Another "What Is It?" Topic

[Brad Schafer]

i used to consider myself relatively intelligent ... but after being embroiled in a shop clean-out effort, i'm seriously reassessing. to make a long story short, i keep running across stuff that i simply have NO idea what it is or does.

i've attached a pic of 2 of those items here - the rule (i understand what it does :) ) is for reference.

239223

any ideas?

TIA, -b

[Dave Lehnert]

Top item is a nail puller.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00002N7SD/?tag=hyprod-20&hvadid=15467987859&hvpos=1o5&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=782041672213044403&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B00002N7SD

[Ryan Mooney]

The bottom item I can't see well enough to be sure but it might be a hoof pick for cleaning horses hooves.

[Rick Potter]

The big one is a nail puller.

Rick Potter

[Jerome Stanek]

the top one is a nail puller the middle one is a folding rule and not sure what the bottom one is. You can get the nail puller and folding rule in Amish country.

[Kenneth Speed]

Hmmm.....Hard to be positive but I'd guess the bottom one might be for pulling tacks, like upholstery tacks.

[Kevin Bourque]

All three are early doctor tools.

The top one is a tooth puller, the middle ruler is for measuring the size of your head( phrenology), and the bottom tool is for pulling medicinal leeches off your body.

[Gordon Eyre]

Nail puller and tack puller. You know what the ruler is.

[Brad Schafer]

All three are early doctor tools.

The top one is a tooth puller, the middle ruler is for measuring the size of your head( phrenology), and the bottom tool is for pulling medicinal leeches off your body.

:D well done.

[Brad Schafer]

a nail puller. wow. have never seen/heard of one before, but will give a try in the coming days.

also have never heard of a tack puller ... we have nags so i was pretty sure it wasn't a hoof pick (altho i suppose it would work).

have found several other unknown (to me) treasures here over the past week or so, and will post a pic or two as time permits.

thanks everyone for the insight. -b

[ray hampton]

do the handle on the bigger one slide back and forth

[Brad Schafer]

yessir. tried it tonite. takes a little getting the hang of, but you can grab some nasty stuff and extract with relative ease. wish i knew this was there years ago.

[Lee Schierer]

I have both #1 and #2 and as others have stated #1 is a nail puller. #2 is a folding scale (ruler). Both are antiques that can be quite useful in the modern age. The nail puller is great for getting out large nails that are flush or slightly recessed in the wood. It takes a bit of practice to get good at using the sliding hammer part of the nail puller effectively.

[Brad Schafer]

... as before, any insight welcomed. my guesses are inline.

#1 wallpaper tool?
239335

#2 a copper splicer? i suppose i could google this ...
239336

#3 "the mail has arrived" indicator?
239337

#4 maybe some sort of crimper, but what do the numbers indicate?
239338239339239340

#5 husker "gloves" - i think ...
239341

[Larry Edgerton]

#1 is a screening tool.

#2 is a powerline splice

#3, not a clue

#4 Saw set

#5 can't tell, thought at first they were snowshoe harnesses, but the straps are not right. Curious....

Larry

[Matt Marsh]

My dad had one of the nail pullers way back in the day. I remember my brother and I using it about 40 years ago when we were recruited to tear down an old house. Nothing works as well for pulling old nails out than these things do.

Summer before last I had to tear down the old deck on my house in preperation for building the new one. After struggling with my claw hammer and wonder bar for a few nails, I made a trip into town to buy one of the pullers. The big box stores had no idea what I was talking about, the guy at the first local hardware store remembered seeing one before, but they didn't sell them. I finally found one at Ace Hardware. They're still made by a couple different manufacturers, but they're not cheap.

Here's a link to one at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Cooper-Hand-Tools-56-Crescent/dp/B00002N7SD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345298966&sr=8-1&keywords=nail+puller

[ray hampton]

My dad had one of the nail pullers way back in the day. I remember my brother and I using it about 40 years ago when we were recruited to tear down an old house. Nothing works as well for pulling old nails out than these things do.

Summer before last I had to tear down the old deck on my house in preperation for building the new one. After struggling with my claw hammer and wonder bar for a few nails, I made a trip into town to buy one of the pullers. The big box stores had no idea what I was talking about, the guy at the first local hardware store remembered seeing one before, but they didn't sell them. I finally found one at Ace Hardware. They're still made by a couple different manufacturers, but they're not cheap.

Here's a link to one at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Cooper-Hand-Tools-56-Crescent/dp/B00002N7SD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345298966&sr=8-1&keywords=nail+puller


I replace the boards on my deck without pulling the nails, I use a floor jack and a section of a plank that fit on the jack to pop the deck board up

[Matt Marsh]

I replace the boards on my deck without pulling the nails, I use a floor jack and a section of a plank that fit on the jack to pop the deck board up

Yeah, but I re-used the old treated boards for my new deer hunting shack, so the nails had to come out. ;)

[Fred Perreault]

I don't believe that #1 is for screens, but I might be wrong. Most screen repair tools don't have teeth, but rather a narrow roller wheel with a recess to press the beading material into the slot with the screen fabric. #1 is a perforator tool that I heve seen used by sign painters and the like to trace along the outline of their design, then place their template on the surface, and then use a powdered pad to dob powder through the holes onto the item to recieve the design or lettering. They then paint inside the powdered area as required, and blow the dust off as they work. My wife also uses one when tracing patterns onto fabric, leaving a dashed line for cutting. Depending on the thickness of the wheel, something like that is used to stitch (compress) inner tube repair patches in place when repairing same.

[Matt Marsh]

I don't believe that #1 is for screens, but I might be wrong. Most screen repair tools don't have teeth, but rather a narrow roller wheel with a recess to press the beading material into the slot with the screen fabric. #1 is a perforator tool that I heve seen used by sign painters and the like to trace along the outline of their design, then place their template on the surface, and then use a powdered pad to dob powder through the holes onto the item to recieve the design or lettering. They then paint inside the powdered area as required, and blow the dust off as they work. My wife also uses one when tracing patterns onto fabric, leaving a dashed line for cutting. Depending on the thickness of the wheel, something like that is used to stitch (compress) inner tube repair patches in place when repairing same.

They also use a tool at least similar to this for patching tires. The patches have a plastic backing that this tool is rolled over until the plastic seperates from the patch.

[ray hampton]

Yeah, but I re-used the old treated boards for my new deer hunting shack, so the nails had to come out. ;)

I agree with you about taking the nails out but I will drive them back part way then pull them,driving them take less tme

[Larry Edgerton]

I don't believe that #1 is for screens, but I might be wrong. Most screen repair tools don't have teeth, but rather a narrow roller wheel with a recess to press the beading material into the slot with the screen fabric. #1 is a perforator tool that I heve seen used by sign painters and the like to trace along the outline of their design, then place their template on the surface, and then use a powdered pad to dob powder through the holes onto the item to recieve the design or lettering. They then paint inside the powdered area as required, and blow the dust off as they work. My wife also uses one when tracing patterns onto fabric, leaving a dashed line for cutting. Depending on the thickness of the wheel, something like that is used to stitch (compress) inner tube repair patches in place when repairing same.

I have a screen wheel that I bought as such that looks just like it. could have sold me the wrong wheel I guess?

The other tool you are refering to is a ponce wheel, and the wheel has actual pins that pierce the pattern. Dad was a gunsmith and I did a lot of checkering when I was a kid, and that is how you laid out the pattern. You would not want a ponce wheel to run across your skin.

Larry

PS. Whats the 5th thing?

[Roger Newby]

The nail puller is also very good for creating blood blisters. DAMHIKT

[Brad Schafer]

guess i shoulda just asked some of the older locals here, as a couple dropped by the shop and said "hey, i haven't seen one of those for years".

#1 is indeed a wallpaper tool. my gma used to do a lot of wallpaper work, and apparently this ended up in the shop bcz my gpa was using it to ... redo screens (!!!). the original multi-purpose tool.

#2 is indeed a splicer. i steel-wooled it earlier and it reads "Fargo GL-111 SOL 6" ... google kicked up a couple matches.

#3 is a "mail has arrived" flag. the smaller round piece is a swivel; the larger round piece is a flag that drops when mail goes in the box; you could tell from the house when the mail arrived.

#4 ... nobody here had any idea what it was. larry said it's a saw set, and i have no reason to doubt ... but i don't know how it works, or what the numbers indicate. google wasn't much help here.

#5 are husking gloves, used in the days when corn was husked by hand. they strap to your wrist; you use the metal "hook" on the inside to tear the husk down and save cutting your hands.

thx to all for the education.

-b

[Chris Walls]

No 1 looks to me to be a "ponce " roller. used to make a line of holes in a pattern and then the pattern was dusted with chalk and the lines showed up in the work piece. The 4 is indeed a saw set.
Chris

[Jeff Nicol]

The Nail set is correct and the numbers are for putting the correct amount of set for a particular saw. So when you squeeze the handle the same amount of set on each tooth. They are nice to have if you have nice old hand saws you would like to keep sharp and cutting well. The last ones are actually "Picking" gloves as they were used to pick the corn off the stalk, and not always did the complete husk come off, but it the picker was good, it would leave just a little nub on the ear.

Fun stuff to have!

Jeff

[Rich Engelhardt]

+1 on the ponce roller. ( although I never knew the actual name of it)
It's used to transfer a pattern to fabric or leather. Trace the outline of the pattern w/it, then sprinkle chalk on to transfer the pattern.
My mother had one is her sewing kit.
It also looks like a stiching tool a cobbler would have used - but - it's sort of big for that.

A wallpaper cutter is similar, but, it doesn't have teeth - it's got a smooth blade like a pizza cutter.
The wallpaper cutter was used to trim the borders off the wallpaper. Wallpaper used to come untrimmed. The borders were left on to protect the edges.
When you would hang the paper, you laid the roll out on the wallpaper table - which has a zinc strip on it that ran the length of the table, then ran the wheel down the edge to trim it off. The zink strip both protected the wallpaper table's wood top and acted as a solid surface for the blade to ride on.
The zinc strip would quickly round over the teeth on that roller and ruin it.

Screening tools have little grooved channels in the wheels that the spline rides in.
All the ones I've ever seen have rollers on both ends. One roller fits the wider splines and the other fits the narrower splines.


The "mail has arrived" thingie looks like it might be part of an old ice fishing tip up.
I've seen similar designs to that on really old tip ups. The ones nowdays, use a flag.

[Brad Schafer]

:confused:
+1 on the ponce roller. ( although I never knew the actual name of it)
It's used to transfer a pattern to fabric or leather. Trace the outline of the pattern w/it, then sprinkle chalk on to transfer the pattern.
My mother had one is her sewing kit.

...

The "mail has arrived" thingie looks like it might be part of an old ice fishing tip up.
I've seen similar designs to that on really old tip ups. The ones nowdays, use a flag.

okay, ponce tool it is ... altho my dad swears gma used it for wallpaper :confused:. i found it with a pile of window screens and stuff.

as for the red flag, the "turner mail teller" on the label is the giveaway. it props up when outgoing mail is in the box, and falls down when the mail has arrived. so the indicator is above the box for outgoing, and below for incoming.

[Brad Schafer]

The Nail set is correct and the numbers are for putting the correct amount of set for a particular saw. So when you squeeze the handle the same amount of set on each tooth. They are nice to have if you have nice old hand saws you would like to keep sharp and cutting well.


thanks jeff. that's great news, as there are several old hand saws in there (including one with an 8' blade :eek:) and i might try my hand at restoration on some of the smaller ones.

[Rich Engelhardt]

altho my dad swears gma used it for wallpaper :confused:. i found it with a pile of window screens and stuff.
She probably did...
A paper hanger's casing knife did sometimes have teeth - but - the wheels were both replaceable and interchangable & usually not anywhere near that fine.

If there's a screw holding the wheel in, then it could be a casing knife - although most of those had an offset handle and a different stle of tooth on the wheel.

[Mel Fulks]

The holes in paper and chalk thing is how Mike Angelo put rough figure lines on that big ceiling job. Sorry to shock anyone who thought "he could draw good".That technique is origin of the word CARTOON.

[Brad Schafer]

Okay, 2 more. 1st of 2 ...

241059
241060

it's only a few inches long. the scalloped end is sharp, and looks like it could be used to cut something - but what?

[Brad Schafer]

2nd of 2 ...

241063
241064

the piece was very dirty but a green scotchpad revealed what looks like copper or brass. the "rod" with the degree indicator is hollow, like it would fit on the end of a rod of some sort. the thumbscrew piece rides in a slot, and the thumbscrew is apparently for fine adjustment; the top piece is a right angle affair.

there are no other numbers or markings on the piece other than the degree indicator. :confused:

[ray hampton]

Okay, 2 more. 1st of 2 ...

241059
241060

it's only a few inches long. the scalloped end is sharp, and looks like it could be used to cut something - but what?
it is either a spoon drill or a carving chisel, a spoon drill would be heavy when compare to a carving chisel

[ray hampton]

2nd of 2 ...

241063
241064

the piece was very dirty but a green scotchpad revealed what looks like copper or brass. the "rod" with the degree indicator is hollow, like it would fit on the end of a rod of some sort. the thumbscrew piece rides in a slot, and the thumbscrew is apparently for fine adjustment; the top piece is a right angle affair.

there are no other numbers or markings on the piece other than the degree indicator. :confused:

I do not know the name but it could be use by a ship captain to determine their location

[Dale Cruea]

#5 look like side walk roller skate straps.

[John McClanahan]

2nd of 2 ...

241063
241064

the piece was very dirty but a green scotchpad revealed what looks like copper or brass. the "rod" with the degree indicator is hollow, like it would fit on the end of a rod of some sort. the thumbscrew piece rides in a slot, and the thumbscrew is apparently for fine adjustment; the top piece is a right angle affair.

there are no other numbers or markings on the piece other than the degree indicator. :confused:

It looks like most of a drill bit sharpening jig, used with a bench grinder to sharpen drill bits.

John