What is it? CCIII

1122: 50' steel surveyors tape 1123: AAI Amateur Astronomers Incorporated...Probably either a telescope case or the case for a telescope mounting. (tripod) 1124: Cordless soldering iron. (old style) liquid fueled, probably white gas... 1125: Gold suggests that it was used with something that reacts with other metals, 1G suggests a measured weight, might have been used to weigh out pharmaceuticals or reactive powders. 1126: ??? 1127: For calculating the weight of various materials based on their measurements. 1128: a specific gravity tester, probably used to detect some kind of counterfeiting ( based upon the "currency-esque' papers in the bulbs)
Reply to
Stuart Wheaton
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The glass tubes most likely held cigars. The bands that were on the cigars are still in the tubes.

John

Reply to
john

Surveyor's tape.

Tube, probably got something inside.

Very nice soldering iron.

Pharmacist's tool for scooping powder from bottles.

Match box.

Seabee's tape measure.

Official White House hydrometer.

John

Reply to
JohnM

????? When I look at item 1128, it appears to be a hydrometer set of some type, and the glass tubes that contain the presidential images are the bulb of the hydrometer.

You see cigar tubes? Really? wow.

Reply to
BillM
1128

It's a U.S. Internal Revenue Service standard hydrometer set for determining the alcohol content of liquor.

The red E visible next to George Washington's head possibly dates it to

1889.

Bill

Reply to
BillM

Quite a nice variety this time around. Lots of fun guessing.

1122 - This sure looks like a 50' tape measure, of the sort commonly used to lay out athletic fields, building plots, etc. That seems far too obvious, though, so I suspect it must have some particular specialized usage; since none other pops into mind, I'll guess it's to adjust the pin setters in a bowling alley. 1123 - Googling AAI turns up several references to the American Alpine Institute, so this is presumably used to carry stuff for some mountaineering trek. At four and a half feet long, I'd guess it was used for large-scale maps rolled up (perhaps maps that are being surveyed/drawn). The other option that comes to mind is firearms, but I don't know why anyone would bother carrying one in such an inconvenient and unnecessarily bulky package when it's something you probably want to have ready at hand in case it were needed suddenly. 1124 - self-powered soldering iron, perhaps burning acetylene generated by carbide and water in the cylindrical portion. 1125 - maybe a spatula/measurer for use by a pharmacist to mix or transfer medicines? Gold might be used in such a situation because it's comparatively inert and not likely to be affected by or to contaminate the substances being handled. 1126 - A match safe?

1127 - Quite a curious double tape; the legends appear to suggest use in determining the strengths of various forms made of various materials. Perhaps this is for reference in erecting temporary bridges?

1128 - Besides being a test kit for some chemical or physical property of a (specific?) liquid, not much is obvious. The engraved images look suspiciously like those on banknotes, so perhaps it was used to either detect forgeries or to verify ink compositions in a mint.

Now to see other guesses...

Reply to
Andrew Erickson

Thanks for the info on the tape, I don't own it but took the photos at an auction and was wondering if it was legal for them to sell it.

Rob

Reply to
R.H.

I used that word because I already had "hold" and "contain" on the same page, although I later editted out the sentence with contain. It didn't sound perfect but I kept it in, not knowing that grammar police was one of your many hats. :-)

Thanks for posting that, I feel better about the word choice, though I haven't decided yet if I'm going to keep it or not, decisions like this shouldn't be rushed.

Rob

Reply to
R.H.

1123. Alpine Ascents International runs lots of training expeditions up Mount Ranier, which is ranier than most mountains. They have a Leave No Trace policy.

They go around the cliffs on the way up. It's important to do so on the way down, too; for an unexpected encounter with a cliff on wet ice in the dark could result in a descent too fast for the safety of trainees.

They used to leave trails of biodegradable bread crumbs. Then flocks of scavenging birds learned to follow these expeditions.

The tube held a battery-powered spinning reel with a spool four feet long. The guide would leave a trail of luminous fishing line on the ascent. On the descent he'd press the button to reel it up.

Once again intuition has led us to the truth.

Reply to
Bill Rider

This answer is correct. I was thinking of posting a secondary question about it on the site but I'll post it here instead, what is the purpose of the small part sticking out of the lid? It's located in the middle towards the back, about 1/2" or less from the hinge.

Rob

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Reply to
R.H.

1122: Looks like a glass cutting tool. Not sure why it would be spring-loaded.
Reply to
Matthew T. Russotto

It's to stop th' lid from being vertical so it falls back down unless you hold it open. In th' event that th' matches inside accidentally ignite, it's a good thang. Don't ask how I know .

Snarl

Reply to
snarl

Oops, sent too soon

1123: Map case 1124: Gas-powered soldering iron 1125: Solid gold? How about you just send it to me and I'll... look into it. Yeah, that's it, look into it. Seriously? Sometimes a spoon is just a spoon. 1126: Looks like a mailbox, although somewhat small. 1127: It's a Walsco 380 double tape measure, calibrated for all types of concrete, masonry, timber, and earth. But it's evidentally no good for rectangles of some sort. 1128: A weather station. The cup would be a rain gauge, perhaps. Not sure about the two things with presidential portraits, unless they're for measuring "dry bulb" and "wet bulb" temperatures... Hayes would be dry, of course.
Reply to
Matthew T. Russotto

Perhaps to expand the end of a cigar so it may more easily be lit.

Reply to
Matthew T. Russotto

1126. Matchbox to hang on the wall near the woodstove

1128. Looks like a set of hygrometers. (For different ranges?)

Reply to
Tanus

Maybe to keep the lid from opening beyond a point where gravity would close it.

Reply to
Bill Rider

Found it! 45,554, W H Andrews, 1864. Once again intuition leads us to the truth!

Reply to
Bill Rider

According to R.H. :

Posting from rec.crafs.metalworking as usual.

1122) For measuring the amount of oil (or gasoline) in a tank.

The notches in the weight will retain more of the liquid, making it easier to identify the level. And the scale on the weight indicates the number of inches to add to the reading on the tape.

I've seen similar tapes advertised in the L.S. Starrett catalog. This might actually be one -- I can't make out the maker's name because of the JPEG blurring.

1123) Well -- aside from appearing to be a cylindrical container, it *might* be a small astronomical telescope, with the ends capped. (Another view would indicate where the mount would go if this were the case. 1124) A gasoline (or kerosene) fueled soldering iron. 1125) Hmm ... aside form the "solid gold" part (and the color does not really look right for that in the photo) it looks like it could be a wax spoon for re-waxing reed plates in an accordion.

The "handle" part could be used for waxing the smaller reed plates.

The wax is melted, scooped up in the spoon, and run along the edges of the reed plates to seal them to the reed boxes.

1126) Hmm ... perhaps to hold a watchmen's recording clock key, to record that the watchman was at that specific location (station) at a specific time. You've had recording clocks on the puzzles before. 1127) Hmm ... perhaps for measuring stress applied to the specified materials for a specific size of container?

Or perhaps for calculating the weight of the materials of the measured dimensions?

And I gather that the markings are on both sides of the tapes, different depending on the material being checked.

1128) This is for measuring the specific gravity of a fluid at a specified temperature. The thermometer on the side measures the temperature, and the height at which the narrow neck of the floats intersects the top of the liquid shows the specific gravity. There are single-use ones of these combining a bulb syphon and the float for measuring the specific gravity of the electrolyte in automotive batteries -- seen less often with today's sealed cells and gel-cells.

I doubt that this is for battery electrolyte, as the copper container would be vulnerable to the acids. But it might be for a brewer or winemaker.

The faces on the seals inside the floats may indicate different measurement systems -- one looks like George Washington from a dollar bill. :-)

Now to see what others have guessed.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Is the tape 50' long? That's quite an oil tank!

I wonder if it's to check the water table. A farmer might need to know how low the water level was in his well and how it was changing.

Maybe he could shine a light down the well to see when the weight hit the water. He could read on the tape how far down the clip was, reel it in, and if he could see water on the weight, he could read how far below the clip the water level was.

Reply to
Bill Rider

Yes, that was the big selling point for this match safe.

Rob

Reply to
R.H.

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