What is it? CLXXIII

1001: Lightning creator ? 1002: Gear puller 1003: Some kind of sphere thrower. 1004: Snake loop for catching or handling snakes. 1005: Gopher killer

1001 Tesla Coil... Air-core step-up transformer. Excited by high frequency (high compared to power frequency). Primary has a few turns. Secondary is a long single-layer solenoid (so the insulation stress is limited). Relies on auto-transformer action to propagate excitatation throughout the length of the secondary. Produces flashy but useless demonstrations. Tesla's early work with multi-phase AC was wonderful engineering that changed our society, then he went show-biz, selling technically unsound ideas such as delivering electric power through free space. The Tesla Coil was a device used to impress gullible potential investors and audiences with the idea that electricity could move through space.

Tesla Coil, of course :)

B.

1002 battery terminal puller

1003: Clay pidgeon thrower for skeet shooting. Dave

Hey Rob,

1004.....may have a different name if you were ordering it from the manufacturer, but the guys using it on the railroad call it a "hoop stick". It was used by the station agent or operator to give ("hoop") train orders to both the engine and caboose as trains passed, sometimes at very high speeds. The paper orders were attached to the device, and the operator then stood next to the rails where the train would pass and someone on the train would hook the hoop with his arm as the train passed. The paper orders were then detached and the hoop stick thrown back to the ground for the operator to chase after and recover for the next time. There was another type used that was made of the same materials, but in a "Y" shape. The orders were tied in the top of the Y with string, and only the string went so the operator didn't have to find the stick as he kept it in his hand.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario. (CNR SRB#750612-2)

1001. Static Generator, Used to raise the single hair on my college physics professor's head. 1002. Adjustable puller.

1003. Previously mentioned, a clay pigeon thrower, early model.

1004. Poor performer yanker off the stage. Earlier versions looked like Little Bo Preps cane.

1005. Early version of TB test applicator.

1006. Handy Man of the Month Free Circle guide prototype.

1001 Tesla coil 1002 Gear puller 1003 Skeet thrower 1004 Animal control hoop 1005 Animal identification applicator (puts holes/tattoo marks in ears or cheek) 1006 Wire gauge

Carl G.

1001. Tesla coil. A pretty badly designed one too -- lots of obvious inefficiencies in its geometry. 1002. Two-jaw puller. Winding the screw causes the conical wedge to force the jaws in a pincer action, and also pushes against the end of the screw. 1003. Some sort of ball thrower? Target shooting? Dog training? 1004. Dog / badger catcher's noose

1005. Spiky thing.

1006. Transfer punches for blind holes. Leave them in the hole below, place the matching workpiece over the top and thump them. They transfer the hole's position as a centre punch mark, then you can drill it out.

In the early days of skeet shooting, they used glass balls instead of clay pigeons. They also had the advantage that if thrown over water, the missed would float and could be rounded up for reuse.

This would explain the direct throw (as opposed to a Frisbee sling) and the nets that go in the hoops.

Paul K. Dickman

1002 most definately a puller for top post battery terminals.

1006 sewing machine needle gauge, and that's just a SWAG. Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

1005. A guess- A device used to puncture the outer layer of skin in order to administer a vaccine.

Kevin Gallimore

It appears designed to make six holes half an inch deep in something about an inch thick. That doesn't seem to me like vaccination. I wonder if it's to make pilot holes for attaching something an object.

I'm sure that this is some type of puller but some of the gear pullers and terminal pullers look the same so it's hard to say exactly which one this is, though I'm leaning towards terminal puller.

No one has answered this one correctly yet.

Sounds like a good possibility, have you seen one of these before or are you making an educated guess?

Rob

See:

Thank you for entertaining contribution; I always look forward to Thursdays.

Regards,

I think it might be a dedicated punch for belt lacing holes.

Don Young

It reminds me of a motorcycle jacket. How do you apply the snaps? A no-sew snap may have six spikes in a little circle, like this device. You can push them through fabric, then press the fitting against a tool to clinch the spikes. How do you push the spikes through leather?

You might put the leather in the jaws of this device along with a sort of pincushion under the leather, then squeeze to make holes for the spikes on the snap.

According to R.H. :

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

1001) A Tesla coil. Generates high frequency high voltage, unlike the static generator in a previous set which generates high voltage DC.

There is likely to be a tube circuit inside the box to generate the high frequency. (Of course "high frequency" is a relative term, and it is nowhere near what can be done these days. :-)

1002) A relative of a pulley puller. I believe that this one is intended to be used to remove the cables from automotive (and similar) battery terminals.

The knob has a cone on the bottom which spreads the upper arms of the hooks, thus bringing the hooks themselves closer together to grip under the battery terminal clamp.

The flat end of the long screw presses on the center of the terminal, thus applying the force necessary to remove the terminal even if it has gotten rather jammed on there.

1003) This is designed to throw something. I think that the rings are a bit small for tennis balls or for clay pidgeons, so I would expect something like golf balls or the like. The presence of the nets eliminates things which could simply sit in the rings touching on all sides.

There may be some missing parts to allow it to be triggered by pulling a cord.

1004) Hmm ... perhaps the frame to which a net is attached for dealing with a just-caught fish. Or perhaps it would be for controlling some domesticated animals like sheep. 1005) Strange one. Perhaps for making the skin punctures all at once which used to be common with chicken pox vaccinations. 1006) Another intersting one. It seems that the larger holes are marked for threads, including very uncommon ones these days. The fractional number is the diameter of the OD of the thread, and the integer is the number of threads per inch.

The smaller holes could be the number-sized screw diameters, except that there appear to be integer sizes followed by sizes 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 of the way up to the next size.

Can you tell what the material of the discs is? It looks like zinc, which would not be durable enough for use as a gauge for screws and drill bits.

Perhaps it is for sorting lead shot or the like, with the numbers corresponding to the size in whatever system is used. It could be placed over a collection of small bottles, and the shot rolled from one disc to the next until it finally falls through thus defining its size.

Now to see what others have guessed.

Enjoy, DoN.

In the initial picture, it looked very much like a set of transfer punches, viewed straight end-on. But, if you look at the close-up, it clearly is not. Rather, it is some sort of gauge plate where the circles, far from being the ends of punches sitting in a holder, rather are recessed into a plate. And the small circles in the center are holes, not points.

Jerry