445: marking knife 447: haybale lifter thingy. The lifting point is between the gear teeth. The lever is the release thingy that would have a line on it

yours, Michael

[Duane Bozarth]

...

Don't think it's a hayhook although I suppose it could have been used as such.

Can't get much of a feel for the overall size as I have no idea what the

19" dimension is in reference to, but I'm thinking it looks more like a light logging hook than for hay purposes.

But, hey, who knows what them crazy Canadians did, eh? :)

[Doug Payne]

Heyyyy, I resemble that remark!

I agree, too small for a hay hook, which typically only had one hook with a T-handle. At least when I loaded hay those many years ago. Nowadays it's giant round bales and a forklift, except for the local Mennonites and Amish who still load horse-drawn wagons and loaders with pitchforks.

Logging hooks are not usually big, at least not the handheld ones. There's a practical limit to how big a log a couple of loggers can lift.

[Duane Bozarth]

That's a hand hook for bundles or small square/round bales...

A double-hook similar to that shown was used often for loose hay in lofts, loading/unloading wagons, etc. For that purpose it seems far to small and I've not seen one w/ the ratchet mechanism, either.

And, of course, don't forget the 40 or 60-ft boom stacker... :)

Here most everbody simply uses a balefork on the tractor for moving just a few. Almost everybody has gone to the 2T round here as well.

That's why I made my guess...I'm thinking this one might have been used w/ a team. (But what do I know--ain't no trees within 200 miles of here... :) )

[Fred R]

Regarding 447: Perhaps a clamping hook for pulling roots and smaller stumps in clearing farm land. Agree that it is much too small and heavy for a bale-grabber and too small for a loose-fodder fork, which more typically have an 'armspan' of 6 feet or more.

[Duane Bozarth]

I'm thinking it was more like a "skidder" hence the latch mechanism?

Doesn't look tough enough to me for rough work such as the stump puller although that's hard to judge from the picture--if knew how much it weighed might help to judge.

[R.H.]

The overall length in the first photo is 19".

Rob

[Norman D. Crow]

I agree! Puller for thornbrush, small stumps, etc. we used was more like a pair of scissors, made of 1/2" thick steel with short chains attached to handle ends & a ring where you hooked the pull chain.

[Matthew Russotto]

442. Broken drill bit

443. Sheet metal tool, perhaps. Set the ball end against the piece being worked and strike the other end of the head with a mallet.

444. I'd guess it clamps to a bench and something gets turned. Possibly the piece with a longer handle isn't actaually part of it.

445. Used for scribing designs in wood.

446. Defective ice cube tray

447. Part of a crane, used for picking up the new apprentice by the shirt.

[Matthew Russotto]

The vent core?

[R.H.]

Haven't been able to confirm what it is, here are the guesses so far:

-note holder

-static electricity dischargers

-puncture test tool

-grandfather's clock mechanism

-weights for the scales of justice

-for electrical experiments

-durometer

-tester for finding the hardness of optical pitch

-spindle for paper

-for making indentations in metal

-standard lightning rod balls and needles

-for gravity experiments

-desk decoration

Rob

[Sam Soltan]

I believe you got it correct, but the image is "upside down."

[Nick Müller]

Still an open question: How do the upper ends of the needles/rods look like? Is there a hole or whatever?

And also please note: If you pull up the lever on the right, the thing will _open_. So if you want to lift something up, you would have to press it down. Not the most clever way, nor not? So this device is not for lifting anything. IMHO, if you want. :-)

Nick

[R.H.]

Sounds like a good possibility, someone posted a similar idea on my site:

"This is quite possibly a release mechanism for a drop door on an old farm dump wagon. The T like casting would be fastened to the side. The handle is offset to allow clearance for your hand when operating."

I'll have to do a some research on this.

Rob

[R.H.]

I'll email the owner and ask him.

Good point, I'm starting to like the release mechanism idea more.

Rob

[Nick Müller]

What confuses me the most about that thing is: Where can you lift it. OK, there is the "release-lever", but not very solid. Between the two gears, there is some flat, that might have broken. But if this is where some kind of handle has been, it should point outwards not inwards. Or has this device been taken appart and back together wrong?

Nick

[Duane Bozarth]

You see what I saw...I gave it up as the images are too indistinct for my eyesight to really discern the mechanism clearly enough to decide what was what...

If one had it in ones' hands, all would probably come clear...then you could tell if something's broke and quite probably if it is incorrectly assembled.

[Jeff Wisnia]

But why the nice wood stand?

Maybe a store display for a place which sold such things?

And presented upside down to reduce the chances of ripping someone's clothes or flesh?

(It's hard for even me to believe what I just wrote.)

Without the spike parts I'd be tempted to say they had something to do with some very cold weather and two different size metallic monkeys. :-)

Jeff

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

OK! You've done it now!

I know this trivia (being in the explosives industry), but most don't.

WHAT does it mean to "freeze the balls off a brass monkey"?

This sort of fits into the "What is it? LXXVII" series.

LLoyd