What is it? Set 526

[DoN. Nichols]

No need for something running as slow as a brace-and-bit driven one -- and easier to adjust for size if you are making a single cutout at a time -- like to clear a piston/cylinder in a head gasket. (In a drill press, you would want two cutters at the same radius to minimize off-center weight vibration.)

Now -- with two cutters, you have two choices:

1) For a single hole -- either carefully adjust both cutters to the same radius from the pivot point, or remove one of the cutters. (If the latter was done with the one in the puzzle, it might have been lost over the years. 2) For making a ring gasket -- adjust one for the OD and the other for the ID. Probably best done with them on opposited sides of the pilot. Two cuts at the same time.

Enjoy, DoN.

[J Burns]

The euchre boards have smaller holes, and they didn't go to the trouble of laminating the wood.

Here's a caddy for 1/4" bits.

The owner bought it because it provides a tight fit. It also looks more stable than most bit caddies.

I hate knocking over a caddy and having the bits fall out. If a 1/4" bit fits snugly in the holes of the mystery item, I wonder if that could be the purpose. The owner of a craft shop found a source of metal fittings that would fit a 1/4" bit snugly, and he made stable laminated caddies for farmers who hated having bits fall out of caddies! Well... maybe...

[DoN. Nichols]

Well ... the engraving in it looks like typical scrimshaw engraving. (especially the bands at the ends of the ivory). Not sure whether that is whale tooth ivory or elephant ivory, however.

If the round dots are copper, then it is work of the Copper Eskimos. They tended to decorate their scrimshaw with embedded copper.

If scrimshaw, it could be intended to be purely decorative, rather than functional.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Bill]

Here is a link to a "track board" -- 120 or 121 holes for each player:

Here is one of the other sort:: 60 holes for each player--you make 2 "laps" (go around twice):

Two pegs are used for each player in normal scoring because SOME PEOPLE (everyone) has a really tough time remembering exactly where the peg WAS, AFTER they have removed it from the board. With two pegs, one merely removes the back peg and advances it the appropriate number of places ahead of the peg that is in front. The peg that was in front now becomes the back peg. This helps to keep the game more civil! I think using two pegs makes sense for keeping track of the number of games won for the sdame reason. Some people take their Cribbage seriously (I had a friend who did)! It's a nice social game.

Bill

[Stanley Daniel de Liver]

[]

But Dominoes is (are?) violent.

[Rob H.]

Thanks for the link, I had the wrong impression of a what a track board looked like and was searching for something else.

That's makes sense, I guess you can tell that I've never played Cribbage.

[J Burns]

I haven't seen any game boards with such big holes, with metal inserts, or with laminated wood.

A female shopper sees a nicely finished piece of laminated wood with bright brass inserts. The sign says, "For the man who has everything." She asks what it's for. The shopkeeper inserts some 1/4" screwdriver bits, inverts the board, and shows her that they won't fall out. She gladly pays top dollar because it's aesthetically pleasing, it's not mass produced, and it looks useful. The beat-up appearance shows that her husband liked it.

If I had the brainstorm to make such caddies, I'd buy laminated cutting boards to saw up. I'd buy a cribbage board as a guide for drilling. I'd enlarge the holes I intended to use, tape over the rest, and clamp it to my laminated board. Thus it has some resemblance to a cribbage board and to a cutting board.

[Rob H.]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I did a search on bit holders and didn't see any like the board in question. This page has some game boards with metal inserts:

As for the larger holes, maybe whoever made the board had some extra quarter inch metal inserts and wanted to use them. For now I'm sticking with the Euchre board theory until some evidence comes along that points in a different direction.

The rest of them have all been correctly identified this week:

I'm still not sure about the ice pick type item, with the tip broken off it's hard to say for certain what it was for. I'll pass along all of the suggestions to the owner.

Thanks everyone!

Rob

[Sonny]

Ivory handle needle hook? Broken tip? Looks similar to some wooden, plastic handled needle hooks.

Sonny

[Bill]

It looks like it could be a tool for a jeweler, for supportingrings.

Bill

[J Burns]

I've googled for game boards and haven't found any with two rows and an array at each end.

If it was made from a discarded cutting board, perhaps it was to avoid paying $556.69 for a 24-hole board that looks functionally the same.

That would explain the pattern of the mystery item. The single rows would be for larger routers.

The metal inserts may have been to protect the shanks from rusting after prolonged contact with possibly damp wood.