Re: What is it? XCVII

[Canem]

557. Hoof gage used by farriers to measure hoof angle and determines the levelness of the foot. 561. Ground anchor for guy wires. 562. Maybe a pedometer?

[Carl G.]

Your description is similar to that of a game show called "Liar's Club", except that in "Liar's Club" three of four celebrities provided incorrect answers. Also, it wasn't produced a LONG time ago. It was produced in

1969, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1988. The host in 1969 was Rod Serling. Other hosts were Bill Armstrong (1976-1977), Allen Ludden (1977-1978), and Eric Boardman (1988-1989).

Carl G.

[Unknown]

Try this URL...

[Barbara Bailey]

"Liar's Club" As I recall, Larry Hovis was one of the regulars on the panel and was quite good at coming up with plausible (but false) identifications.

[else24]

"557. Hoof gage used by farriers to measure hoof angle and determines the levelness of the foot. " The shape of it made me think it was a farrier's tool but I couldn't figure out what it did.

Sure seems like 558 is also a farrier's tool, for digging stuff out of the hoof, prepping it for the new shoe.

[Susan]

Thats it - was a good show. I only remember the original, and 1969 was a long time ago - at least in terms of how I look today v the 60s :-)

Thanks for the help.

Susan

[Oleg Lego]

The R.H. entity posted thusly:

close to any ice auger I have ever seen, and I've seen quite a number of them.

A search for "ice auger" in Google Images will show you what an ice auger looks like... the main feature being 'threads' that go most of the way up the shaft.

[Jeff R]

Could there be a distinction between an ice auger which drills a hole, and an ice anchor auger, which provides an anchor in the ice?

[Oleg Lego]

The Jeff R entity posted thusly:

I suppose there could be, though a Google Images search doesn't show anything like that for "ice anchor".

I'll have to see if I can find my earth anchors in the barn. I haven't used them for a long time, and I'm not sure if they are single or double flute. Nor do I know if it makes a difference in what they are called.

[R.H.]

I agree that it doesn't look like a modern ice auger, but this tool appears to be quite old and I figured that they were made much simpler years ago. Have you seen many of them as old as this one?

It looks like it could be used for either purpose, but I'm leaning towards ice auger mostly because of the angle of the blades, the fact that there are two of them, and it seems to me that it would would work well for shaving ice.

I haven't been able to find any other tools yet that look like this one, but I'll do a little more research this weekend.

Rob

[Barbara Bailey]

I've got two in my hand that I just grabbed out of our camping gear. One's single blade, with the blade forming one single full twist; the other is a double blade, with each blade forming about a 4/7th twist.

Barb

[Wood Butcher]

The shaft doesn't appear robust enough to transmit the torque required for an ice auger. I'm inclined to agree with the earth auger hypothesis.

Art

[DoN. Nichols]

According to Wood Butcher :

And the ring at the top does not look either strong enough, or shaped properly to allow use as an anchor. It is too sharp-edged to not cut through the rope attached to it.

I believe that shape is correct for a wooden T-handle fitted through it to allow two people to march around the hole which is being drilled.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Joe Barta]

It's an earth auger ANCHOR...

a rod into the hole, crank it into the ground, remove the rod and anchor something down to it... like a tent.

Joe Barta

[DoN. Nichols]

Look at the eyes on the ones which your link leads to, and compare it to the one on the puzzle photo. That puzzle photo one is

*only* designed to accept a wooden rod as a T-handle, not to serve as a tie-down eye.

I still say post-hole digger.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Wood Butcher]

Yeah, that's what I meant to type.

Art

[Gunner]

Or a mobile home..often used in earthquake country

Gunner

The aim of untold millions is to be free to do exactly as they choose and for someone else to pay when things go wrong.

In the past few decades, a peculiar and distinctive psychology has emerged in England. Gone are the civility, sturdy independence, and admirable stoicism that carried the English through the war years . It has been replaced by a constant whine of excuses, complaints, and special pleading. The collapse of the British character has been as swift and complete as the collapse of British power.

Theodore Dalrymple,

[R.H.]

I thought that there still might be a chance of it being an ice auger since that's what it was marked and the seller ususally has all of his tool tagged correctly, but after checking with some ice fishermen who all agreed that it was not one, I've changed the answer on my page to either an earth anchor or a post hole digger.

Since no one is guessing on number 558 I'll go ahead and give the answer, it's a broom hammer. The use of one is briefly mentioned on this page:

[Norman D. Crow]

Don't know about earthquake country, but in our area of Western NY, if you live in a mobile home, it MUST be anchored. Law came out back in '70s, I think. That's when trailer parks started putting tie-downs cast right in the parking pads.

[Joe Barta]

I see what you mean, but I disagree.

I think if it were a post hole digger it would likely NOT have a removable handle and the handle-neck juncture would probably be a little beefier to hold up to years of use.

Our mystery auger seems to be made somewhat cheaply... which is exactly what you'd expect with something that will see limited use and will need to be bought in quantity.

I still think it's an earth auger anchor... we'll have to agree to disagree.

Joe Barta