What is it? Set #133

From Rec.woodworking:
#774: Lead paddle?? #775: Dunno. #776: Dunno #777: Thems is temporary steps for climbing poles. In case you wondered what them little nubs were on the sides of stepped poles. #778: Dunno. #779: Dunno, but it looks like it would hurt!! Maybe a good way to pull fish into a boat?!?

Just guesses this week
776 cualking tool for caulking boats 777 looks like it would hang from a screw head, some type of shelf bracket.

774 Has the general shape of a pointing tool, (used to finish and shape the mortar between bricks or stones) but is too large and finely made. I'd still guess a special purpose stonework pointing tool.
775 I'd guess a diemaker's tool set for transferring the shape of an automobile clay full-size model to a stamping die.
776 Another guess... metalworker's tool for shaping folded-over tabs, perhaps for making seams in copper scotch whiskey stills.
778 Yet another guess... Tool for applying labels to switchboards. Cut roll of printed label, apply glue, then roll on.
779 Nothing but guesses today... Catfish gjg. Find large catfish at peace in its home. Ram in and pull out dinner.

775. Very fancy layout or draftsman's spline?
Ned Simmons

774. Applied to a concrete sidewalk while wet, to make the shallow indentations commonly seen along its edges and between sections.

776 looks like it is meant for hammering caulk into a seam. probably for boat building. or, perhaps fabricating wooden tanks or barrels. To me, a question that is just as interesting is, "How was it made?" It looks like the business end was forge welded out of the two tangs that form the "eye." But there are no signs of a lap weld. Could it have started as a billet that was split and curled to form the socket for the handle?

It's a hoop driver, used by coopers to force hoops down around the outside of a barrel using a mallet.
Buddy

According to R.H. : As usual -- posting from rec.crafts.metalworking.
774) Hmm ... no real guess. Perhaps for handling a hot firebrick or something similar? Given the angle of the photo, I can't really tell how wide it is.
775) I should not submit an answer to this one, because I have been following his attempt to discover more about this particular device in a mailing list which we share.
I will say (without giving it's name) that it is a device for modeling stresses and such.
776) Presumably a special-purpose hammer, with the handle screwing into the hole visible in the wood between the forged head and the pressed on collar. I *think* that the collar is to prevent the wood from mushrooming as that end is struck with a larger hammer.
The concave curve of the face suggests that it is for forming something -- though what I have no idea.
777) Looks like a rather specialized support bracket for some sort of shelf.
778) Interesting tool.
Given that the Bell System used to use cables sheathed in lead, and used to seal splices inside formed lead soldered to the rest, I will guess that the roller is for rolling the edges of the lead sheathing to a near match before applying the solder (Or would it have been pure lead). In any case, the shears part of that would have been for cutting the lead sheathing to the proper shape.
779) At a guess, for holding fish which have been caught?
Now to see what others have suggested.
Enjoy, DoN.

I'll give a hint on this tool, it's not for fishing but was used on a farm.
Rob

This guess is close, it *is* for rolling glue backed paper, but not for labels or switchboards.
Rob

Hi Rob,
779: Looks like what I've heard called a "Hay Thief". One poked it into a stack of loose hay and pulled out a bit to check quality and such. Those that I've seen before had at least two barbs and a tee-handle. It would work, but I don't know if that is what this one is/was for sure...

Difficult set this week, the answers are posted below:
774. Buttress, for trimming a horse's hoof.
775. Continostat, an engineer's tool for the analysis of statically indeterminate structures.
776. Barrel maker's hoop driver.
777. Temporary telephone pole rung.
778. In printing telegraph systems, received messages are printed on a tape which is cut with this tool. The back of the gummed tape is moistened and the roller is used to mount many strips of the tape to a piece of paper.
779. Hay thief, it's pushed into a haystack to retrieve a sample from the middle, which can then be examined for condition and quality.
A few links and a little more info have been posted on the answer page:

Rob