Rob H. fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@drn.newsguy.com:
No... that auger has a specific use not yet mentioned, and in the back of my head somewhere is the answer. I _know_ what it is, but have not dredged it back out, yet. Something tells me it has to do with cleaning out the touch holes in cannon.
Lloyd
Damn, I think you are right. I think we have seen this piece before.
Thanks for a lot of fun. It's a shame there are so many inventions no one knows what they are, any more.
How about this one.
I went to Thomas Edisons complex, now a museum. They have this huge machine there. And no one knows that it does or how it works. You would think someone would be able to figure that out.
He has millions of documents, and they have only gone through a portion of them.
Edison alone baffles them, more patents than any other person.
Is the end threaded? If so, it might be a tow worm, used to clean muzzle loading firearms with tow (coarse, rough fibers, such as flax, hemp or jute) when attached to the ram rod. From its size, would be for a fairly small bore, .45 or smaller. Couldn't find one just like it, most have MUCH tighter twists, duplicating historical examples, but could be a modern variant.
The left end is square for about 1/4 inch.
I couldn't find any gun worms similar to this tool either, looks like it's still a mystery for now.
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