What is it? CCV

The similarity is intriguing. So are the differences.

1. The tool shown in use is made to clamp securly in a vise.

1. The tool shown in use has a frame to hold the other end of the armature.

2. The tool shown in use doesn't clamp the armature. If it were clamped, it might be bent or otherwise damaged, and it would be time consuming for the workman to line up each slot for cutting.

If the tool in question was used for the same purpose as the tool shown in use, I wonder how it was set up.

Hey, if he chromes them and puts pretty, fancy grips on them, he could probably sell them by the job lot to various knife catalog/comic books like Smoky Mountain Knives..

Oops, did it again. ABPW = alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking Art

Thanks.

In 1930 an undercutter was patented that was like a utility knife with a saw blade. I suppose our model was designed to make sure the blade sawed on the same path every stroke. Maybe the shaft was taped to protect it from the clamp.

The clamp screw is long. Maybe it served as a lever to help get the blade lined up with a slot before tightening.

This patent isn't exact, but very similar in function to the tool in question. Patent number 2,170,389 issued Aug 22,

It uses a rotary cutter, but the spring/pressure adjustment, clamp and folding method are very close to the same.

Hey Bill,

I see what you are saying, but there is no doubt that it is "A Mica Under-cutter". If I hadda guess at the differences, it would be that the one in RH's "CCV" list is, versus the one in the photos from Artemus, designed for larger commutators than those from cars or of small motors. I would think it is designed to clamp onto some part of the brush-gear while the machine is still in situ. And in either case, the workman STILL has"to line up each slot for cutting". In fact, while I've never seen one of these, the motorized units for the same job still require you " to line up each slot for cutting ". I also suspect that, even as with a similar purpose tool from Ideal Electric which I've used (all too often!!) that is "totally" manual, the "cutter" is a piece of hack-saw blade. Interesting to note that once you get past a certain size commutator, and providing it isn't of an extreme voltage, the "slot size" (width) is the same on them all.

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario.

Until I saw Artemus' photos I didn't imagine the sawing motion that would result from moving the lever. I guess the tool was designed for rigidity rather than strength and the D handle was to reduce fatigue from making dozens of cuts.

I wonder if the long clamp screw was somehow easier to reach in situ.

Do you know why the tool has a notch by one of the hinge screws?

Just added the patent link to the answer page, thanks for finding that.

Rob

A couple more for this week, I know the answer to this first one, it's about

A visitor of the site sent me the following description and photos, maybe someone will know what it is:

My brother works at a local cemetary, and when he was digging out a bush he found the attached. We thought it might be a decorative attachment for a headstone, but as you can see, there is nothing to attach with. It is 6 1/2 inches long, 1 1/2 inches high, and 1/4 inch deep. The metal appears to be bronze. The cameo looks like a white stone, and the picture of a man and woman sitting on something appear to be dressed in pre-victorian garb. The man seems to be wearing a white wig. Maybe you or one of your readers might know what this is and when it was manufactured. I could find nothing about it on the net. It seems a curious thing to find in a cemetary. Any help you or one of your readers might shed on this would be most appreciated.

Rob

"R.H." wrote in news:47371fdc$0$19572$ snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com:

Is it possible you have it upsidedown? Looks like if it was inverted, it could hold bunches of flowers (or buds).

i saw something i think is similar in japan, made of ceramic though, a water dropper used in conjunction with a ink stick and a ink grinding stone. for preparing japanese writing ink. some of the ones i saw had no "filler hole", i always kinda wondered how they're filled, i assumed they had to be totally immersed in water and the air bubbled out.

It may have been soldered. Lead/tin solder is less noble than brass, so galvanic corrosion eats up the solder. In addition, the two metals expand and contract at different rates.

It's not upsidedown, but then I wouldn't say that it's right side up either, when in use it isn't at rest on a table.

Rob

Yes, I was thinking that it was probably glued, soldered or otherwise affixed to a headstone. I guess that we'll never know for sure but I thought that I would ask here in case someone had seen something like it.

Rob

Hi Rob,

As you probably already know, they do some pretty elaborate stuff with gravestone/monuments nowadays. If they haven't already, the person asking should check with some of the monument suppliers. Especially some of those that were close by to where this was found. A lot of the time they put a sticker on the monument that tells who the maker/supplier was. I suspect the cameo/picture had some special meaning to somebody buried there and was once attached to the monument (shrug).

1140: kerosene lamp for candling eggs? Three backlights around a light-baffled kerosene light source, and the giveaway is the padded seat in front of each illumination panel

The answer for this object: it's an ear trumpet, or hearing trumpet, it's held up to the ear to amplify sound.

A wide variety of them can be seen half way down this page:

Rob