MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

Clever buggers.... I'll leave it up for a while...

[Stanley]

Wendy told me yesterday that the stones have gone at Booth Bridge Mill. One of you put us out of our misery!

[Wendyf]

We couldn't see them last time we walked through, of course they might have been moved to a safe place. Rack stones from a drying kiln where corn was dried before milling.

[Stanley]

Thank you Wendy, that is of course the answer and is why Maz and Cath were so close. The stones supported a framework of light wooden beams and a very heavy horsehair blanket was laid on top to support a thin layer of grain which was dried by a low fire burning below. There is good evidence for the blankets and they must have been very heavy and hand woven.
Next for shaving?

[Wendyf]

This image was on the poster for the History Society Xmas meeting when we displayed objects from our archive for folk to guess what they were. It's the item on the left that is still a mystery to us, it is marked 4 x 1/2 and is presumably a gauge of some sort but what was it used for?

[chinatyke]

I can picture that with 2 threaded bolts coming through, or the ends of a long u-bolt, so I'm suggesting it was a u-bolt end for supporting joists.

[Stanley]

I've never seen one before but everything else in the image is directly connected to weaving except the pocket watch shaped instrument which is I think a yarn calculator. So there's a good chance it is a gauge connected with textiles.
My best guess is something like a gauge for spacing splitting rods which were laths that separated the warp yarns into sheds. They were attached to the frame of the loom by strings which could be adjusted to hold them in place as the warp yarn moved forward. (I'm not very confident with this.....)
PS. The drawing in knife at the bottom is incomplete, its hooked blade is missing. It was used for drawing the warp ends through the reed when setting up a looming frame.



Here's Jim using one, he has it in his left hand and you can see the blade in the reed. The magic of the drawing in knife was that when you pushed it right up through the reed it automatically moved over into the next dent. There was a notch on the front of the blade and when you pushed it up to the top you drew the ends you wanted (two to a dent in many cloths) through the healds, popped them in the notch and drew the knife down. You can see the ends already drawn through to the left. The hook on the end of the blade was so that you could leave go of the knife and it stayed in the dent you were working on. A very clever bit of kit!

[chinatyke]

Could it have been a template for drilling half inch holes at 4" centres?

[Wendyf]

Thanks for the suggestions, the gauge didn't have any connection to the other articles, we just put them together for the photo. I like the idea that it was used for spacing the splitting rods but would you need the half inch measurement for that?
I'll print off the photo and your explanation of how a drawing knife was used to put with the knife in the Archive.

[Stanley]

Good idea. Jim's name was Pollard, weaving manager at Bancroft Shed.



I found this image of a complete reed knife on the web.

[Wendyf]

Thank you.

[Stanley]

We need an object....

[PanBiker]

Carbon Dioxide cartridge from a soda syphon.

[Stanley]

Sorry Ian, too small, look at the size....

[Cathy]

Is it part of a Ratchet?

[Big Kev]

Part of a socket set?

[Stanley]

Sorry, no to both. It is an object that has its own discreet function.

[PanBiker]

I still think it's some kind of pressurised gas container but at that size could only really be for some kind of hand held tool. Having said that most impact type hand tools are spring driven?

[plaques]

Thermal relief valve, probably to fit some long extinct steam engine.

[Stanley]

Sorry, no pressure or mechanicals involved. It's far more simple than that. Look at the black ring round it, that's a clue......

[plaques]

Jack's man whistle. One blow and Stanley comes running.

[Gloria]

Is it for storing old 6ds?
That answer shows I've no idea.

[chinatyke]

Sorry, no pressure or mechanicals involved. It's far more simple than that. Look at the black ring round it, that's a clue......

The black ring could be an O ring, and it looks to have a hole in the thin end suggesting that it pivoted or moved, so is it something to do with a grease gun mechanism?

[chinatyke]

Or is it something for cleaning the bowl of one of your pipes?

[Stanley]

P's man-whistle and China's observations are all hovering around the answer. I'll give it one more day....