Set 344

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1975. 2-3/4" long, this piece of metal is an important tool for a well known trade:

















1976. The red part is 5-1/2" long:


















1977. 5-3/4" long, submitted by a visitor who is looking to identify this piece of hardware, text on says 'Patent Pending':


















1978. The bowls in the rack each have a hole in the center:






















1979. 1" long, take a look at Neatorama for more guesses and a chance to win a T-shirt:



















1980. 19" tall, another unidentified item that was sent in by a visitor:




















Answers:


1975. A locksmith's tension wrench or torsion wrench, used to apply torsion to the inner cylinder of a lock, in order to hold any picked pins in place, while the other pins are shifted. The torsion wrench is then used to turn the inner cylinder and open the lock.

















1976. The core of a bowling ball:


















1977. No answer yet for this item:


















1978. A water clock, there are many different types of water clocks, this one measures the amount of time it takes the bowls to sink into the water.






















1979. From the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA, text at this display reads:

Pain Bullets
Frequently called "hospital bullets," these lead bullets were given to patients in anticipation of pain during surgery. "Bite the bullet" soon became a common expression. These bullets, complete with teeth marks, were found near a hospital site after the Battle of Gettysburg.

Although some people think "biting a bullet" is pure Hollywood and TV mythology.





















1980. No luck so far in finding the purpose of this clamp:
















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








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