What is it? Set 339

[Rob H.]

As also mentioned on the web site, I'll be posting a couple days early next week.

[Alexander Thesoso]

1946 This looks like a common, well-worn, butcher block. (For people who have never seen a butcher cut up meat... this is the table he uses.)

1947 I'll guess this is the rag used to clean the lenses in a United States Light House Ship.

1949 Chamfering tool. Used in a brace to put a diagonal chamfer on the end of a cylindrical piece of wood.

1950 OK, I'll bite... What is special, or unusual about these sickles?

[pierre]

1945 is an insect trap, often designed to catch a specific species (with a pre-determined scent/bait), in order to determine whether that species is present in a certain area. I believe that these are for the Asian ash borers, an invasive species that is destroying all of the ash trees in the Midwest. 1946 looks like a stand-alone (and well-worn) butcher block, with end- grain facing up. Why it was varnished is unclear. 1949 could be a crayon or pencil sharpener, although I would say it is missing the "handle" or the part that would give the user some leverage in performing the sharpening operation. 1950 is a hand-held scythe, to cut a crop or hay. Whether it was designed for a specific crop, I don't know.

Pierre

[Alexander Thesoso]

1949 I was a bit wrong... this is a spoke pointer. About 1/3 of the way down.

[Markem]

Mark

[Michael Kenefick]

1945 Insect trap 1946 Butcher block 1947 used to record records for a light house 1948 still condenser 1949 metal funnel, where would it be used? Steam powered car refueling funnel? 1950 sickles, for hay, wheat or weeds.

Rob H. wrote:

[Rob H.]

This answer is correct although the last word in the acronym isn't ship.

Nothing really special about them, several people had mentioned to me that they look at the web site with their grade school aged kids, so I thought I'd post an easier item once in a while that they might be able to answer.

Rob

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

"Rob H." fired this volley in news:hu7tip0ri4 @news1.newsguy.com:

1946 is a well-worn butcher's block 1948 looks like an old and weird implementation of a sausage-stuffer 1950 is a pair of Sickles, or "hand scythes" for hand-harvesting grain or hay

LLoyd

[Lee Michaels]

of them growing up. I wanted to make one but never got around to it.

1950. On half of the symbols used on the old USSR flag. I am not sure if the russians still use it. Remember the old "hammer and sickle"? And the symbology/philosophy it represented?

[Steve W.]

1945 - Handy target?

1946 - Very well used kneading bench?

1947 - Something to do with an overhead projector?

1948 -

1949 - You didn't have the complete set available? Anyway it's a taper cutter for starting the process of cutting a tenon on the end of a piece of wood. This tool shapes the end so the cutter can start in the center and cut true.

1950 - Grass Sickles, Also used for cutting just about anything else where a hand sickle can be used. I use mine to cut the weeds on the back bank.

[Kerry Montgomery]

1945. An insect trap. Saw one of these that demonstrated how smart and adaptable some animals are - a spider had built a web across the opening! Kerrry

[J. Clarke]

FWIW, there's an extensive wikipedia entry on "hammer and sickle" that shows a number of flags and other emblems where it is still used.

[Carl G.]

1945. It looks like a larger version of the fruit fly trap in my orange tree. It catches those pesky flying squirrels (or moths). :-) If not a trap, perhaps it is a bat or bird habitat ("To the Bat-Tent Robin!"). 1946. A butcher table that slopes to allow the easy collection of blood and entrails? 1947. I need one of these. It is a surrender flag for the United States Lost Hope Society (U.S.L.H.S.). 1948. Oil lamp? My guess is that the container on the right is filled with oil. The oil flows through the horizontal tube to the nozzle on the left. The oil burns on the tip of the nozzle. 1949. Attaches to a brace. Used to make conical points on wooden cylinders. I think I saw one used on the "The Woodwright Shop". 1950. Mom and Pop-sickles. :-)

Carl G.

[WayneJ]

United States Light House Service. Responsible for light houses and lightships as well as some other aids to navigation. Became part of the Coast Guard sometime in the late '30s IIRC.

WayneJ

[Ed Huntress]

1945. 'Looks like a gypsy moth trap. But the tree looks like an ash, so it's probably for emerald ash borers.

[Rob H.]

Correct, it a trap for catching ash borers.

Yes, it's a butcher block, though I was thinking it was sloped on purpose. This is the first one that I've seen that didn't have a flat surface, but I'm not sure if normal wear and tear would cause that much loss of wood.

Rob

[Jerry - OHIO]

1946 is a well worn butchers block. My dad had a butcher shop when I was four years old. He would have me rub salt on it to clean it at night. That one has many years of use. I would love to have that one. Jerry

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

"Rob H." fired this volley in news: [e-mail]:

Rob I can certify from personal experience that they will, indeed, lose that much wood over 20-30 years of use.

LLoyd

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

[snip]

30" long? Those must be some mighty big insects!

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

Ya' can't fool me. That thing with the blue trap in it is called a tree.