What is it? CLXXVII

[R.H.]

Set 177 has just been posted:

[Alexander Thesoso]

1028 Orrery

1030 Palm Gun

[joelblatt]

1025: Spoke wrench, probably for an automobile wheel, seems too large for a bicycle.

[Stephen Robinson]

Yep, I was using one today!!! Motorcycle wheel spoke wrench.

[Howard R Garner]

1026 - radio transmitter - aircraft related.

[Gary Brady]

1026. VOR (Visual Observation Reference)

[John Husvar]

VORTAC installation. VHF Omni-Ranging. Provides a radio navigation aid to pilots. Have one a few miles from my place.

I forget what the TAC stands for now.

[RicodJour]

125. spoke wrench - motorcycle or car 126. secret death ray installation prior to introduction of stealth cloaking technology 127. Stanley core box plane 128. big ass orrery 129. I should know what it is - I don't 130. looks like a fancy speed indicator R

[Barbara Bailey]

1030 is a palm pistol

[Pete C.]

#1029 appears to be a cable / wire pulling grip. Probably an old style as the "Chinese finger" style woven wire grips are most prevalent these days.

[DoN. Nichols]

According to R.H. :

1025) Hmm ... what's the material here? It sort of looks like Bakelite or some other early fairly rigid plastic.

If that is the material, I think that it is a gauge for measuring something like perhaps wire sizes. I see that odd sizes are on one end and even sizes on the other. And like wire sizes, the larger the number, the smaller the size.

Presumably, the key part of the maker's name (preceding "PRODUCTS" on the handle) has been blurred out by Photoshop or the like.

It *almost* looks like a wrench, but the final size slot is not deep enough, and the thickness is a bit too great to be reasonable for one made of steel.

1026) This looks like a VOR (VHF Omni-Range) aircraft navigation aid, and I have seen them (as a kid) in a ranch surrounded by cattle. Perhaps even a VORTAC (add TACAN to the mix), which I think came out after the time I visited the site as a kid. 1027) A plane for squaring the meeting point of two sides at about 90 degrees. (There is an adjustment for dealing with small mismatches.) 1028) Orrey? (Not sure that I have the spelling right, and my spelling checker does not know that word. :-) 1029) Do you mean a 3/4" long screw into the block from each end of the hole, since it appears to me that there are actually four holes, but both ends of each are visible in the surface. (Plus another four holes in the bottom which was not mentioned.)

At a guess, it is some kind of counterbalance weight which can be tuned by removing screws and replacing them with shorter or longer ones -- or even trapping lead shot between the ends of two screws coming into the same hole from both ends.

1030) Some form of wheel-lock pistol -- in which the disk rotating runs hardened steel past flint to make sparks to light off the powder?

Or maybe some form of shot or powder dispenser. I think that it is firearms related in any case.

Now to see what others think.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Steve R.]

1025: Spoke wrench. The steps allow it to fit several different sizes.

1028: Orrery, named after Lord Orrery, who owned the first one.

1030: Repeating muff pistol, or palm pistol.

[Steve R.]

It is indeed! I have one in my tool box. I trued, and laced quite a few motorcycle wheels with it.

Steve R. (once a Harley wrench)

[R.H.]

It's metal, several people got the answer - motorcycle spoke wrench.

Pete got this one right, it's a cable grip for pulling cable through conduit. Each of the bottom holes are connected to two holes on the side, so the cable goes in the bottom and the screws are then tightened to secure it.

Rob

[Kerry Montgomery]

R, By the rules, that'd have to be:

128. bigassorrery Kerry

[Bruce]

1030 is a "Chicago Firearms Company "Protector", commonly called a "palm pistol". With approximately 70% original finish and in good mechanical condition it wold be worth between 2500 and 3000 dollars.

Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)

[Scott Lurndal]

Strangely enough, this plane is designed to create a trough lengthwise in a piece of stock with a semicircular profile.

Stanley #57. See more here:

Note the first description line of the #56 :-)

scott

[DoN. Nichols]

According to Scott Lurndal :

Interesting -- and following your web site link I see how it is used.

I like a lot of that fellow's writing. He has his tongue nicely in cheek. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.