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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Last week's set is seen below, click here to view the entire post.








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

Set 330

For first time visitors I recommend this archive for some of my best posts.



1891. Approximately 8" diameter:

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1892. 5" long, submitted by a visitor who is looking to identify this tool:

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1893. 24" long, sent in by a visitor who would like to find the purpose of this piece of hardware:

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1894. 6" long, there is a hole on the right end that connects with the groove:

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1895. About 2" long:































1896. Around 66" tall.





























Answers:

1891. A drum magazine for a Thompson Machine Gun, it could be used in place of the stick magazine seen just in front of the trigger of the weapon below:

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This particular gun was used by law enforcement to guard members of the Dillinger Gang in 1934.



Information on how the drum magazine is loaded and installed can be found on this site.




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Another good use for a machine gun is cooking bacon.

























1892. Haven't been able to verify any of the guesses for this tool:

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1893. The most popular suggestion for this item is that it was part of some type of construction machine, still looking for more specifics on it.

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1894. A syrup tap for a maple tree, this tap was put in a hole that was drilled into a tree and a bucket was placed underneath to catch the syrup.

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1895. A Kikriki egg tester, it was supposed to be used like a pendulum to determine the sex of an egg and also to check if it was fertile.



Here are the directions for it, although the device didn't actually work as advertised.

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The second half of the directions
The seller of this tester would send the device to random farmers along with this letter, hoping that people would be gullible enough to send him money for it.




































1896. This is an Identix Touchprint Scanner, used by police to scan fingerprints of suspects. To get a digital scan, officers would place the fingers of arrested suspects on the glass plates which are located under the metal covers. The monitors at the top show the scanned prints, as seen here.






An update from last week's set, someone sent me a good link that confirms this valve was used on a paintball gun.

1888. A valve used to adjust the velocity that paintballs come out of the gun.
















To submit photos, send them to the address in my profile.















Last week's set is seen below, click here to view the entire post.








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

Set 329

For first time visitors I recommend this archive for some of my best posts.



1885. 7" long:






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1886. 8" tall:








































1887. This was sent in by a visitor:
























1888. An unidentified device that was submitted by a visitor who found it on the side of a road:



It's just less than 2" long:




























1889. Around 5-1/2" tall:






























1890. 72" long, take a look at Neatorama for more guesses on this tool and a chance to win a T-shirt:





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Answers:


1885. A mechanical speed indicator, the numbers indicated on the dials are used to calculate the RPM when the point is placed against a rotating shaft for a suitable number of seconds:

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1886. No verifiable answer yet for this device:
































1887. This is most likely either a tamper for sand, dirt, etc., or a ramrod for a cannon:
























1888. A valve used to adjust the velocity that paintballs come out of the gun.




























1889. This is the mechanism from inside of a collapsible top hat:





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1890. A hand operated ice plow, used for finishing out the groove made by a horse drawn ice plow. After the ice plow had made grooves in the ice, an ice saw was used to finish the cut.

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I posted this ice saw a few years ago, it's 5'-7" long:



In some parts of the country it's known as an ice knife.




















To submit photos, send them to the address in my profile.















Last week's set is seen below, click here to view the entire post.








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