What is it? Set 276

[Rob H.]

I need some help with three of them this week, including the clamp and the iron shoes:

[Morris Dovey]

1567 Bung wrench 1569 Lab reagent bottle 1572 Steel fence post driver

[Chas]

The clamp is a chemical lab clamp for holding a flask or burette in a stand.

[Alexander Thesoso]

1569 I assume the "What is it?" refers to the materials involved, and the strange state of the bottle seeming to float. I also assume this isn't just a cheap trick, with the bottle glued to the back wall.

For the outside, high density fluid, I'd guess Carbon Tetrachloride. It is common, clear, and has a density of near 1.6. For the inside, low density fluid, I'd guess ethyl alchohol (everclear 190 proof), but it could be some (e.g. ethyl) ether, with a density under 0.8.

1572 Portable fence post driver. Strong person lifts it up and lets it fall, urging the fence post to move into mother earth. Used all over, but I usually see it when local crews are installing snow-fences in the fall.

[kfvorwerk]

1571. Iron Boots. exercise device. For leg extensions and such. Here's a couple links. This first link mentions them by the "Billard" brand name, Post #475155: links show some by other makers:

[K Ludger]

yep, a retort clamp.

[riverman]

Good guess....as long as both items are in a closed tank. However, the open top on the bottle poses some problems with evaporation of the alcohol. Also the ratio of the specific densities of the two liquids you name is 2:1, so the bottle should float at the midpoint if the bottle had no mass. Since it is floating only a tiny bit deeper than that, the bottle is either incredibly thin, the internal liquid is less dense than rubbing alcohol (the least dense liquid), or the external liquid has a density > that of carbon tet...or else it's suspended in latex.

--riverman

[Lee Michaels]

Ahh.., I know a couple of these.

1571. The old fashioned iron boot. A primitive weight training device. These used to be part of every barbell set sold by Joe Weider and Bob Hoffman back in the day. Along with kettlebell handles, etc. Very clumsy and hard to use. These were quickly discarded by almost everyone. You strap them onto your feet and try to do exercises with them. A bar goes through the holes and weights are then added. Very hard to use.

1572. Steel fence post driver. Most farmboys have had experience with these things.

Thasnk you Rob. I feel almost smart now. Or just old. :(

[James Askew]

[Rob H.]

Correct, though I was looking for a more old fashioned term for it.

Rob

[Rob H.]

1571. Iron Boots. exercise device. For leg extensions and such. Here's a couple links. This first link mentions them by the "Billard" brand name, Post #475155: links show some by other makers: those are great links.

Rob

[Rob H.]

Well, it's just supposed to be an ordinary photo of a bottle, the answer that I'm looking for is which particular category that it belongs to. The reason the image looks unusual is because it was shot while on a glass shelf in a case, there is another shelf just above it. Sorry for the confusing photo.

Rob

[Dave Balderstone]

1572: Fence post pounder?

[DoN. Nichols]

1567) Forge welded, so it is likely fairly old.

Is the bolt head on the left of the handle hex or square? It looks like hex, which would move it somewhat more recent in date of manufacture.

It looks as though it is intended to turn something with a pair of holes at a specific spacing. Something which requires a reasonable amount of torque, but not an extreme amount of torque, as the fork at the bottom would twist under those conditions.

1568) Chem lab clamp. Secured by another (right angle) clamp to a vertical rod, designed to hold a flask, or perhaps a condenser (glass still) at a presetable angle.

The meshing teeth on the tilt pivot say that it can only adjust in steps -- but it also won't slip under load.

1569) The photograph needs to be augmented by some others.

There is an out-of-focus line in the background which seems to align with a joint in the bottle.

This makes it uncertain whether this is one bottle, or the upper part is a bottle and the lower part is a reflection -- which stops at the top of the apparent liquid.

Perhaps the bottom is not empty, but really has an oil which would form a positive meniscus (the curve at the edges of the liquid) at the interface with water, which then adds some more height before terminating in a positive meniscus.

In any case, the bottle is missing a ground glass stopper.

I think that it was displayed as it is as a puzzle.

1570) What size is this?

At a first guess, assuming the size from the handle, I would think that it is to capture molten metal (thus the distance between the handle and the cup), and pour it into molds.

1571) Hmm ... I think that the relatively small surface area of the edge compared to the foot's area would make it work fairly well for walking on ice.

Or -- if cast iron -- perhaps they are for walking on still hot volcanic debris? While iron conducts heat, the big side holes might allow enough airflow to make them avoid cooking the wearer's feet.

1572) This is for driving poles into the ground. It is slid over the end of the pole, gripped from the side shown lifted and brought down on the end of the pole (closed end up) to transfer impact to the pole and drive it into the ground.

Now to see what others have said.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Dwayne]

1567 a tool for removing threaded caps maybe? 1568 I think this is for holding test tubes for positioning them over bunsen burners etc. 1569 a bottle? maybe for acids? 1570 looks like it could be a mini cupola maybe for casting gold or silver trinkets? 1571 tongue in cheek guess of torture device? 1572 for knocking in fence posts.

[Andrew Erickson]

1567 - This is a strange one. The forked end looks as though it's made for pushing, rather than turning like a wrench or holding like tongs. Maybe it's to guide the necks of bottles as they get filled by a machine or to position small crucibles or similar in an oven?

(If there were a hole through the fork, I'd say it's a stubby handle for something like a wagon or pullcart, but there's no hole there.)

1568 - The uninteresting portion of the rod looks to me as though it may fit a standard laboratory stand clamp, so I'm guessing this is to hold some sort of glassware over a burner. Presumably, it would be a medium-sized or large-sized beaker or flask of some sort, given the overall size. The one thumbnut allows the flask to be held at various angles, while the other adjusts the size/pressure of the jaws. The spring seems a tiny bit superfluous, but probably eases things to not have to hold the jaws open when operating the clamp. 1569 - Other than a slightly oddly shaped glass bottle, I'm not seeing too much here. Was the odd shape perhaps to allow it to fit unseen in the framework of an automobile or something, say to get liquor around during prohibition? 1570 - Not sure what precisely this would be used for, but it appears to either heat something over a fire or draw samples of a fluid from a drum or vat. 1571 - It would appear that a shaft would go under the instep, suggesting these may have been used as a treadle or pedal for some machine or vehicle. Being able to strap in would be helpful for, say, a foot throttle of a speedboat. 1572 - I think I actually know this one; it's a tool for pounding metal signposts or fenceposts into the ground. The open end goes over the top part of the post, and the tool is slid up a bit and yanked down to whack the post down. Often (OK, at least occasionally) seen in the hands of highway department workmen.

Now to read other guesses.

[Don Young]

Jim is definitely correct on that one. I have soldered many a pigtail splice using one of those. I once heard of someone making one out of copper and the solder dissolved the bottom out of it!

Don Young

[Jerry Wass]

[Dave Balderstone]

Does this tool come from grain farming country? It may be a scoop to take samples for grading when the grain (oats, wheat, barley) is being dumped from truck to elevator.

[David G. Nagel]

It looks to me more like a liquid sampling device such as used to check whiskey b y dipping it through a bung hole in a wooden barrel.

Dave Nagel