What is it? CCXXI

[R.H.]

This week I know only one of them for sure, though I have some ideas on a couple of the others, hopefully we will get all of them identified:

[Alexander Thesoso]

1233 While not an identification of this object, it clearly is a thing to make a groove around a cylindrical stick.

1234 A dating stamp, to mark a production date on some metal product.

1236 A Weston Standard Cell. Produces a standard known voltage. 1.0183 volts.

[Ted Schuerzinger]

I have fun with these even though I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable as everybody else guessing. So here are my completely off-the-wall guesses.

1233. Used to crease something, as well as punch holes in it? I can't imagine wanting to crease leather, but that was my first thought 1234: The numbers in the first photo are a mirror image, which leads me to believe the ring was designed to be inked and have the numbers be transferred (in series) to something else. But there are only fifteen numbers, and I can't think offhand of anything that would go in a cycle of fifteen. 1235: A hammer for hitting some sort of ceremonial bell?

1236: Damned if I know

1237: A very primitive, and painful, colonoscope. :-)

1238: There are slits on the bottom if I see the third photo correctly, leading me to believe it's some sort of plane.

Now to see what the *right* answers are....

[John Martin]

1233: If the cutter is reversed, I'd guess it is for sizing tenons on a lathe or some similar function. If the cutter is not reversed I'm stumped, although it would cut beads. 1238: These photos were just on the rec.woodworking board, asking if it might be a plane of some type. I answered: Appears to be a scraper, although it looks a little heavy for most woodworking applications. Could possibly have been a metalworking tool, or one for a trade such as printing. Looks as though it may have another fence on the right side, which would make it useful for planing/scraping items to thickness on the bench. Such as for inlays, fishing rod sections, or something of that sort. Scraping brass inlays to size?

John Martin

[LDC]

1237 is a voltage probe used by Telco employees. Connect the clamp at the coiled end to ground, touch the end of the rod to a questionable down guy and see if the neon light comes on.

[Bill Rider]

I wonder about 1237? What's the wand made of? What about the contact? How long is each wire? What sort of light bulb is in the barrel?

Abilities Inc. finds employment for disabled people, some of whom are in wheelchairs. A person in a wheelchair may be well insulated from the ground. This could be an advantage or a disadvantage.

Maybe the person avoids static shocks by clipping one lead to the chair and using the wand to touch a grounded object. The light might flash if there was a big charge.

Maybe the person in the chair works on electrical circuits, and he can reach out with the wand to see if a circuit is energized.

[Andrew Erickson]

1233 -- Tool for making or truing up dowels or circular tenons. The wood is roughly rounded and placed in the wedge-shaped cage, and the gouge blade advanced to take off a shaving while spinning the handle around the wood. It appears that this would only be effective on pretty nearly round pieces already, so I'm thinking its mostly for tenon work. 1234 -- Gage for various diameters of...something. It would also make a dandy trivet, but that doesn't appear to be the intended use. 1235 -- Possibly a gas burner (for pre-electric-light illumination). 1236 -- I'd guess this is some sort of demonstration or laboratory apparatus used in thermodynamics--possibly a demonstration of a refrigeration cycle or a hygrometer of some sort. I'm not at all sure, though. 1237 -- Possibly some training or therapy device for disabled persons. The wand would be moved through some sort of a metal labyrinth and contact with the edges indicated by the bulb, akin to the child's game Operation. The "Abilities, Inc." name could go along with this; one quite interesting semi-related obituary is here: -- This appears to be a rather peculiar rabbet plane. The iron appears to be in backwards. This doesn't look as though it were intended for wood, based on the blade angle and the fineness of the adjustments; possibly it's for some (relatively soft?) metal. No clue as to the precise purpose, though.

[DoN. Nichols]

1233) A device for turning a groove in round wood -- presumably for something which won't fit in a lathe. You slip it over the end to where you need it to be, tighten the handle to move the bronze piece with the concave curve against the side of the wood and start rotating it around the workpiece. The depth of the groove is preset by loosening the steel round-headed slotted screw and sliding the gouge. I believe that the round-headed screw was originally a knurled knob on the end of a screw, but it got lost and replaced. Or it could have been a wing-headed screw, like the wing-nut which locks the projection of the concave curve into the V-frame. 1234) I suspect that this was used to mark the date of manufacture (month and year) on some product. Given the material, I suspect that it may have been heated and burned into a wood part.

Since it has sixteen stations, I suspect that it covers more than a year. What happens when the numbers reach "12-56"? does it then change to "1-57" Or does it start before "1-56"? You put the changeover zone as far from the lens and as far out of focus as you could manage. Was that intentional? :-) Anyway -- it would be replaced with a new one when the dates are exhausted. And I suspect that some of the overlap (12 months per year vs 16 stations) is to give you time to order the next year's marker. I'm surprised that they did not simply make it with movable type -- but perhaps the typeface wears out in a year of use. I see that they are marked with underscores on the back, which suggest to me that they extend through 1-57 to 3-57.

Could you not have come up with a more interesting one for a four consecutive digits item number? :-)

1235) I'm not sure about the rod part, but the bucket part looks like a tipping measuring bucket. The bucket is pivoted on the two ears, and the sliding weight on the rod below the bucket is adjusted so it tips at a particular volume. Similar (but much smaller) ones are used in electronic rainfall gauge sensors. 1236) Since I see no way to get the liquid out and replace it with new, I suspect that it was part of a one-time experiment.

It looks as though the wires are connected to a sheet metal collar which goes around one side bulb. And it looks like pressed paper insulating washers under the head of the screw and the (presumed) nut on the other side, so I suspect that the brown liquid is sensitive to magnetic fields (as would be produced by current passing through the collar).

It might be interesting to move a permanent magnet near the fluid and see if it is attracted to the magnet.

1237) this looks designed to test for live wires. What voltage is determined by the voltage rating of the bulb in the barrel.

Clip the clip (looks like a bulldog clip instead of a 'gator clip) on ground, and touch the terminal at the far end of the insulated handle to the points to be tested.

1238) A specialized (and *very* nicely made) plane for producing a profile in the edge of a board which would look like this (use a fixed-pitch font to avoid distortion of the ASCII graphics): +----+ | | | +---+ | | | | | | | | | | | | ~~~~~~~~

[DoN. Nichols]

[ ... ]

Then again -- it could be that they, like Lighthouse for the Blind -- make things for large purchasers. Lighthouse made the ball point pens issued in every government agency, even though the workers never would actually *use* the product. It was a form of employment. I suspect that Abilities Inc is a similar setup.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Bill Rider]

I think you're right. LDC says Telcos used it, but they may not have been all. Abilities, Inc. had contracts with the Department of Defense and GE, among others.

It reminds me of a "dead man's stick," used to make sure equipment is discharged. The bulb could indicate if the equipment is live, but I don't understand the location. Unless there's a lot of resistance within the wand, the wire from the wand to the bulb could be a shock hazard. Besides, if you want the bulb visible to the user, shouldn't it be on the wand and not hanging three feet below the user's hand?

[Christian Stü]

greetings from germany

1235 a mortar and pestle (right words?), used to crush or grind materials in pharmacies or chemical laboratory

i am sorry, this week only one silly guess

chris

[LDC]

There certianly could be users in addition to Telcos.

Of course there is a lot of resistance in the stick as it was intended to find stray voltage, including high voltages. You are supposed to hold the little round casing in your hand so you could orient for best visibility. As I recall (it's been many years since I used one!!) the light is recessed so it is shaded and easier to see faint illuminations of the bulb when the voltage is low..

When using it, you would often have to extend you arm it such a position so the you would not be able to see a light mounted in the rod. The purpose of the device is to keep the tester away from the item being tested. Putting the light in the end of the rod would be counter to that goal. (Picture this being used in a wide variety of conditions: in the rain, pushing through thick brush, clearance obstructed by fences, etc,)

--Larry

[LDC]

Here is a link to the BSP (Bell System Practice) detailing the device and its use.

[Bill Rider]

[Christian Stü]

Hi R.H. i just found this side concerning 1235:

be a hint... some of them look similar

greetings from germany chris

[R.H.]

Thanks! I think this is the correct answer, I just sent the link to the owner and added it to the answer page.

Rob

[DoN. Nichols]

Except that none of them have the rod with the sliding counterweight which (along with the pour hole in the side) make me think of a measuring bucket.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Brian Lawson]

Hey DoN and RH,

Sure looks like the photos at the site from Chris Stuben. One is identical.

I'd bet that it got turned into a table-lamp at some time after it's useful life in the pharmacy was over. That would account for both the hole in the "bell", and the rod. This sort of cannibalization was quite common in the 1930's to the 60's.

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario.