What is it? Set 240

[Rob H.]

This week's set has been posted:

[Alexander Thesoso]

1351 Strange machine... Parts are robust, other parts flimsy and badly designed. Whatever goes in the box must be soft and light or the machine will destroy itself.

1352 Capstan. Was it moved? Or were the skylights installed after it was no-longer used?

1353 Gauge... perhaps for rope? In keeping with the ship theme of the previous pictures.

1356 12" long... really? The first is primarily a gauge, also used as a hammer. The second is a hammer, marked as a convenience crude ruler.

[Ed Huntress]

1352 -- capstan (Sometimes incorrectly called "capstan winch." If it's vertical, technically it's a capstan.)

-- Ed Huntress

[Paul K. Dickman]

1355 is an engraver's peg clamp. It is used to hold small (usually flat) pieces for engraving.

Paul K. Dickman

[spamTHISbrp]

1351- well, lets wsee what one can see...

Power goes in on the upper shaft, drives a wooden cam with roller followers that looks like it moves a shuttle back-and-forth in the bottom of the box, the mainshaft spins the pegs in the box, and also drives a cam on the end of the mainshaft that operates a sliding-door or cutter on the unobservable end of the box.

I'd guess its for measuring out consistent portions of grain or seed.

Dave

[Winston]

[Paul K. Dickman]

> --Winston

Geez! The price has gone up. When I bought mine, I complained about the $7.99 price tag.

Paul K. Dickman

[Winston]

25 smackers? Woof!

[RicodJour]

[Rob H.]

It's a patent model, the full size machine would have metal blades attached to the shaft in the box.

Apparently it still can be used where it's located now.

Good catch, I changed it to 14", I couldn't find my notes on this hammer and just made a guess.

Rob

[DoN. Nichols]

announcement now. I think that it was the gmail address which was doing it.

Anyway -- posting from Rec.crafts.metalworking as usual.

1351) Interesting thing. I think that it was for sorting grain, beans or perhaps gravel. Two vertical shafts. One rotates a multi-tined stirrer, and the other shakes something at the bottom -- which I think is a screen selected to allow smaller parts through and keep larger ones up top.

It also seems to have two cams at the left-hand end, which operate something else to assist the sorting. I would like a view from that end to see what the cams do.

Input power is through the gear on the right-hand end, and there seems to be other things missing which carry the power source.

1352) Very obviously a capstan -- used for pulling on long ropes or chains for either raising the anchor or for pulling up to a dock under certain conditions. Could also be used for raising sail under really awkward conditions.

Sailors stick square-ended wooden shafts into the square holes around the top (called "pigeon holes") and walk around it (often two to a shaft for the heavier loads). What is not clear from the photos is that it has a ratchet assembly at the bottom to keep it from moving backwards at a sudden increase of load and tossing the sailors around the deck.

The line (or chain) is wrapped a few turns around the waist and then more sailors pull on it (tailing) to keep it tight around the barrel of the capstan.

And they were more often used on sailing ships such as the one shown in the second photo, because for steam powered ships there was the ability to take power from the engines for this task.

There was another style in which the barrel was horizontal, and the sailors would stick the bars in the pigeon holes from on top of a platform and then jump over the capstan letting their weight turn it.

1353) Hmm ... for measuring something. It could be used for measuring the end of a cut-off rope, or for measuring fairly large sized bolts. It covers too wide a range to be likely to be used for sizing eggs. 1354) Hmm ... a bit small to be what it first looks like (before seeing the underside) -- a cleat for attaching and tying off a rope.

So -- looking at the top which appears to have deformed from many hammer blows, I think that it is intended to drive something into place or to flatten something.

1355) Unless you have reversed the photo for artistic purposes, the thumbscrew appears to have a left-hand thread. This suggests that the thumbscrew is turned to draw the moving part guided by the two smooth rods upwards towards the screw.

I think that it is intended to squeeze some form of foodstuff through the holes sort of like a garlic press or a potato ricer. Given the size, perhaps it is a garlic press.

1356) Hmm ... the first one appears to be used to measure hole diameters or spacings between two surfaces.

The second one could perhaps be used for the latter, but not the former given the expanded diameter faces on each end.

I'm not sure why they are formatted as hammers, unless they are used to tap something into position and measure that position with the same tool, leaving another tool to lock them in place.

Now off to see what others have guessed.

Enjoy, DoN.

[Andrew Erickson]

Machine." What it does, beyond have an eccentric that moves a strap back and forth and another that makes a pin go up and down and a bunch of pegs that spin in a box, I have no idea.

1352 - Capstan, probably used to raise the anchor and maybe for other uses. 1353 - Maybe a standard for measuring bullets or balls for guns. 1354 - It's a cast thingamabober; my first thought is a cleat to tie a rope off on, but there doesn't seem to be an obvious sufficiently strong mount for that use. 1355 - Watchmaker's and/or Carver's pin vice; metal pins get inserted into whatever of the holes are convenient for the object being worked on, and then the thumbscrew tightened to clamp around it. Thus, this is essentially a way of attaching a handle to some otherwise hard to manipulate item. (It appears the handle part could also be removable, probably to allow the vice part to be mounted solidly, such as by clamping it in a machinist's vice or attaching it to a workbench.) 1356 - Bore gauge. What you'd use it to gauge is not entirely clear; it's too small diameter for engine cylinders, so maybe pipe or tube inside diameters? Maybe wood thicknesses and dowel hole sizes?

The second appears to be a tack or similar hammer with a rough scale engraved on the head; perhaps for upholsterers to space tacks appropriately.

Now to read other ideas...

[charlieb]

1352 is a windlass. handles go in recangular holes, man on the end of each, line wrapped around the bottom and used to pull things like sails

1355 - jewelry engrave/ stone setter vise. Notched pins fit in three, four or more holes and vise tightened to grip the edge of sheet silver or gold

[Michael Koblic]

1351) Is this a model of a threshing machine? The rods in the compartment do the threshing. The second gear seems to operate a cam shaft which moves ?sieve under the compartment 1352) Capstan. 'Nuff said. 1353) A device to determine a correct size of old British coinage. The sizes would fit for a half-crown, two-shilling, one-shilling piece, a sixpence, three-pence, penny and a half-penny. Or a farthing...Presumably an undersize coin will pass through the opening and is rejected. 1355) Jewellers hand vise (pin vise) 1356) Something to do with sizing rings?

[Rob H.]

This machine is not for processing any type of grain or plant material.

I thought that this might turn out to be the answer until I sent it to the owner, and he replied:

"Only the half-farthing and the florin fitted the holes, all the others were way too big (or small) to make any sense."

Rob

[Kevin(Bluey)]

First Item I reckon is a hand cranked washing machine .