MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Big Kev]

Roof props?

[Stanley]

Sorry no, nothing to do with pit props.

[chinatyke]

Rubber tree? A big one in the wild.

[Stanley]

You're getting very close Graham. Not rubber but definitely on that track. Remember I want the connection with mining.

[Big Kev]

Leaf mining larvae?

[Stanley]

Sorry no Kev. The mining connection is conveyor belts. Now tell me what we are looking at.

[chinatyke]

I can only think that it must be the creeper vine things that hang down (ligands - is that the right word?). Perhaps they give a long fibre when processed that has higher strength in conveyor belting. Only guessing. I was thinking of rubber conveyor belting when I suggested a rubber tree.

[Stanley]

You're almost there Graham! We're looking at a natural resource, not rubber, that is used in conveyor belting and earlier in flat belts for driving machines.

[chinatyke]

Could this be it? Never heard of it before but I found this on the web:

Balata belts
They are similar to the rubber belt but stronger than rubber belt. In this type, balata gum is used instead of rubber. Balata belt is waterproof and has high resistance to acidic, alkaline materials, so they are used for food packing conveyor. It cannot use at a high temperature because balata becomes sticky gum at a higher temperature.

Or another tree resin like gum arabic?

[Stanley]

You've got it Graham. Balata, also called Gutta Balata, hard rubber-like material made by drying the milky juice produced principally by the bully tree (species Manilkara bidentata) of Guyana and the West Indies. The tree is tapped by cutting zigzag gashes in the bark and collecting the latex in cups, to be coagulated in trays. Like gutta-percha, balata is inelastic, tough, leathery, and water-resistant, and it softens when heated. It is often used as a substitute for the more expensive gutta-percha, chiefly in the manufacture of golf balls and machine belting.
Next one?

[chinatyke]

You've got it Graham. Balata, also called Gutta Balata, hard rubber-like material made by drying the milky juice produced principally by the bully tree (species Manilkara bidentata) of Guyana and the West Indies.

I can't take the credit - Chalk it up to t'Internet not me! The power of search engines! I use 'Bing' because Google is crippled in China. Anyway I've learned something new!

[Stanley]

These were common when I was a lad, what did we call them?

[Gloria]

Looks like a plastic drawing pin, which came in various colours and used to fasten things onto hardboard?

[Stanley]

Sorry Gloria but no. These were about long before plastics!

[Big Kev]

Is it a shirt stud?

[Tizer]

Cufflink? Or for binding together sheets of paper?

[Stanley]

Sorry, none of the above. You're all close in function but wrong in description and the function itself. Sorry if that sounds like gobbledegook, it's hard to explain without giving it to you and I'm enjoying being in front of the pack for a while!

[chinatyke]

A 2-part stud button that was used to reinforce corners of pockets and often found on workwear and denim.

[Stanley]

No Graham but I'm going to give it to you because you have got the fact it's a button. It didn't need sewing on and was always referred to as a 'Bachelor's Button'.
Next one?

[Tripps]

What's going on here. . .?

boulder1.jpeg

[PanBiker]

Looks like they are installing a large rock that is going to have an inscription plaque on it. Or maybe they are removing it?

[Tripps]

It occurred last Friday.

[PanBiker]

Is it a new marker for ground zero in Hiroshima?

[Tripps]

Sorry no - it's in the USA.

[Big Kev]

Is it something to do with Plymouth Rock and The Mayflower?