What is it? CLXII

One of the few times I'm very confident in my response to a question on this site. My two passions are woodworking and rock climbing, and this, my friends, as some have indicated is definitely a cam for rock climbing. The above address will link you to more information if you are interested, though I'm sorry it didn't seem to paste as a link.

Any idea if the small platform above the legs has a purpose or is it just decorative?

Rob

Yes, projector is correct, and it's a little different from most in that it uses carbon arc light.

Rob

"R.H." wrote: Any idea if the small platform above the legs has a purpose or is it just decorative? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I think it's to hold other books--at least that's the way mine is used.

According to R.H. :

O.K. Posting from rec.crafts.metalworking as usual.

933) This is the semi-duplicate. The end shown is designed to expand in cracks in stone to provide a grip in mountain climbing and caving type activities. 934) A microtome -- for slicing off very thin samples of organic materials to make microscope slides. The original sample is mounted in a cylinder of wax to fit the hole in the top. As the lever is slid to the left, it shaves a very thin slice off the sample and the surrounding wax ready for placing on the microscope slide, adding perhaps some stains to make certain things more visible, a mounting compound, and a cover glass.

As the lever is returned to its original position, the lower lever keyed to a slot in the main lever will advance a feedscrew to extend the sample just the right distance for another slice to be made.

The one which I have is rather more complex, with a separately mounted blade which looks like a refugee from a straight razor, and has adjustments to control how far it is extended per slice. It also has a tray to collect the sliced samples.

This one looks as though it may use a single-edged or double-edged razor blade clamped below the main lever.

It would be interesting to see other views, to see whether there is some provision for adjusting the thickness per slice.

935) These look like cheap to manufacture versions of caltrops.

Perhaps these are intended to be used against human opponents walking barefoot or in sandals -- such as in Vietnam.

The originals were made to keep horse-borne warriors from attacking.

936) Either a strange version of a pencil sharpener, or perhaps for pointing wooden dowels. 937) A library stand for an unabridged dictionary. The sides raise and fall allowing the pages on either side to have the same level, keeping the dictionary from flapping shut if not held. 938) Not really sure about this one. From the shape of the handle and the point, I think that it may be for climbing up a sloped icy surface -- using two of them -- one in each hand -- and perhaps some specialized kind of footwear to help as well. 939) An early version of a slide projector (magic lantern), I think.

The slide carrier goes through the slot just before the taper starts.

The black area contains the lamp. I'm not sure whether it is an incandescent lamp, or a flame and mantle style. It almost looks as though there is a projection for fitting a gas feed to on the more distant end.

The brass section in the near end is the projection lens and a brass knob for adjusting the focus.

I guess that it *could* be an illuminator for a microscope sub-stage, with the slot accepting color filters instead of slides.

Now to see what others have guessed or identified.

Enjoy, DoN.

934 A microtome

938 a picaroon

Steve R.

"R.H." schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:46030b3b$0$17200$ snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com...

For cinema units carbon arc lighting is usual. For slide projectors, or magic lantern, hmmm, not.

greetings

You're probably right, I thought that the vertical pieces at the corners would be longer if it was made to hold books, but I guess that they're tall enough.

Rob

I don't own the microtome but might see it again next weekend, if so I'll take a few more shots.

Six of the seven have been answered correctly this week, please see the answer page for more details:

Rob

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 00:05:20 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Rich Grise quickly quoth:

That's a much more organic shape, Rich, which is Art Nouveau, not Art Deco. I think it's great.

------------------------------------------------------- Have you read the new book "What Would Machiavelli Do?" ----------------------------

I think that the purpose was to give longer "creep paths" for current to flow when it is wet -- e.g. from rain or ice. This allows it to operate at a higher voltage than a straight '+' shape would allow.

Also less chance of someone interpreting it as an upside down Cross, and calling the power company "Satanic". :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

wow. lol. elephant trainer's hook! when i read that i remembered seeing a television show about elephant trainers and i have a faint recollection that they were using a hook like that and i was thinking "ouch! jeez! do they need to use such a thing?!" i was surprised the other one you posted has japanese writing on the bottom. my previous response i stated i saw something quite similar being used in the huge Tsukiji market in Tokyo, i tried to find a pic but the only thing i could find is at this page, not very good shot, but it has those frozen tuna fish pods and you can barely make out guys with, what i didn't know were called, pickaroons dragging the pods around.

It's ceramic, i.e., brittle, so a sharp corner would be a likely place for cracks to start.

Ned Simmons

933 is the business end of what are called in the climbing biz as "protection". Specifically a Cam device.

"R.H." wrote: You're probably right, I thought that the vertical pieces at the corners would be longer if it was made to hold books, but I guess that they're tall enough. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You're probably picturing the books standing like they would on a library shelf. I have mine resting with the bindings on top.

You mean it isn't Satanic!?!

I know PG&E is..Pacific Greed and Extortion....

The bastards And f*ck Grey Davis with a farriers rasp too!

Gunner Political Correctness

A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

The one longer arm with the smaller notch for a wire is for the messenger cable. That is a steel cable much stronger than the current carrying cables. The messenger cable allows the wires to be pulled tighter and higher than without it or used for longer spans. On three phase applications they would be used for low voltage only.

John

I'll get a better translation in a day from some multilingual friends, but the best I can translate the chinese characters on the bottom of

938a tells me it says something like "wooden tool department". The first character is a bit hard to tell, since the top of the character is mugged up; without a radical on top, it actually means 'shell', which doesn't make sense to me. The middle character is 'cai', which means wood, and the bottom one is 'bu' which means department.

I don't know of many regions where they train elephants and use Chinese characters, so the fish picaroon seems more likely to me.

--riverman