What is it? Set 312

[Rob H.]

This week I need some help figuring out what the small metal cart is for:

[LDosser]

1763 - heat sink 1785 - press for making campaign or similar tin buttons 1787 - I'd use it for cutting out vines such as blackberries

[Michael Kenefick]

1783 Meat Tenderizer 1785 Bearing Press 1787 Fireman's Axe

Rob H. wrote:

[Kevin(Bluey)]

1783 stone masons texturing chisel for decrorative texturing of stone ?

1785 is a fly press the arm with the wieghts on the end is spun and the main spindle of the press screws downward ,can be used for stamping thin metal into shape or pressing bushes into other parts.

1787 possibly a climbers' icepick

[dpb]

Sometimes pictures just aren't enough or there aren't enough pictures but--looks like a version of a dry sink to me w/o the ability to study "up close and personal"

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[Rob H.]

Sounds like this is probably correct, the cart was found in a cabin that someone had just purchased.

Thanks, Rob

[Dave Balderstone]

Some sort of food service, perhaps.

Sausages! Inna bun! Made from genuine pig!

[Lee Michaels]

ceilings, etc. A handle attaches to the head.

[Rob H.]

I mentioned this to the owner and here is their reply:

"We considered a dry sink, but it has a broad handle over the top, right where you'd need to put the bowl. Even if it was a miniature salesman's sample of a dry sink, it's not at all sturdy, and the shelf inside is light-weight too, and only half-width. Most dry-sinks had a drain hole, and this doesn't--the top recessed part is galvanized metal with soldered inside edges."

I think that dry sink is still a possible answer, but we'll see if anyone else comes up with a better solution.

Rob

[dpb]

I think one would need to be able to do such hands-on inspection unless just happened to have seen another specific sample elsewhere. Sometimes you just can't see what the clues are from a couple of photographs; you have to be able to look at wear indications, fiddle with stuff and so on--all give clues and may lead to the "ah-ha" moment...

My other thought was it possibly could have been a display cabinet of some sort...

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[Andrew Erickson]

or possibly for chipping/crumbling away a hard material. I'll guess at random and say it's for preparing plaster walls and ceilings for repair or ornamentation.

1784 - Critter trap of some sort, possibly triggered by a string or wire that extends through the notch on the edge (seen in the open photo)...in which case the metal piece might be a bait holder or similar. 1785 - Manual shop press/punch, operated by the momentum of the balls at the top (that are spun by hand). Used for any number of purposes for which a smallish shop press would be handy. 1786 - Possibly a portable cookstove, heated by a burner in the lower glass compartment? The cart part would, of course, be simply to permit it to be wheeled about the home or camp more easily--to the breakfast room for breakfast, to the parlor for tea.... 1787 - Since I have no idea what this hand tool is, I'm forced to fall back on the guess that it's a fence wire tightener. If so, that would explain the broken wooden part of the handle. 1788 - Jar with two lids at two opposite poles; handy for storing stuff that you want to get at from both ends. I do admit I rarely need to keep things that way, nor can offhand think of any time it would be especially useful, but still....

Now to see if other people have any clearer ideas than I do.

[Northe]

1785: It looks like a small screw-type coining press to me. The heavy weights at the end of the bars allow the operator to build up momentum to make sure there's plenty of force on the dies.

1786: The trays make this unit look like an old medical steam sterilizer.

Northe

[LdB]

1788. Bottomless pickle jar. If you can't reach'em from one end, you can get' em from the other.

LdB

[RicodJour]

1786. The small cart is probably for a doctor, nurse or barber. It has a decidedly medical flavor to it. The lower cabinet could hold a lamp or candle which would keep the water in the upper basin at a good temperature, the little attachment boxes are hung off the top for easy accessibility and easy to rearrange to suit the individual's needs.

If I had to pick one, because of the wheels and the lower height, I'd guess it was wheeled about by a nurse or orderly and used to change dressings in a hospital most likely at night. The lower glass cabinet, with perforated doors allowing air for combustion, would also shed light at a lower level so it wouldn't disturb the other patients with light shining in their eyes.

R

[paul_bilodeau1]

#1783 appears to have been hammered on. Could this be a clue that this tool is used to cut grooves in a file blank?

#1785 is a flypress

#1787 Maybe a pike used in the logging industry? Mounted on the end of a pole to reach out and push or pull logs floating down the river?

Paul

[Nova]

I was thinking more along the lines of a logging pike used when floating logs down a river.

[Steve W.]

1783 - One STRANGE punch

1784 -

1785 - Screw style arbor press.

1786 -

1787 - OLD pike pole tip? Used to extend the reach of a firefighter.

1788 - Bottle for people who don't know which way to go?

[whit3rd]

1783: a scaler (to remove scale from iron castings); basically a cleaning chisel.

1785: a coining press; give the balls a spin, and if the RPMs are right, the coins all come out with the right depth of indentation when the motion stops.

1786: ?some kind of dessert cart? Bins for sprinkles and sauces, the main case is to keep flies off the banana split...

[Larry]

"Rob H." wrote in news: [e-mail]:

1784-How about a coffin for Daffy Duck?

[Bill]

How about a container for a certain size of lead shot /(buck shot)?