What is it? LXXVIII

#448 b,c and d look like adapters to allow a US electrical plug on 448a to connect to foreign supplies. 448b is the old UK 5amp standard, 448c is the European standard and 448d is a UK light bulb bayonet fitting.

#449 is carpet gripper on a door threshold strip

#450 looks like a planishing hammer

#451 is the rotator control for a beam aerial rotator of the type used by radio amateurs

#452 is a high discharge rate tester for the cells on car batteries - measures the voltage generated by a cell when its under the sort of load typical of starting currents

448 appears to be a 'vapouriser'. You plug it in either directly or using one of the three alternate power-socket/lightbulb-socket adapters and it vapourises the perfume/mothballs/whatever you have in there. 449 is a carpet edging strip.

450 is a hammer. If someone comes at you with an ordinary hammer, you pull out this pointy one. "that's not a hammer..."

451 looks like an antique electronic compass.

452 just guessing... an antique line voltage detector?

452 no idea... guess snuff-related.

448a: Goes into 448b. To chase moskitos/insects 448b: wall plug, european style 448d: now i'm lost 449: profile for drywall 450: just another hammer for body works 451: compass. Or was it Microsoft's first attempt to reinvent a PC mouse? 452: Battery tester 453: old writing set. In the cube to the right goes the ink, in the long the pen

Nick

448 a series of electical adapters of over seas 449 carpet edging/threshold 450 a sheet metal hammer of some sort 451 no idea 452 Battery cell tester?

Howard R Garner on RCM

Immersion heater for bathtub.

Adapter for one type of electrical plug to another.

Light socket.

Thing that goes at the edge of a carpet.

Hammer for bodywork.

Antenna rotor control.

Battery load tester, looks like for old batteries than had exposed connections between cells.

Short dagger with snuffbox.

John

448a is clearly an electric marshmallow roaster. C'mon people! I can see the marshmallow!

Relz (likes his marshmallows crispy)

448a) Closet dehumidifier (actually, heater) ? b & c) AC plug adapter for Euro-outlets? d) Bayonet-to- screw base bulb (or two-prong outlet) adaptor 449 Carpet edge strip. 450 shoemakers tack hammer? 451 Antenna rotator control 452 Capacitor discharging prod. 453 ?????

447 looks like the tongs used to move hay in the mow. Back when hay was put up loose in barns before balers.

448a: some sort of nightlight? 448b: patch plug 448c: another patch plug 448d: fuse 449: carpet tack strip 450: hammer with anti-backswing device 451: antenna rotator control 452: old tester to check for current (the zig-zag bit will glow like a toaster if there is juice... 453: knocker? probably not...

yours, Michael

453. This is a yatate.

A yatate (pronounced yah-tah-teh) is a Japanese portable writing set. The yatate has been around since the Kamakura period (1185-1333). It contains a traditional Japanese bamboo brush and an inkwell filled with cotton that has been soaked in liquid sumi ink.

453: Asiatic (probably Tibetan) pen case and ink bottle

Barb

According to R.H. :

O.K. I lost my newsfeed last week, and then the ISP totally stopped handling news, so I was not able to post about the last week's collection. I'm now on newsguy, at least until I can get a new feed.

Anyway -- again posting from rec.crafts.metalworking:

448a) Perhaps a resistive voltage drop for using something like a travel iron on another country's voltages. It looks as though it has a ceramic resistive element inside, and the perforated metal cover is to keep the user from getting burned from the dissipated heat. 448b-d) Adaptors from various countries' outlets to US ones. I *think* that (b) and (c) are UK styles from many years ago -- perhaps the 1950s.

(d) is an unusual design, and I have no idea which country that one was for.

All seem to have Bakelite moldings -- except for (a), which is mostly metal and ceramic -- though the end plates may be phenolic.

449) It looks like some sort of sliding track for adjustable height shelving. Perhaps from a refrigerator, perhaps from a bookshelf. 450) The flat head looks similar to the sheet metal hammer from last week, but I'm not sure about the pointed end, which would seem counterproductive for most sheet metal work.

I don't think that it is a geologist's hammer, though.

451) And old fashioned TV antenna rotator control box. The rocker switch allows turning the antenna clockwise or counter-clockwise, and the meter shows a voltage coming back from the head to indicate the current compass direction (presuming that it was properly installed initially. :-) 452) Old fashioned automobile battery cell tester. The prongs probe through the tar which normally covered the cell terminals, the zig-zag piece of metal was the load resistance, and the cylindrical object was the meter to read the condition of the cell. 453) Now *this* one is an interesting one. I *think* that it is an old-fashioned ink pen, with the pen and nib drawn out of the scabbard, and the ink under the scallop shell lid.

Now to see what others have guessed.

Enjoy, DoN.

#449 Carpet hold down strip. Don't know what it's really called...

Hey Rob, I just realized I saw number 447 last weekend when I worked that oldtime sawmill. Have you found out what it is yet? When I saw it, it was attached to a complicated one-man bucksaw rig. I think I'll be able to take a picture of the whole apparatus when I help with cleanup next weekend. Want me to?

This answer sounds right - it does look like a log holder. Yes, please take some pictures, it would be great if you could nail this one down for us.

Thanks, Rob

I guess you never got my e-mail post. I think 447 is used to hold small logs while splitting them to make firewood for a wood burning or pot belly type stove.

Fred

"R.H." wrote in news:4n2Ue.101$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com:

On Thu, 8 Sep 2005 01:04:00 -0600, R.H. wrote (in article ):

448a: some type of vaporizer or night light 448b,c: older style patch plug for 5-way posts? 448d: fuse? 449: carpet tack strip for an exposed edge (door, or tile) 450: type of auto body hammer 451: electric compass calibrator? 452: battery tester (for large capacity cells)

-Bruce

You weren't in Williams Grove, Pennsylvania, were you? :) Last Saturday my dad & I went to a steam-up there and saw them running their sawmill powered by an old steam tractor. Waaay cool. Must've had a dozen or twenty steam engines prowling the grounds.

I got your email but I think that I just lumped your answer into the group of others that suggested log lifter or hook for small logs. In the event that this turns out to be correct it looks like you getting bragging rights on this one.

Rob