MYSTERY OBJECTS

[chinatyke]

Is it for dispatching geese and other fowl?

Sorry, I read 3' high not 3". Must visit Specsavers.

[Cathy]

Well there you go, it's an oil dipper, or dripper thingy... but doesn't drip cause there is no hole.

[Gloria]

It still looks to me like one of those lighting things seen in films in old castles etc. The bottom is a reservoir for oil, and something stands up in it and burns a bright light----

[Stanley]

You're all so close! I'll give it one more day. Big clue, one of these used to hang on every loom in the shed.....

[Cathy]

An oil reservoir just incase something got a bit dry, sticky or creaky.

[Marilyn]

Gorrrrrr.....I shall get you one next week, Cazza!
( might get myself one too).

[Cathy]

Well OK, thankyou... I normally keep my own deteriorations (I checked for the spelling with my magnifying glass in my dictionary, but it wasn't there) to myself!! The trick is to keep moving, but any help is welcomed.

[chinatyke]

To hold water to increase the RH because cotton is stronger when wet? Just a guess.

[Stanley]

Cathy has got nearest to it. It hung on the loom and contained thin spindle oil. The weaver used a feather pushed though the hole on the top to transfer oil to wherever it was needed. You only needed very small amounts because if the oil splashed on the cloth while the loom was weaving it spoiled the cloth. A serious fault. So, it's usually known as a feather oiler. Try this one....

[chinatyke]

Casting metal ingots. Lead perhaps?

[David Whipp]

Casting blocks of treacle ingots.

[Cathy]

[Tizer]

If it's lead then that bloke pushing the barrow is a strong man! It looks like something is being brought in pots from the smelter in railway wagons, only a short distance because it's molten and will solidify in the pot if left too long. Then it's being drained from the pots into moulds and solidifies by the time the mould moves through 180 degrees on the wheel so that the man on the right can lift it out, using tongs because it's still hot. There are lots of possibilities but I'd go for something with a low melting point that doesn't solidify too quickly, tin being an obvious candidate, then perhaps bronze and copper. Also, slag is a possibility because it was sometimes cast into blocks and used for building houses - if you go to Hayle in Cornwall, the home of two big foundries in the past, you'll see many houses built of large black blocks made of copper slag. Also the harbour walls are made from the blocks. (The equipment shown was probably used during the night for illicit treacle casting to avoid the attention of the treacle revenue officers.)

[plaques]

Tizer. A very logical analysis. I like your slag theory although the wheel can go round several times before its unloaded. eg: every third spin. Otherwise the bearings would take an enormous side loading requiring excessive treacle lubrication.

[hartley353]

By design this is not for liquid metal, so the question is what can be transported liquid in thermal containers, then will set at low temperatures quickly once poured. Only two things come to mind, one is not far from treacle sugar.

[Stanley]

Tiz got it straight away, they are casting slag bricks. Nice thing is that I found the image in an old copy of Chatterbox (An old children's comic). Wonderful where we got our scientific and industrial information from in those days.

[David Whipp]

[Stanley]

High class Xmas tree stand?

[Gloria]

Is it for holding scaffolding posts, and can it be turned to higher and lower them?

[hartley353]

Part of an early acro prop.

[hartley353]

Tiz got it straight away, they are casting slag bricks. Nice thing is that I found the image in an old copy of Chatterbox (An old children's comic). Wonderful where we got our scientific and industrial information from in those days.

I have scant knowledge of this process, but i do know the slag would have been cast direct from the smelter into moulds, not decanted and transported by rail. The blocks were substantial, commonly a couple of Cwt in weight and would not be handled with tongues manualy. The wheel is being turned by hand considering the temperature of the suggested material this would not be possible. plenty of modern processes used the ash from power stations to make building blocks. A lot of poetic licence has gone into this sketch great for childrens minds, I preferred the Eagle for engineering information.

[plaques]

A mobile phone! next to part of a bar stool.

[Stanley]

Ah well, so even Chatterbox is no good..... For God's sake, they were explaining a complicated job to young children. Give them a break! (Those pesky illustrators!)
I like the bar stool theory.....


Click to enlarge.

[David Whipp]

High class Xmas tree stand?

True, but not the whole truth.



Any ideas of its specific use?

(The almost useless piece of equipment next to the stand is supposedly a mobile phone, but the stand would make uncomfortable sitting, Plaques.)

[David Whipp]

An easy one...