What is it? CCXX

[R.H.]

I made a couple changes to this week's set, so the preview that I mentioned in my last post is no longer accurate.

[Alexander Thesoso]

1227 Production tool, used in a lathe to roughly bore holes in soft workpieces.

1228 Guess... Modern caulking hammer.

1229 Special purpose spanner, but I admit that I've no idea what the special purpose is.

1230 Lofting curve. Tool used to draw or lay out smooth curves.

1232 I admit to not knowing this, but I'll take a wild guess and say it is part of a windmill. Someone took some care to align the bearings and select gear shapes to make it run for a long time.

[Smaug Ichorfang]

"R.H." wrote in news:47bd3fc5$0$16660 $ [e-mail]:

drills around it allowing it to be removed and a plug put in its place. A new screw can then be put in plug.

1228. It's not sharp enough to be an adz or gouge, so I'm guessing it is used to do something like pound okum into seams. 1229. A spanner. I've seen tools like this for use with nuts holding electronic controls in a panel, or for use with lenses. 1230. I've seen similar used as a flexable drawing tool for compound curves. Since this one has a fairly thick edge to it, I'm guessing this one could be used to copy and reproduce an edge while using an electric saw or router. 1231. Ivory shoe spoon (or butter knife). 1232. Well obviously it's a two-speed gear box, maybe for a windlass or hoist? I'll give ya two bucks for it if you bring it by the house (grin).

Is there any particular fame in claiming "First Post" for this contest?

[Andy Dingley]

fits onto an arbor.

#1228 Veneer hammer (allegedly). This pattern is modern German, I've no idea how you're supposed to use them. Nail the veneer into place? I'm sticking with my brass-edged wooden one.

#1229 Bung key?

#1230 Thing for laying out spirals, maybe in the HVAC trade?

#1231 Bone folder, used for putting accurate creases into paper. A bookbinder's or framer's tool.

# 1232 Window opener, for high-up casement windows?

[hex]

Hey .... was that a drive-by gloat?

But really, did you build it or buy it? Old or new?

hex

-30-

[Leon]

1227. Extractor for removing damaged screws and the wood around them so that the hole can plugged. 1229. Watch Back Removal tool. 1231. Burnisher, used for burnishing copper foil on stained glass.

[Christian Stü]

and some more silly guesses

1227 looks like a "saw-drill" for making larger holes. ehm, forget this, drilling counterclockwise? no, not a drill. what works counterclockwise? for removing screws or bolts? 1228 ... lalala ... if i had a hammer, i would hammer every day, i would hammer in the morning ... lalala ... umh, but for which is this hammer? 1229 i have a similar tools for my bicycle. #302 or #225 on show a "universal variant" of your 1229 "specially for a unique brand" tool 1230 no idea. what alexander, smaug and andy proposed "drawing tool", for copying given curves, sounds good. 1231 used by your hairstylist?

greetings from germany chris

[Barbara Bailey]

the thin blade to open the pages of an uncut book or an envelope, the rounded end to rub the folds into writing paper or material used for book covers.

[Paul K. Dickman]

Just a guess on 1232.

But I think it is the drive for some kind of treadle powered equipment. Like a pushcart knife sharpener or an industrial sewing machine. I think the right angle box hanging off the side and the lever are actually a clutch for a round belt pulley.

Paul K. Dickman

[Scott Lurndal]

[DT]

You just lean on it and slide the wide edge across the freshly glued veneer.

[Ed Huntress]

Or press it and roll the head a bit, rather than slide it, to squeeze the glue ahead of the bond. Hot hide glue was the adhesive used for that work, and it required a fair amount of pressure to get an even glue thickness.

-- Ed Huntress

[Steve R.]

1229 is a watch case wrench. It will be specific to a particular make and model. I have several different ones.

Steve R.

[Andrew Erickson]

1227 - This is a hole or plug saw of some kind; I'm guessing hole saw, since the inside finish looks unhelpful for removing plugs. I'm guessing it might mount on a threaded mandrel (using the inside threads), but it's not immediately obvious what would lock it in place; maybe an expanding arbor. The teeth look to me to be intended for a fairly soft material, wood or plastic perhaps. Double-ended presumably so you can reverse it when one set of teeth get dull. 1228 - Hammer for veneer work; Lee Valley sells a slightly different version of this. 1229 - This is a wrench for some specialized application. There doesn't seem to be a vast amount of torque involved, given the short handle and the generally light construction. Possibly this is for loosening a "beehive style" drain strainer in a urinal? 1230 - Nifty gauge/guide for making arbitrary more or less fair curves. From the length, it may well be intended for use in boatbuilding. 1231 - Noodle or dough trimmer? Pure guesswork. If the thin end were pointy, I'd say it's a letter opener, but it wouldn't be very effective as shown unless the envelopes were poorly sealed to begin with. 1232 - Let's see...the small gear and shaft seem to be the primary power input, and the large gear is movable on its shaft to engage or disengage the crank arm. The hand lever might attach somehow to the clutch forks to control it, although the pictures aren't sufficiently clear to verify this. The enclosed right-angle bit on the opposite end of the crankshaft from the crank is a bit unclear; it may be a position sensor of some sort, or a second output shaft. I'm going to guess this gear train opens and closes the doors on an elevator car.

On to see other guesses...

[Pete C.]

I think you're correct except for the application. I suspect it's the gear head for an old time water pumping wind mill.

[Andrew Erickson]

That could very well be; it sounds a bit more likely than my guess. Perhaps the strange right-angle box is some sort of an automatic shutoff to stop the pump when the tank is filled. (Maybe it's not used with a windmill, but wtih a gasoline engine or electric motor. Weren't most windmill systems just a simple crank on the windmill shaft without any gearing at all? Something like this would be a bit tricky to rotate to get the windmill facing the wind, unless perhaps the pump rod also rotated.)

I still like the elevator door opener idea, though; it has a certain je ne sais quois that a pump jack lacks.

[Andy Dingley]

Made some, bought some. £1 box at the local toolshop or colelcting junk through car boot sales wil turn them up.

These German things are far too heavy, the edge isn't rounded enough, and they're steel so there's a risk of staining when used near hot, damp glue and oak.

[dgates]

I love to look at photos of odd things, but I think you need some way for users to get to the "best" of these.

The ideal way would be to let visitors "rate" each photo / puzzle (like at Amazon or Netflix). Or, much simpler, maybe you yourself can just pick which ones have interesting solutions / explanations.

For example, scanning the latest ones, #1228 looks pretty mundane. I don't know exactly what you would swing it at, but its intentions are pretty clear.

Compare that to some of your more far-out ones, where the answer doesn't come close to matching what you first think when you look at the picture.

Anyway, as one of the original guys who told you how cool your puzzles were, I thought I'd offer my latest suggestion. You've got a ton of cool content now, but the casual user needs some way to get to the "coolest" of it.

Thanks

[DoN. Nichols]

late. I was catching up on a lot of things. Similar problem last week, but I was too late to even think of posting then. :-)

1227) O.K. It is a rather small hole saw to be held in a collet or a drill chuck -- but have you reversed the image again? If not, it is made to be driven CCW, which is quite uncommon. 1228) Specialized hammer. I'm not sure, but could it be a bricklayer's hammer? 1229) Wrench for unscrewing the back on a particular series of threaded-back wrist watches. Not one of the adjustable ones which can be adapted for many brands and styles, but one for a specific watch brand and size. 1230) A curve for drafting. Set it to produce the curve you need, and lock that curve in by tightening all of the wing nuts. Probably for boat hull drawing, but it could be used for other curves as well. 1231) The tapered end looks like a "fid" -- used for knot work on a sailing ship. Not sure about the flattened area where I would have made a handle. It might be whalebone or whale teeth -- scrimshaw. The flattened area might work as a letter opener. I can't see enough detail in the ivory/bone to tell whether it is whale tooth, whalebone, or elephant ivory (the grain pattern tells). Not quite right appearance for walrus tusk. Hmm ... at 12" length, that is a rather large whale tooth, if it is one. More likely to be the tip of an elephant tusk. Hopefully, it is pre-ban. 1232) Power take-off for some agricultural machinery? not sure about the gearshift. There seems to be missing parts.

Now to see what others have said.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Kenneth]

That's a veneering hammer (not actually a "hammer" in the ordinary sense at all in that it is not used for striking.) It is slid along the surface of the veneer to distribute the glue, and better bond the veneer to the substrate.

All the best,