What is it? Set 247

[Rob H.]

A new set has been posted:

[Alexander Thesoso]

1393 Planimeter. Tool to measure area on a drawing or plane surface.

[Howard Garner]

only one item this week

1397 - weights for beam scales (Fairbanks was a major scale manufacturer)

[Lee Michaels]

1394) Used to cut grass or some kind of agricultural plant?? 1395) I have actually seen one of these, but I can not remember what it was for. I am guessing that it provides protection for a lantern of some kind.

[dpb]

Rob H. wrote: ...

Whichever number the picture is, the balls are decorative balls from lightning rods.

Somebody else got the scale weights and the planimeter already.

The leg-mounted blade (assuming the lower edge is actually sharp) is a new one to me...I've no real idea what it was actually intended for.

The long fork is part of a hayrake (the part that travelled the rail in a barn).

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[Leo Lichtman]

1395--A cup holder for a carriage. Some of you young whippersnappers may not realize that, in those days, accessories like this did not come standard.

[Nahmie]

1397 - The Fairbanks 50lb weight is for testing elevators. This one I'm sure of, as I remember seeing a truckjload of them once when they were doing an elevator inspection where I worked, saw them hauling them in & out.

The rest of them - "damfino"!

[Richard Evans]

some place that tells what the things are? Maybe I'm overlooking it.

[DoN. Nichols]

1393) A planimiter. You place the cylindrical device with the pin on top somewhere outside the border of a drawing, set the drum reading to zero, and then trace the outline of a significant part of the drawing with the pin on the arm with the knurled grip above it.

When you complete the circuit of the drawing you will have a reading showing how many square inches are enclosed.

The table above the hinge shows conversion factors for different scales of drawings or maps.

I have one made by Bowen & Co. Bethesda MD for the U.S.C.E. The difference is that mine has the pivot point and the counter slide along the beam leading to the tracing point, offering scales from 4.0:1 up to 19.0:1 and with a vernier reading to 0.01 units.

It also has a calibrator -- a brass disc with a cork bottom and three tiny pin points sticking out of the cork, and an arm with a dimple in which the tracing point rests halfway out the arm. At the end of the arm is an index line, so you can be sure when you have rotated it a full 360 degrees. Markings on the disc show that with a scale factor of 4.0 you should read 20 square inches.

O.K. According to a site found by Google:

USCE apparently referred to:

United States Army Corps of Engineers (usually seen as USACOE or COE)

1394) Hmm ... not certain, but I suspect that it is for cutting brush by stomping it down to give a little more clearance for whatever you are trying to do in the brush. 1395) Looks like a protector set up around young trees in city sidewalks. It looks as though there is now way to open it -- so it is either slipped over the tree when very young, or riveted in place.

It looks as though it once had feet which have been cut or torn off.

1396) Same on both bottom and top? This suggests that a line of some form passes fully through each one. Given the size, I suspect that they were decorative bulges on table lamps. 1397) Obviously for weighing something quite heavy -- perhaps for weighing vehicles? I expect something like a 20:1 ratio or even a 100:1 ratio -- so that would allow the single 50 pound weight to counterbalance somewhere between 1000 pounds and 5000 pounds.

The 100:1 would require two lever sets to get sufficient reduction with a short enough beam.

1398) Strange beastie. My guess is that the device is lifted by the rod nearest the chain once it has weight on the tines.

Now to see what others have guessed.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Jesse]

1394: I think this is a corn knife to cut down corn 1396: Lightning rod balls

1397: Weight to calibrate scales (Used by weights and measures)

[Mike in Arkansas]

1393 is a planometer. A mechanical devise for calculating area. Actually identified some of these that a shop had on Portabello Road in London. He had several but had no idea what they were. I used to have one at work but someone ripped it off because it was so outstandingly cool.

[dpb]

Nahmie wrote: ...

Maybe the used them there, but that certainly isn't the only place. Those (and larger) are used in many industrial scales (truck scales being one of the most common, of course) and testing of same as well.

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[Rob H.]

You haven't overlooked it, answers for the current set will be posted tomorrow afternoon, all previous sets have a link to the answer page a little ways down from the last numbered photo in the set. I'll also post a link to the answers here in the newsgroups tomorrow. So far they've all been answered correctly except for number 1395.

Rob

[Richard Evans]

You might consider closing up some of that trailing white space. I got as far as the "submit photos..." line and thought that's all there was.

[Rob H.]

I forgot that the second type of weight has also not been answered yet, the first weight was correctly identified as most commonly used for calibrating scales, though they were also used for various other purposes.

Rob

[Lee Michaels]

Actually Rob is very diabolical and he just does this to tease us...

No, not really. He posts the answers a couple days later.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

[Matthew T. Russotto]

1394: A boot attachment for cutting through tangles of low vines (kudzu, maybe?) 1395: A stent for Godzilla 1396: Christmas deocrations. 1397: Used with a balance for weighing things 1398: It's a flork.

[Terry Johnson]

1394 is for cutting sugar cane. Or at least, that's what I use it for. heh.

[John Martin]

On Aug 28, 7:31=A0pm, "Rob H." wrote: . =A0 So far they've all

1395: The correct name escapes me, but it does look like the cooper's tool that was used to contain a fire made inside a finished barrel.

John Martin

[Gerald Miller]

I think that these are horse weights. A strap from the bridle is connected to the weight which is then placed on the ground. the horse is free to move, but when it feels the pull from the weight, it will move to reduce the tension in the strap. Only useful on well trained horses. Gerry :-)} London, Canada