Mystery tool

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A sad tale, William. My Father did the same - built directly from what was in his head, with calculations in chalk on a black-board. (Actually, a slate, and scratch, from his school days... but he used chalk instead of a scratch.). So being of the same stuff, so do I quite a lot, but try and draw some stuff "for the record" on paper. I type the calcs into the PC. Quicker for repeatability.. But I often wonder who will be interested after I shuffle off this mortal coil. Someone once told me - decades ago - that if all the useful memories of mankind could have been preserved after the individuals died, then it would take more paper than on the planet to write it all down... I reckon there is now a computer file full of selfies somewhere containing more data than that! And I don't give a thought as to "why?"....
Maybe we should accumulate our knowledge and file it in free-books on Amazon, or whatever? Or will this site be an adequate storage of our accumulated knowledge? - It certainly teaches me new stuff frequently!
As to 4 Yorkshiremen, I have met dozens as dour as those 4! With "Nobbut smile abaht!" Liverpool and Lancashire are where all the comedians come from, 'cos they laugh at dour Yorkshiremen!
But I'm a Southerner, so what do I know?
K2
 
"When we're gone .........."

Having gone through losing family members, settling estates, making decisions about what to keep, etc.....

I hope I have the luxury of being able to complete what I am about to say, but I am planning to label the things of my forebears and my things I value with the explanation of why they are worth keeping and what they are, if necessary. As I think about this as I sort, I am finding it easier to say goodbye to things that WERE important, but are not now in the larger view of things.

--ShopShoe
 
Not to be too serious.....

On this forum were are machinists, (work)shop-workers, builders, and inventors. If we were archeologists or academic scholars, we would have moved the discussion about the mystery tool onward by concluding that it had religious significance and inventorying it as such.

--ShopShoe
 
You find look back how did work long before can help today.

There is so must that is not print in books today you need the old books.

Try today with solar power witch dates back to the 1800's.
They made solar electricity and solar steam . But then cheap oil came out.
The other is before power was everywhere in America we used small gasoline generator producer 32 volt that charge a large battery. After the generator was turn off you still had power. This what we are doing with solar today too.

We had computers in the 1800's the biggest change in graphics starting in 1950's .

Dave

Not to be too serious.....

On this forum were are machinists, (work)shop-workers, builders, and inventors. If we were archeologists or academic scholars, we would have moved the discussion about the mystery tool onward by concluding that it had religious significance and inventorying it as such.

--ShopShoe
 
You guys are all pansies (even Steamchick! She's a LADY pansie!)
Not only did WE walk to school in the snow, WE did it when the humane society was bringing wolves inside so they wouldn't die in the blizzard! AND, it was STEEPER each way than it was for you guys, when WE walked to school. The gravity was MORE then, instead of how weak it is today! And we had to fight off the wolves who HADN'T been taken in by the humane society because it was cold. We had to fight them off with snow shovels.
We used to DREAM of having an outside loo! Our school days were 14 hours long, but sometimes we actually had a crust of bread to gnaw on for lunch!
POCKET PROTECTORS!!!! We used to DREAM of having a pocket protector! We carried all our pens, slide-rules, and our favorite micrometer in whichever hand we WEREN'T fighting the wolves with!
But I agree, those were good days, and we learned a lot! We were a lot tougher than the kids today. Today's kids don't even know which end of a shivering wolf to grab to toss it over your shoulder. And they want to plug everything in. All my electronic calculators when I was in school in the 70's were COAL POWERED. None of this silly BATTERY nonsense, either!
Times have certainly changed!
 
So, William, some can huff and puff but you pansies from the 70's can't post a pic to prove your claims like this: my brother and I circa 1954
Image (13).jpg
Image (13).jpg
 
My original thought when seeing this tool was that it must be a jack screw from the lower right gravity deflector of an alien spacecraft but now I realize that despite the resemblance to a shoe tree it is obviously a runner adjuster from Santa’s sleigh.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays.
 
So, William, some can huff and puff but you pansies from the 70's can't post a pic to prove your claims like this: my brother and I circa 1954View attachment 132163View attachment 132163
We tried to take pictures several times, but the ravening wolves tore the cameras right out of our hands. So I cannot provide any pics of our walks to school. But I can say that the fact you even have pictures shows it wasn't that cold back then, and the wolves weren't the problem they were later with us. It was so cold in Wisconsin that some lonely people would collect conversations that had frozen and fallen to the ground, take them home in baskets, and defrost them just to hear people talk. The railroads put huge defrosters on their locomotives, because the sound of the train whistles would freeze and lay in piles along the railroad tracks, thus creating a safety hazard from people not being able to hear approaching trains. (Not to mention the cacophony of noise in the spring when all the whistle sounds finally thawed out on a warm day.)
 
Hi Peter, I don't remember a "4 Yorkshiremen sketch"?
Was it anything to do with "see no evil, hear no evil, do no evil, but tell everyone their failings and what they should be doing properly"? But I was raised as a "mealy - mouthed Southerner with nobbut 'tween th'ears!" Or so a Yorkshireman took great delight explaining to me...
Ecky-thump!
K2
Specially for steamchick:
 
When we walked to school in the 1950's , we we're too poor to have snow or be attacked by wolves , sometimes we would be accosted by Jehovas witnesses and we would fend them off by waving our log table books .
Dan.
I'm surprised that logarithmic tables kept them away. You know what they say about Jehovah's Witnesses and Yugo automobiles?
The difference between them is you can actually close the door on a Yugo!
 
I'm surprised that logarithmic tables kept them away. You know what they say about Jehovah's Witnesses and Yugo automobiles?
The difference between them is you can actually close the door on a Yugo!
Now now, no need to be so naughty. I have a JW friend who started out that way--trying to preach constantly, bringing out his electronic bibble--but I told him at the get go that I "did not believe in that f***ing sh**" infront of his wife and everything. Told him I have my own religion (which, by the way, I made up myself--thank Thor and Wotan--like every other religion) and after about 2-3 weeks of training him, he stopped brining out his electronic bibble and started to talk about Uruguay where he is from and his adventures in Brazil when he was 17-19 yrs old. It was very interesting. Occassionally he has a relapse and says, "But the bibble says . . . ". Unfortunately since corvid, I have lost track of him.
 
Now now, no need to be so naughty. I have a JW friend who started out that way--trying to preach constantly, bringing out his electronic bibble--but I told him at the get go that I "did not believe in that f***ing sh**" infront of his wife and everything. Told him I have my own religion (which, by the way, I made up myself--thank Thor and Wotan--like every other religion) and after about 2-3 weeks of training him, he stopped brining out his electronic bibble and started to talk about Uruguay where he is from and his adventures in Brazil when he was 17-19 yrs old. It was very interesting. Occassionally he has a relapse and says, "But the bibble says . . . ". Unfortunately since corvid, I have lost track of him.
 
At Learjet, I worked with a bunch of Mormons, and they were pretty interesting. Every Mormon male had to go on a "mission" right after High School, and one I knew well, went to South America. The government of whatever country they were in was quite restrictive about religious propaganda, but he said the result of this was that they were viewed somewhat akin to rock stars, and people eagerly sought their literature, because the government (I think it was Bolivia or Peru) had agents go around and try to collect much of the literature he and his partner handed out, which resulted in people trying to keep and hide it as much as they could, apparently on the basis of "If it was forbidden, it must be good!" So the government actually helped them out quite a bit in their efforts. (It was all quite tame, very religious pro-Mormon tracts and literature, so if the government was looking for revolutionary literature, that WASN'T it!) He had a LOT of hilarious stories about his trip to South America
 
At Learjet, I worked with a bunch of Mormons, and they were pretty interesting. Every Mormon male had to go on a "mission" right after High School, and one I knew well, went to South America. The government of whatever country they were in was quite restrictive about religious propaganda, but he said the result of this was that they were viewed somewhat akin to rock stars, and people eagerly sought their literature, because the government (I think it was Bolivia or Peru) had agents go around and try to collect much of the literature he and his partner handed out, which resulted in people trying to keep and hide it as much as they could, apparently on the basis of "If it was forbidden, it must be good!" So the government actually helped them out quite a bit in their efforts. (It was all quite tame, very religious pro-Mormon tracts and literature, so if the government was looking for revolutionary literature, that WASN'T it!) He had a LOT of hilarious stories about his trip to South America
Yes, to this day, I love the forbidden. Also, remember what happened to Salman Rushdi's book when it was forbidden by religious fascists? Anything forbidden has the same effect. That's why I love porn. Actually most porn gets boring but because it is forbidden, I push it a lot like my friend bringing out his bibble. I would like to hear some of those stories about S. America
 
All I can say is all the religion today is how I became a "Pastafarian", the sect of religion who dress up like pirates to give sermons, and serve some form of pasta at every religious meal. Instead of "Amen", they say "Ramen", and they mean it! Their holy book tells me that they are the original religion, and all other religions came later and are splinters of the mother religion. A quick study of their holy book will probably convert you, as well.
But they don't do "missions" like the Mormons, unless they can sail in a pirate ship. Also, lady pirates, or "Pirate Chicks" as they refer to them, are just as welcome to lead religious observances. I think that "SteamChick" could be one of those, but just doesn't want to admit it.
 
All I can say is all the religion today is how I became a "Pastafarian", the sect of religion who dress up like pirates to give sermons, and serve some form of pasta at every religious meal. Instead of "Amen", they say "Ramen", and they mean it! Their holy book tells me that they are the original religion, and all other religions came later and are splinters of the mother religion. A quick study of their holy book will probably convert you, as well.
But they don't do "missions" like the Mormons, unless they can sail in a pirate ship. Also, lady pirates, or "Pirate Chicks" as they refer to them, are just as welcome to lead religious observances. I think that "SteamChick" could be one of those, but just doesn't want to admit it.
Ra-min, bro', Ra-min! Just so hyou know, this word came from the original two religions from the east and west. Ra came from ancient Egyptian and Min can from the Chinese.

I would like them to come on a mission to my house--the true Pirate Ship might convert some of my many mormano neighbors too.
 
Ra-min, bro', Ra-min! Just so hyou know, this word came from the original two religions from the east and west. Ra came from ancient Egyptian and Min can from the Chinese.

I would like them to come on a mission to my house--the true Pirate Ship might convert some of my many mormano neighbors too.

I think the Pirate Ship arriving at my place might convert some of my neighbors being as I live nearly as far from an ocean as possible in the United States and 150 miles from the nearest seaport.
 

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