What is it? Set 513

[Rob H.]

I need some help with numbers 2991 and 2992 in this week's set:

Larger images:

Rob

[J Burns]

2989: Washington called. He wants his 700-gallon still back. He wants the domed lid, too

[Mark Brader]

Rob H.:

2989 - vat for brewing beer. 2994 - furnace fire grate.

[Stormin Mormon]

2989, crock pot used by midgit canibals. 2990, totally no clue. 2991, gage for measuring V belts? 2992, maybe some kind of crop harvester? 2993, some kind of punch, but no information beyond that. 2994, fireplace grate?

. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

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[Glenn B]

Yep 2991 is for measuring belt sizes.

[Paul K. Dickman]

2989 is a common form of cauldron made by coppersmiths up until the 20th century. It could have been used for anything from dying cloth to rendering whale blubber.

I think 2991 is for measuring o-rings.

Paul K. Dickman

[Erik]

2992: I've seen similar devices used for pulling stakes... like those anchoring circus tents and all that. But 2992 doesn't seem beefy enough for them.

Pretty sure it's used to pull something out of the ground....

Erik

[Snag]

I think it's used to form furrows in a garden . -- Snag

[Rob H.]

These are both correct.

[Rob H.]

This seems to be the consensus answer but I haven't yet found one like it on the web.

[Rob H.]

I was thinking it might be a weeder but that's just a guess.

[Steve W.]

At only 5" long they would be some short belts. Maybe for sewing machines?

[Rob H.]

The text on the tool appears to say Stoco, the only reference that I could find to this company is this lathe on ebay, looks like it might use small belts:

[William Bagwell]

Weeder for expansion joints in concrete would be my guess. My wife may have a better guess. Tool to *form* the expansion joint while the concrete is still wet.

[William Bagwell]

Made me think of Claude Cooper for some strange reason...

[DoN. Nichols]

O.K. Posting from the usenet newsgroup rec.crafts.metalworking as always. Where are the rest of you posting from -- there are three in the cross-posting list above.

2989) Hmm ... I would be interested to see photos of the interior of the cauldron.

If it is bare copper, then I would suggest that was is for handling large batches of laundry -- in pre washing-machine days.

Hmm ... also perhaps from an old whaling ship, used for rendering the blubber into whale oil. A cast-iron one would both weigh too much to be practical on shipboard, and be too vulnerable from rusting from the salt spray.

However, if it has been coated on the inside with tin, it could be likely be for large scale food preparation. (Perhaps for cooking two or three missionaries at a time? :-)

The port in the dark area near the bottom is interesting, but given the size, you can't just tip it over to empty it. :-) And if it is for rendering whale oil, it would give an easy way to decant it into barrels for storage -- with some form of valve to turn on and off the flow.

What is that warning to the bottom right of the image? A "Do not clean"?

2990) This is rather large for the purpose, but it is somewhat like the mounting bracket for floor lamp shades. 2991) A tool for measuring the inside diameter of a loop of some flexible material, such as perhaps an automotive V-belt.

Put the round "puck" inside the belt, squeeze the handle and the plunger together, and read the belt size from the scale on the shank.

Hmm ... markings from 36 to 44 -- obviously not inches. With about 5" of length, perhaps something close to 1" diameter for the closed puck, or 25.4 mm -- so make it 25mm, and the scale does not start until the marker on the shank has moved about the equivalent of one unit or a bit less. So -- if that "36" is mm, then fully closed it is something like 35mm diameter, which would call for a diameter of about 11mm which is a lot too small based on the rest of the image, so the units are not mm.

Maybe make it tenths of an inch, so a fully closed 1" diameter would be just a bit over 31 tenths, or 3.1" So -- lacking other units to work with, let's call it tenths of an inch. And the belts are perhaps a reasonable size for drive belts in cassette tape recorders (but they are a bit too new for this), or perhaps for measuring O-ring sizes.

Maybe for measuring the size of bracelets in a jeweler's store.

2992) Looks like a tool for cutting off plants close to the ground.

Perhaps for harvesting heads of lettuce or something similar.

A bit flimsy for many other tasks.

2993) For puncturing curved metal straps, perhaps prior to attaching via screws to more straps, or to allow setting it up to lock at a particular sized loop -- perhaps for hanging pipes from rafters.

2994) Hmm ... could be for lying in state of a high-ranking child who has died. An appropriate mattress would be fitted inside, and ceremonial lamps at the near corners filled with oil and lighted.

Now to post and then see what others have said.

Enjoy, DoN.

[J Burns]

Stoco in Switzerland has been in business 50 years.

"Our mission: Offer you, thanks to our know-how recognized as well as our capacity for innovation solutions in the fields of Assembly of high precision. "

It looks as if the tool would measure o-rings 38-44mm in diameter.

[J Burns]

It appears that the scale increments are about 1/16", so it would measure the belt in increments of 1/8".

If the scale is for o-ring diameters, it comes out nicely to increments of 1mm.

[Stormin Mormon]

Just the facts, man.

. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

.

[Gary A. Gorgen]

2990: Removable hanger bar, for a bell cart. Used in hotels.