What is it? LXX

#400: solar cell #401: clamp. To close bottles? #402: revolutions counter (_early_ model) #403: guess: for woodworking. To scrap ornamental grooves into table legs etc. If not for wood, then for plaster.

404: ??? At least, the needles are adjustable. Something similar is used for taking off contours. Or for combing hemp. 405: ??? handle with a magnet. No clue what for.

Nick

"R.H." wrote in news:ZHpBe.7709$B52.1687 @tornado.ohiordc.rr.com:

#401 - Ice skate blade "sharpener"

400: Solar cell 401: Clamp (unknown type - probably a magnet retained in the jaws) 402: Tachometer for something slow moving - the tip appears to be applied to the center of a shaft which drives the worm gear and turns the indicator dial) 403: ?? 404: Groover - I'm thinking on concrete but this is too narrow for that kind of work. 405: Nail holder for start>

Cheese grater.

Clip for holding something.

Chastity doorknob- allows one to see how many times the door has been opened since last night.. not a big seller..

Beard comb.

One of the toys from "Baby's First S&M Set".

Magnetic handle.

400. Solar panel with rifle reflected in it

401. Chalk holder

402. Soil hygrometer

403. Concrete edger

404. Tatooing instrument

405. Tack puller

From rec.woodworking

400. Stripey Pajamas 401. Victorian Nose Hair Trimmer 402. Comb from the "George Costanza Collection" 403. Cake Decorator (vintage prototype) 405. Left-handed Magnetic Nipple Wrench

--

• TomH + antonomasia-at-canada-dot-com

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

Also:

405 is a valve spring keeper lock insertion tool

403. clapboard marker

O.K. -- Posting from rec.crafts.metalworking again:

400) It looks like silicon solar cells -- probably part of an array, or destined to become part of an array. (Probably the latter, as it does not appear to have been covered with glass yet. 401) Holder for sandpaper for sanding into a groove? The strip of sandpaper wraps around the cylinder (grit side in), and then folds back over the lips. 402) A very old example of a mechanical tachometer. The point is pressed into a center hole, The user's thumb feels (and counts the full rotations of the worm wheel, and the pointer (which is set to zero (actually 100) before the start) indicates how many rotations of the input spindle should be added to the full rotations of the worm wheel (each of which represent 100 rotations of the input spindle). You operate it for a known time (perhaps 60 seconds), and then calculate RPM from the total number of turns during that period.

I've never seen one of these with exposed gears before, most are totally enclosed.

403) Perhaps for decorative grooving of planks?

404) Hmm ... a bit of possible confusion here.

a) It might be some form of weld scale chipping hammer.

b) It might be a contour gauge. If so, I would expect the pieces in the "head" to be equal in length, so you could get a positive or negative contour from the single tool

I would also expect there to be a way to loosen and clamp the stack down at the other end of the handle, and I don't seem to see that.

c) Or -- it might be a form of meat tenderizer.

405) Magnet for holding a nail as you are starting it -- without

putting your fingers at risk of being hammered. The nail goes into the 'V' on the end, and is held by the two steel layers (bread), with the magnetic field being provided by the brown layer as the meat in the sandwich.

Now -- to see what others have said.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reading in rec.crafts.metalworking.

400. closeup of a photovoltaic (solar) cell

401. ice skate sharpener - run the blade along the cylindrical abrasive, and it leaves sharp edges on the blade. The "ears" on the clip part serve as a guide.

402. tachometer. The shaft is badly corroded. When the point is held against the axis of spinning object, the shaft turns, which turns the wheel. Run it for a certain time, or until a certain number is reached, and the RPMs can be calculated.

403. not sure - looks like it's for making parallel grooves in something.

404. not sure, but it looks like a big, nasty version of a comb used for removing knotted fur on a long-hair cat or dog

405. The notched end is magnetic. It holds nails so you can start them without pounding your thumb.

unsolved

There is one thing that is a bit confusing: The handle. If it would be something like a hammer, the disk at the end would not be very pleasing to one's hand. Furthermore, it seems that the handle is gripped at the upper end, judging from the (more) polished look.

Stonemasons do have a hammer that resembles this one a bit. It is called Charrier-iron (from the french) and is used for roughening a surface.

Any useful hints, beside "yes" or "no"? :-)

Nick

Correct, it's a stone dressing tool, called a Crandall, though I'm not sure why it has the unusual handle.

Rob

#403 is a stanley clapboard marker. Used to mark the ends of clapboards where they butt against the corner boards.

And I have it on good authority that a couple of kids, allowed to be alone in their parents car (you guys can go out in the car and read while mom and I have coffee and desert) at a diner, can run down a so-so car battery just by fooling around with the ligher a 'few' times.

Not that we ever did that.

Nope.

Wasn't us.

And we're stickin' to it.

Jim

400. Computer chip on a credit card. 403. Operator's floor indicator for old Empire State Bldg elevators?

Maybe a (wood?) handle fits around the metal shaft and is missing in this example.

This makes sense. Sometimes the easy answers are the hardest to find.

Nick

Domestic cars generally have the lighter socket always live. Japanese cars generally have it live only in ACC or ON. I don't know why this is.

Probably an American car feature. I bought my first American vehicle two years ago, it has non-switched lighter sockets. For the prior 20 odd years, I owned only European and Japanese vehicles, they all had/have switched lighter sockets. I don't recall if my parents' American cars had switched lighters - I know some didn't have lighter sockets at all.