What is it? Set 299

[Rob H.]

I've shown the second picture in this set to a lot of people but so far everyone has been stumped by it:

[kfvorwerk]

1708. Jaws of life. sailmakers palm.

[Northe]

1710: Some sort of dipstick (oil? kerosene? fuel?): major calibration in quarts, minor calibration in liquid ounces.

Northe

[Nahmie]

1710 - Looks to me like the measuring stick used in a bulk milk tank on a dairy farm. The pickup tank truck driver measures the depth of the milk so they know how many gallons, etc., then turns on the agitator to stir the cream in, then they take a small sample to be submitted to the lab @ the plant to test the fat content, etc., 1709 - I've also seen something very similar used for making or repairing harness or other heavy leather. Norm

[jimsim]

Used to pick up sugar cubes?

Jim

[jmartin957]

1707: Just a guess - a toaster.

John Martin

[Steve W.]

1705 - Likely a sugar cube lifter for use by "polite society" while serving tea. 1706 -

1707 - Some type of toaster? Or maybe used with a fireplace to cook something else.

1708 - Looks like a Genesis Patriot 5-40 rescue spreader tool,

1709 - Sail makers mitt.

1710 - Tank stick for a milk tank. The large numbers give you the depth of the milk. The smaller numbers tell you the amount of cream on top of the milk.

[Andrew Erickson]

1705 - Smallish grabber/pincher of some manner; this one would seem to be used for handling hot or otherwise somewhat dangerous items, rather than ease in handling big or heavy items. The jaws seem suited for pinching the sides of a (somewhat deformable?) item, rather than encircling something. Maybe it's intended to rearrange hot coals or similar? 1706 - Looks rather homemade, so it could be almost anything; perhaps it's intended to bale or bundle up something, like brush. Purely a wild guess. 1707 - Holder for a fireplace screen (in the sense of a panel to block unwanted excess heat when sitting near the fire, not in the sense of a spark arrestor). 1708 - Business end of the "jaws of life"? 1709 - Sailor's palm thimble, used with a curved needle when repairing sails. 1710 - Dipstick, possibly for a wine or other barrel holding 24 gallons.

Now to read other people's responses.

[Rob H.]

This is correct but I'm not sure that it's strictly for milk tanks.

Rob

[Rob H.]

Sugar cubes were mentioned in the patent although I guess they could be used on many different things, but the title of the patent mentions its use on something else that is very common.

Rob

[Rob H.]

You have the right idea but it wasn't used with bread.

Rob

[Steve W.]

Roasting meat?

[Rob H.]

Yes, it was marked "game bird roaster".

Rob

[DoN. Nichols]

1705) Hmm ... a bit small to be an unusual set of ice tongs. Perhaps something to reach in and grab a fuse/primer or the back of a cartridge case from a small cannon?

If it had three tongs instead of two, I would consider it to be for picking up balance weights by the knobs without transferring skin oils onto the metal to shift the weight a bit.

1706) Given the length, I would suggest that it was for winding up lengths fabric (36" width), or perhaps stair runner carpet/rug materials.

About 47" for the first wrap, and increasing with each subsequent wrap at a rate depending on the thickness.

1707) Perhaps for hanging a slab of meat in front of the fireplace to keep it warm? 1708) Serious strength hydraulic jaws for material handling. If the jaws had sharp edges where they close, I would consider them to be the "Jaws of life" for getting into a crushed vehicle to rescue the occupants. 1709) A sailmaker's "palm". The raised "volcano" with the set of smaller holes are for resting the back end of the needle to allow generating sufficient force to force the needle through several layers of canvas and likely some rope as well. 1710) A dipstick for determining the amount of some liquid in a tank. From the size, I think that it might be for fuel oil for home heating

Now to see what others have suggested, DoN.

[Steve R.]

1709 Sailmakers palm, I have one around here somewhere.

Steve R.

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

"DoN. Nichols" fired this volley in news: [e-mail]:

Not likely rope. Line, maybe, but not rope.

Rope, being made of steel, is a bit hard to sew.

LLoyd

[Ned Simmons]

Careful there, context is everything. The cord sewn around the perimeter of a sail is a bolt *rope*.

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

Ned Simmons fired this volley in news: [e-mail]:

I give...

LLoyd

[Steve W.]

Close. The original HEAVY Hurst tool was a spreader tool, Then Hurst got the idea of adding a cutter on the inside of the jaws to allow cutting. These were HEAVY all steel tools. (Want a set, I know of two setting in a garage collecting dust)

This particular tool is used to spread the doors/hinges/whatever to access the people inside. We also use them to move other items and general rescue use like you would use a bumper jack. These are MUCH lighter than the all steel units and also faster.

It would be accompanied by an O cutter (looks like a SHARP crab claw) which is also hydraulic. Those are used to cut just about anything, even the new boron steel used on some high dollar cars.