Thursday, April 8, 2010

Set 331

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1897. 10" long:

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The cord can be pulled out 100':



























1898. 8" long:

































1899. This was sent in by a visitor who is looking to find out what it's for:

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1900. 32" tall, take a look at Neatorama for more guesses on this one and a chance to win a T-shirt:





























1901. This photo was shot in the basement of a house built in 1820, the idea here is to describe the purpose of this 36" x 84" x 14" hole in the floor.







































1902. 2-1/2" diameter, another unidentified item:





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Answers:


1897. A Heathkit Thermo Spotter, it's a temperature indicating device for use by fishermen, a weight was attached to the cord which was then lowered into the water, when the red button was pressed the gauge would be activated, the knob with the screw was used to wind the cord back in:

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The cord is marked as indicated by this chart:



There are also two charts that show what temperatures are preferred by certain fish:






























1898. An automobile tool, the point on the large handle is a cotter pin puller, the end of the smaller handle is a screwdriver, it also has two wrench sockets and can be used to cut wire, patent number 975,694:

































1899. Probably a device for dispensing packaging tape, it has a small container for water so it was most likely used with tape that had dried glue on one side.

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1900. A lightning rod:





























1901. A tanning pit for processing animal hides in the Samuel Smith Tannery, from this site:

In the next phase of leather production, the hides were combined with oak, beech or willow bark, which would provide the tannic acid necessary in preserving and coloring the hide. Other acidic additives to this dressing included sour milk, cider pressings and ferment of rye, recipes varying according to the materials at hand, the weather and the ultimate finish desired. Bark was spread in the bottom of the tanning pit, then hides and bark alternately stacked until the pit is full. A foot of tanbark covered the pit, and the whole well trampled down and kept moistened for three months.

A full description of the process can be found at the link.








































1902. Haven't been able to verify any of these guesses:
-ice shaver
-wood plane
-pencil sharpener
-food slicer
-bench dog
-hide scraper
-hoof trimmer





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More discussion and comments on these photos can be found at the newsgroup rec.puzzles.

14 comments:

  1. #1897 -
    Heathkit MI-104 "Thermo Spotter"
    Used to determine water temperature. Tie a weight to the end of the brass end, unreel into a lake then press the button. Read the temperature from the meter. (One of the first heathkits that I built)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1901: Area for coal storage. According to the previous owners of our house it had one too. They filled it in and the floor was so uneven they had to put extra concrete so that area of the floor about two inches higher.

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  3. 1902 A pencil sharpener? Perhaps for those flat carpenters' pencils.

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  4. >#1897 Heathkit MI-104 "Thermo Spotter"

    Correct

    >1901: Area for coal storage.

    Nope

    >1902 A pencil sharpener?

    Could be...

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  5. 1900--A lightning rod?

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  6. #1901--a sistern? For storage of rainwater...however, it looks way too shallow for that. I lived in a house that had an entire sistern room built into the basement--must have been 10' by 12' and 9 feet deep.

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  7. 1902 - some sort of shaver. Ice or wood? the cup holds the shavings.

    1901 - seems kind of shallow to be
    a cistern. A baptismal pool?

    1900 - lightning rod?

    1899 - looks like some sort of ticket cutting machine. like the roll of tickets go in the drum. And get cranked out and printed at the same time with that roller. Then cut off by that blade

    Frau

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  8. 1898 - pliers for horseshoeing? or fence pliers?
    Frau

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  9. something happened to my other guesses??
    1899 - maybe ribbon goes into the drum. Is measured out and cut by the blade on the end?

    1900 - lightning rod?

    1901 - baptismal pool?

    1902 - some sort of planer? maybe for smaller detail work? The cup holds the shavings?

    Frau

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  10. 1899 - Tape dispenser for a meat wrapper. Maybe the roller on top would mark the type of cut on the tape.

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  11. 1901 looks like a "spring house," a sort of primitive refrigerator. Jars to be kept cool would be placed in the depression where cool spring water would flow over them.

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  12. I think 1899 might be a leather strap trimmer, for belts and tack.

    I agree about the spring house idea.

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  13. 1899.
    Addressograph label applicator for addressing applications. Addressograph (dogtag like metal address plates) would print on plain paper rolls. This hand operated machine would apply glue and apply to envelop, newspaper, catalog, etc. Some expertise required -- advance labels with thumb on black roller, press down to apply and cut, move labeled item, repeat.

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  14. 1902. tailers chauk sharpener / pencil sharpener

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