MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Bradders Bluesinger]

Ink and quills spring to mind......and Dickension offices.
The ink is in a glass well in the centre and the holes are to stand the quills....That's a very nice piece of pewter , Stanley.
I always imagined that they were for a large desk with lots of little clerks scribbling away , but no , they were for one person.... . When you had a long document to complete there were another 4 quills to keep you going if/when one was damaged......I'm guessing you started with the quill opposite the hinge , otherwise you couldn't see the ink !

[Pluggy]

Some form of burr mill with a broken handle (coffee grinder) ?

[catgate]

It is a container of the type often seen in 17th and 18th Century cabinet maker's workshops.
It's purpose was holding collected knot holes to prevent them from escaping back into the wild.
A piece of timber would be being worked upon when suddenly a knot hole would reveal itself. So the hole would be taken out, by means of inserting a cylindrical piece of wood of a similar shape to the hole which was to be forced out. As the hole popped out it was quickly and firmly gripped, by using a pair of hole pliers, and it was then dropped into the pewter hole container, via one of the lid vents, to prevent it getting into another piece of timber.
Over the years it was found that, no matter how many holes were dropped, in the container never became full. This turned out to be because these holes were canibalistic.

Edit :- Unfortunately these holes could not spell properly.

[Stanley]

Brad#s got it exactly. It's not original but a very good repro and I was given it as a present many years ago together with a pre-cut quill and a book on calligraphy. Never got hooked!
I'll have to find another one now won't I...... Anyone else got mystery objects stowed away in a cupboard?

[Stanley]

I'll be amazed if anyone gets the two on the left! Here's a clue, one is made of brass and the other cast iron, both perfectly flat and a good finish. The one on the right is easy but some of you may never have seen one before. Highly illegal and I didn't know I had till a few days ago when I came across it in some lead scrap I had in the treasure chest. It will be destroyed today!

[Nolic]

Looks like a home made knuckle duster on the left. Nolic

[Steeplejerk]

Kevlar plates and cut throat knuckle duster.

[Stanley]

Knuckle duster was easy. You'll be pleased to know it is no more. Melted down this morning. Sorry Tom, Kevlar is not right. Very obscure, I doubt if anyone will get it.

[Stanley]

All right, it's a block of lead and the knuckle duster is now part of it so we're legal. Question is, what would a bloke want a lump of lead like this for?

[Steeplejerk]

A name tag for Jacks dog collar

[catgate]

Weighing in?
Dropping on the vicar's foot?
Thinning leather?
Road Bowling?
Spinning/raising into a funereal urn?

[Bradders Bluesinger]

Are they shims from an expansion joint .... The metals will expand and contract at different rates, but for the moment I can't quite see how they would "help" each other.

[Stanley]

Young Tom! He's fit enough without carrying that round but I owe you a vote of thanks, you've reminded me that I need to drill a fresh hole in his name tag, the present one has worn perilously close to the edge. Action this day!
The two plates... Nobody will get them because they are so obscure, I had them for years before I realised what they were. They are the two small surface plates that were part of a Holzappfel Goneostat, a special jig for lapping the final cutting edge on Ivory cutters using lapping paste. Cast iron for the first lapping and brass for the final polish.
The lead block sits on the bench and is used as an anvil if you are cutting anything and don't want to damage the cutting edge of the tool. Main use is for backing wad punches when you are cutting holes in leather or other packing material. Works a treat.

[Stanley]

Just to give you an idea, here are some form cutters for ivory. Incredibly complicated and I have scores of them, got them when I bought a workshop. God knows what it would cast to make these today. Used for the very highest quality ornamental turning and no, I have never allowed myself to be sucked into it!


Here's another one for you. It's a box! Beautifully made by a proper tinsmith who worked in the shop at Rochdale Welding. The front folds down. Seen some service but still perfect. Question is, what was it made for? What's inside it?

[Bradders Bluesinger]

Did it once belong to Roy Castle ??...

[BBvideo 425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGcRynUHOt0[/BBvideo]

[catgate]

We had a neighbour who once contracted a nasty dose of Holzappfel Goneostat, and funnily enough he kept all his medicaments in a steel box with a drop down front.

[Bodger]

Bradders, you beat me to it, i think theres a camel in there

[Stanley]

Here you are, it's a carrying box for a Primus stove. Very useful as a windbreak when using it outside. I used it to re-melt the lead block.

[Bodger]

Stanley, are the little prickers still avaiable for cleaning the primus jet ?

[Stanley]

Funny you should say that. I couldn't find my spare prickers after I broke the one I was using. Did a search for Primus prickers and found a pack of 12 new but shop-soiled ones for £3.50 and ordered them.
Site was parafinalia2000@yahoo.co.uk so go to it while stocks last. They do other spares as well and Tilley mantles.

[Tizer]

Watch out with writing about prickers, you could end up with the apron hooks problem! (Remember it?)

[PanBiker]

When I was a lad I had two primus stoves, a normal sized one and a smaller half size one which disassembled into a small tin for shoving in a rucksack. They are a thing of beauty when polished up as well as a bit of very practical kit. Choice of Scott, Hillary and other such intrepid explorer types.

I found this site after a quick furtle, it stands a chance of being a good site as they communicate using proper words like fettle!

Classic Camp Stoves

Enjoy

[Stanley]

Tiz, just tried an email with apron hooks in the subject line. Server rejected it. God knows what it is about that subject the servers don't like.

I had one of those small Primus Stoves, sold it to a mate for a fiver.

[Tizer]

If anyone needs to look up the archived version of the old Mystery Objects thread, to view it click here

[Stanley]