What is it? CXXVII

[R.H.]

Another set of photos has just been posted:

[kfvorwerk]

739. A gauge to measure the foot width of the foot for sizing shoes? Good set this week. Karl

R.H. wrote:

[Leo Lichtman]

739. A gauge to measure the foot width of the foot for sizing shoes? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That seems plausible, but why would you have a double scale, with an offset? Also, did you notice that the offset changes as you move down the scale?

738 appears to be a tool for spreading piston rings for installation.

740 looks like it would be for grating or hulling some agricultural product.

[Leon]

Mens and womens sized. A womans C width is not as wide as a mans C width.

[Barbara Bailey]

Men's sizes and women's sizes would account for it. When I was younger, and wore a 7 womens, I could wear a 5 mens. Now that I wear an 11 women's, I have to wear 9 1/2 or 10 in men's.

[R.H.]

The gauge was not made to measure feet or shoes, though it was used on something common. Most people reading this probably own some of the objects it was meant to measure.

Rob

[Leon]

Head/Hat sizing tool?

[R.H.]

Nope, it's not for measuring any body parts nor is it clothing related.

Rob

[R.H.]

Partial credit for this one, and also for Rich and DoN for their similar answers. It was used for processing an agricultural product, though a specific one that hasn't been guessed yet.

Rob

[DoN. Nichols]

According to R.H. :

[ ... ]

How about tire widths? IIRC, they used to be coded with letters for the width, before the switch to mm for the width.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Ben]

HATS ?

R.H. wrote:

[R.H.]

This answer is correct. The top line is marked "size scale of tire", the lower line "load scale on ground".

Rob

[Leon]

How Bizarre. I was in the tire business in the 70's and in particular during the time when the tire was being switched over to the Letter and aspect ratio sizing and later to the Metric and aspect ration sizing.. I never saw or heard of that tool. Very interesting, I could easily see how it would work.

[R.H.]

Correct, it's a corn sheller.

Rob

[R.H.]

It's a Goodrich Tire Caliper Gauge, so maybe it was something that only Goodrich used. I've also never seen any others like it.

Rob

[Leon]

LOL, I worked for BF Goodrich also. We sold posters of the Goodrich Blimp. The poster had an empty cloudy sky on it.

[Mark & Juanita]

Maybe those calipers were being carried in the blimp. ;-)

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Bart Byers]

I thought it might be for measuring baseball games or symphonies because it was divided into ninths. I wonder how that applies to tires.

[Leon]

Yeeeears ago, in the years leading up to about 1972. a very common sized tire was an 8.25-14. Meaning the tire was approximately 8.25" wide depending on the manufacturer and fit on a 14" wheel. The sizes typically went from, 5.60-15 for the Beetle, to 6.00, 6.50, 7.00 7.35, 7,75, 8.25.

8.55, 8.85, 9.00, 9.15 . This gave way to the tire sizes that included the letter and the aspect ratio. The 8.25-14 became a G78-14, 8.55-14 became a H78-14, 9.15-15 became an L78-15. That last larger sized tire was common on large Continentals and Cadillacs. Later the P metric sizing for passenger car tires was introduced in around 1977. The G78-15 became the P215-75-R15. The P indicated a passenger car rated tire, the 215 indicated that the tread was 215 mm wide and the side wall was 75% in height, as the width of the tread, the R stood for Radial and again the 15 was how many inches tall the wheel was. With those numbers you can determine how tall the tire is. Side wall width 75% of 215 mm X 2 + 15". 27-3/8" tall.

As for the gauge, I guess it was used so that the tire salesman did not have to memorize the conversion when replacing an old 8.25-14 tire with the newer standard of tire measurement. The gauge would have measured a G on its scale for tire width.

[Smaug Ichorfang]

"Leon" wrote in news:yVaDg.272$ [e-mail]:

And big trucks and trailers (like semis) used even bigger - 10.00x20; a ten hundred-twenty. The tread was 10 inches wide and the rim was 20 inches in diameter. God, I've busted *so* many of those down by hand - split rims - using unly a wedge hammer and a pair of irons. I'm glad the industry finally got away from those and the split rim 16.5" wheels. I've seen retainers for spit rims come off under pressure and do amazing damage. I ALWAYS used a safety cage. Sorry....got away from woodworking for a second there, I'm back now.