MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

Glo, if I'm right we have to think of old-fashioned beds.....

[Tizer]

Tiz, near enough, it's a current sad cake.....

Well at least it's not out of date then!

[Tripps]

Sad wedding - even the cake was in tiers . . . . ouch.

[plaques]

OK Stanley 50 Nectar Points.

Its an old bed spanner. Used for tightening up the woven sprung mattresses.

To sleep perchance to dream. Not the 40 winks but the BIG sleep.

(Sorry about having to read Shakespeare)

[plaques]

Something that every shed man has.

[Stanley]

Here's an earlier version, much heavier than the modern Picador version but too big, I have never used it! Question is though, what is it?

[Cathy]

Is it a clamp of some sort?

[plaques]

Stanley. I'm afraid I'm going to have to handicap you on my postings. ie: no answers before 12 noon. or no Nectar points.
but in this case I'll go along with you. What is it?.

[Stanley]

Cath, you're quite right, it is a very specialised clamp but the question is what for?

[Stanley]

I think they are stalled on this one P.

[plaques]

I was getting bored with it myself. Stanley since you guessed it, You should do the honours.

[Stanley]

Right.



Here's the little bloke ready for action. Almost all engineers think they are good at sharpening twist drills freehand. They are wrong and this little jig makes it easy to get the angles on the cutting edges perfect every time. The big one I posted is actually a better design but meant for a far bigger wheel so I have never used it.

Try this one....

[Stanley]

Come on Gloria!

[Gloria]

Maybe a pump of some description.

[Stanley]

There you are! Your instincts are right and small wonder you couldn't identify it exactly.



It's a Buffalo feed water injector and is a way of pumping water into a steam boiler under high pressure. This is usually done by a mechanical pump but in this case is done by making use of the properties of a jet of steam at boiler pressure emerging from a venturi and picking up cold feed water and forcing it into the boiler. A neat trick when you consider that steam at boiler pressure is being used to force the water in at an even higher pressure. They had the added advantage that they warmed to feed water. So there you are Glo, your engineering instincts are intact! Now try this one....

[Gloria]

Is it a valve seat re-cutter???

[Stanley]

Bloody hell Gloria..... You're spot on. Now I'll have to find another! Here's another Oldie, exact description please....

[David Whipp]

For testing pressure?

[Gloria]

Not a bloody clue.

[LizG]

Just looks like a box of 'stuff' to me.

[Stanley]

I thought you'd remember this one Glo. David is right but a bit more detail please.....

[Gloria]

For a steam boiler?????

[Stanley]

Near enough Glo. It's a Vulcan test pump for hydraulically testing boilers to 50% more than working pressure. Done at manufacture and every ten years after that. Vulcan Insurance was one of the main companies supervising boiler safety and, as they accepted the risk, they made quite sure the inspections were done on time and supervised properly. Try this one....

[Gloria]

Looks like a mud flap off a front wheel of a car or lorry.

[Stanley]

You are right in that it's black and made of rubber Glo but a bit small for a mud-flap. It's a bit more personal than that!