…where I have been cleaning/insulating the past few days – – dug out some stuff that I haven’t handled for quite a while – decided to take pictures while things were stirred up –
we live in a rural area and I used to haunt farm auctions for entertainment – 20-30 years ago there were regular auctions at farms where 5 generations of buildings full of ‘stuff’ would be sold as the small farms went out of business – none of those anymore –
I like primitives – there’s some items I think we can play ‘what is this?’, but to get started, here’s a couple of favorites –
here is a pine chest that must have come east with the settlers – nice hand smithed handles
and inside a little surprise – a cherry/poplar drawer unit that surely must have been made later, after the move –
there were no tools associated with it at the auction, and no tools in the auction that would fit – almost looks like a machinist’s unit – dunno – needs a little repair, but I am hesitant to mess with it – too neat just as it is –
Replies
here's a major league miter box and a one-man crosscut and a circular saw blade that actually came with my house - was in the attic room - I believe it to be a 'buzz-saw' blade, as it appears the grind is for cross-cut - I had for a time thought it might be associated with cutting the lumber for the house - dunno -
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everyone will recognize this - a little coarse for 'fine-woodworking', but I have used it a bit, but for most tools I now pull out the 4.5" high speed grinder - View Image"there's enough for everyone"
here's a bowsaw - a rather common tool - this one is nicely made and came with several blades with a variety of teeth patterns for different jobs - all carefully filed by hand by some long gone craftsman -
View Image"there's enough for everyone"
here's a tool that's not really a primitive, but it was in good condition and came with all 4 augers - used for morticing timbers for the frames of structures - it will do angles and has a mechanism to 'power' the auger out of the mortice -
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View Image"there's enough for everyone"
Nice pictures David, makes me yearn for the weekend auctions. Although I went in search of antique furniture I've seen boat loads of primitives sell.
Down here in TX cant find many farm auctions to attend, do miss them though.
Doug
Down here in TX cant find many farm auctions to attend, do miss them though.
I've got a friend who lives in CO that says the same thing - big ranches in the west spread far apart, I'm thinking - and range operations don't have the need of variety that a midwestern farm -
I've got lots of great tools from these auctions that are part of my shops - these picts are of the 'museum' pieces - View Image
View Image"there's enough for everyone"
Wow, that miter auger tool is something. Hey. How does that wagon jack work?
Very cool stuff, man.
How does that wagon jack work?
serious question? just like it looks, place the short end under the axle, push down on the handle, catch the metal strap in the notches, cross your fingers is doesn't let loose - I've even got a wagon to use it on -
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got the wagon setting on the scales in the weighshed at the water powered mill two miles north of here -
as an aside, has anyone else noticed old attachments getting dark? this pict was just fine when I posted it first, now it's so dark as to obscure details - I've noticed this on other picts also -
"there's enough for everyone"
I'm getting the dreaded red X, David. No picture.
hmmm - I can see it fine - just the wagon pict in #13? - the file is located in 'knots' - I'll try something -
"there's enough for everyone"
Yeah, just in post 13. I do remember seeing that wagon before, though. A few years ago maybe.
Man oh man, if that tool with the hook has anything to do with slaughtering, give me a little warning so I can cover my eyes before you type it, okay? That thing looks a little bit midevil to me. The only thing that gives me hope is the size of the hook, but I have a sense of dread about this.
I grabbed it with photoshop and lightened it up - hows this?View Image
"there's enough for everyone"
Hey. Maybe I HAVEN'T seen that one before. That's nice.
That strap on the wagon jack catches (or not) on those notches on the long arm of the handle?
Either of those adzes have an off-set handle?
I was just a couple nights ago thumbing through the first Foxfire book and stopped to rererereread that part about hewing beams. I was born in the wrong time and place, no question in my mind.
Those "buzz saw" blades have become quite pricey around here. Thought I might pick up a medium sized (2' diameter) one at a recent sparcely attended auction. I dropped out of the bidding at $100, I think it went for about $125. The five foot and longer cross cuts go for way more. There are some local craftsmen that like to paint rural scenes on the old saw blades, but I like mine better plain.
Either of those adzes have an off-set handle?
ya mean left/right? no - - the adze is one tool I've never had much accomplishment with - comes with not knowing what I'm doing - -
I was born in the wrong time and place, no question in my mind.
happiness does not result from that thinking - 150 years ago, we'd be old, feeble, and toothless - instead of just old and feeble - that mallet in my previous post is dated 1861 - used but not ruined - my favorite condition -
to all: let's play 'what is it?'
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View Image"there's enough for everyone"
First thing I thought of with the top tool, with the tapered ends, was a weaver's shuttle.
That one with the rotatable hook seems like it might be for winding something, maybe rope?
"Uncle".
First thing I thought of with the top tool, with the tapered ends, was a weaver's shuttle.
That one with the rotatable hook seems like it might be for winding something, maybe rope?
very good - it is a single tool, consisting of two pieces and it is a rope maker -
how about this?View Image
"there's enough for everyone"
I'm thinking that might be what the perverbial "one legged man" sits on while participating in his weekly azz kicking contest? The rope would be for the Missus to yank the "legs" right out from under him (don't they always?).
Seriously, no clue. That cross piece looks more like a breast plate than handles...like something to lean against while you pull a heavy bucket up out of the well hand over hand or something.
"double uncle"
Off to bed and it's friggin' SNOWING again.
Good night Gracie.
The Human Top?"Citius, Altius, Fortius"
The Human Top?
hmmm...good guess - I think I'll let this ride for a while -
here's one for you - View Image
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"there's enough for everyone"
The gizmo in post #33 is a cider press or a wine press -- I've got one that's very similar. Ruth DobsevageTaunton New Media
The gizmo in post #33 is a cider press or a wine press
good morning Ruth - it just broke above 0*F here - too cold to be ambitious -
you're close - it's the crusher or 'mill' that prepares the fruit for the 'press' - not truly a primitive, but close enough for my collection -
here's one for you - View Image
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"there's enough for everyone"
yes, of course, it's a crusher. I guess my brain isn't in gear yet either.
We had some 0 degree weather here last week. We cranked the woodstoves and started a big pot of soup. Ruth DobsevageTaunton New Media
this one's a gimme - apple grinder for cider-making. I've got the remains of a commercial cidermill in my barn. If yours was the size of a washing machine with a 3-phase motor instead of a crank, they could be twins.
I've got the remains of a commercial cidermill in my barn. If yours was the size of a washing machine with a 3-phase motor instead of a crank, they could be twins.
any chance of you posting a picture?
here's something else - View Image
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"there's enough for everyone"
Those are what they used to wrap the power cords on at the end of the job.
Was at an auction once and there was a woodenhand carved cylinder 8 to 12 iches high with a cap held on by wire. Only two knowledgeable antique dealers ended up bidding around a hundred something for it.
The auctioneer and others there were clueless as to what it was.
When it was sold the dealers said it was a grease container carried on covered wagons for the axles.
be no charge for that story
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
here's one for you - pay no attention to the aluminum/gauge thingy - that's just to hold the metal upright - View Image
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"there's enough for everyone"
Rough guessing with hail marys here but...
perhaps used to ease a dipping of heavy items?
be bwainy
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Your picture 22. Is that for banging in metal fenceposts, maybe?
We have something similar here in the basement, round cylinder with t handles and a pipe out the bottom that was used to drill well pipe down.
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
Your picture 22. Is that for banging in metal fenceposts, maybe?
no, but I can see how you made that guess - I'll let this one ride for a while also -
here's something for you - View Image
View Image
"there's enough for everyone"
We never had one that fancy - All I ever used was a horn seeder. Got any of those?
For women, sex is like snow — you never know how many inches you're going to get or how long it's going to last.
...a horn seeder.
I'm not sure what that is -
"there's enough for everyone"
I'm surprised you don't know what a horn seeder is. But maybe it's a regional term and you call it something else.
Here's a pic of one:
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One good turn gets most of the blankets.
ah, yes - a good one - perhaps kinda a precursor of those corn planters that you stick in the ground and squeeze a lever ?- or was it just for broadcasting small seed?
really, I'm not that familiar with a lot of the row crop equipment as that was not something we did as I was growing up -
here's another - View Image
"there's enough for everyone"
That rope thingy looks like something you'd tie your Wife up with. (-:The horn seeder isn't for row crops at all. We used it for broadcasting clover seed over wheat early in the spring. You could also plant grass seed or other small seeds with it.You put the seed in the bag and there's a strap that goes over your head/shoulder. Inside the base of the tube there's an opening that you can change the size of to regulate how much seed comes out. You walk along and swing the metal wand from side to side as you walk. The seed flies out the end and is spread around that way.The rhythm of the thing was kind of neat. Left foot forward, swing the wand to the left. Right foot forward, swing the wand to the right. You swung it just like you swing your arms as you walk.All you could hear were your footsteps and the sound of the seed sliding down the tube.But it could be a tiresome job if there was snow on or if it was muddy. And keeping track of where you'd been could be tough if it WASN'T snowy or muddy. You had to watch constantly to make sure you were getting the seed on evenly. I can remember Dad dropping me off at a field and not coming back for 3 or 4 hours to give me a break. And that was back when I was halfway in shape...(-:
Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
After adding various considerations I wish to enter the possibility that the previously mentioned artifact might have been used in a cleansing procedure for clothing of that era.
be sending the prize to Quittin' Time
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Edited 12/19/2005 2:33 pm ET by razzman
...I wish to enter the possibility that the previously mentioned artifact might have been used in a cleansing procedure for clothing of that era.
and you would be incorrect - but you do gain points for your willingness to hazard a guess -
try this - be specific now....View Image
"there's enough for everyone"
That is a Jedi Star-glider.
How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.
That is a Jedi Star-glider.
damn! I thought that would stump everyone -
I suppose you'll recognize this too...
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"there's enough for everyone"
That's one of the pumpkin bombs the Green Goblin throws at Spiderman.
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Plumb bob?"Citius, Altius, Fortius"
That is a sling-shot for bringing down wooly mammoths.
How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.
Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
David -
You have more toys than FAO Schwartz, and I'm sitting here scratchin' my head like a monkey with a math problem.
That's not fair. You be a tease.
Don K.
Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch?
maybe - if I got it blessed by...hmm...would I need a priest or a rabbi? or one of those Baal guys?
if you look closely in the background of some of these picts you will see the vintage Sansui 500a reciever, in box -
here's a curve ball for anyone - Hint: it has nothing to do with farming - View Image
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"there's enough for everyone"
The Hindenburghs altimiter.
I saw the sANSUI BOX, WASSUP W/DAT?
'roofing tongs' eh? I'd call them 'seam crimpers', but youse guys are in Kentucky...
hmmm....this could be fun - maybe I oughta contact Grant....
The Hindenburghs altimiter.
you're on the right track -
I saw the sANSUI BOX, WASSUP W/DAT?
it contains a genuine Sansui 500a, px purchase in Germany by a buddy who gave it to me when he divorced his wife and moved to California with the paramour - I believe it is one of the last tube models - surplus to my needs, it has moved around the museum area for many years -
"there's enough for everyone"
Well, the tongs will allow you to roll or fold up the hip/ridge AFTER you crrimped and flattend the seams..also for forming pan bends that the handy tongs in the tool pouch cant do..we have a pair of the "big wonkers" but with more than one crew, ya can't have just one pair.
Grant has a zillion dollars more than I do, so I am sure he'll outbid me..LOL
Is that a bomb sight?Holy Hand Grenade- Monty Python and The Holy Grail.I saw the Sansui, I just didn't want to offend anyone with a comment.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Is that a bomb sight?
indeed it is - kinda interesting - adjust for airspeed - adjust for wind (I'm guessing here, there isn't a manual), adjust for altitude - 'n there they go - bombs away! -
I saw the Sansui, I just didn't want to offend anyone with a comment.
hmmm...yer not onea dem audiosnops are ya? tell ya wot - you show me yers and I'll show ya mine....
"there's enough for everyone"
Edited 12/19/2005 9:13 pm ET by DavidxDoud
Any idea what the bomb sight is from? Is that the kind with the spider web for the crosshairs? Old Sansui was ok, 9090DB, etc. Anything after that was designed purely to get as many boxes out the door as possible. The R series receivers (R30, R50, R90, etc) were absolute crap. There was a saying about them- "They put the output transistors in there to protect the fuses. They blew up because the bias resistors caused excessive heat. A higher value tended to not have the output, but they survived. There's a retail chain based in Madison WI and the former owner also had a 25% stake in Sansui, in the late 1970's. With 4 stores, they sold 9% of the world volume of Sansui in one year. I worked for a couple of competitors and we picked equipment that was really dependable, sounded good and was a good/great value. I still see old customers from 25 years ago and a lot of them still have at least some of the equipment they bought from me. I guess I am kind of an audiopile, though. Unfortunately, I have a whole metal shelving unit full of equipment that I don't even use anymore.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
smudge pot or torch is my stab at it.
smudge pot or torch is my stab at it.
nope -
how about this?View Image
"there's enough for everyone"
Sell me that! That is a roofing tong..serious..we need another one.
orchard smoke pot
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Holy shid DD, you've got some real artifacts there.
I'm having a hard time even guessing at that one.
be guessed out, I guess.
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
These look like they're for making rope.Too bad I didn't read further before posting my guess. DOH!"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Edited 12/18/2005 11:17 pm by highfigh
"Either of those adzes have an off-set handle? "
I've never seen an adze with an offset handle. Were you maybe thinking of a broadaxe?
There may be some things better than sex, and some things worse than sex. But there is nothing exactly like it.
No, I was thinking of an adze.
heres' a softball for you Ron - View Image
View Image
"there's enough for everyone"
Great stuff !
The bottom one is a weaning ring, although I've never seen one quite so Medieval looking. Ouch !
Top one might be a weaning shield of some sort, but it looks heavy . . . too heavy for a calf to tote around. I can't figure it out.
Thanks for sharing.
Greg
Pics n and n2...Those are nose rings. I first saw them advertised in the window of the tattoo/piercing palor around the corner from where I used to live in Seattle.I heard rumors that the smaller of the two doubled as a "tickler" for the S&M club who met there in the basement on a regular basis...
How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.
Davidxdoud, nice pics of tools and farm equip. But I have to ask.... would you care to part with the adzes or the boring machine? I promise to care for them n huge them and use them with the love they deserve. I do old time woodworking and to be honest good serviceable tools are getting harder and harder to find. I understand if ya don't.. like I said I had to ask. Bill D. on the western shore
Very nice pieces. I really like the drawers.
http://www.hay98.com/
Don't know if this was true out where you are, but back East in olden times, it was common for carpenters, shipwrights, etc to have a nicely done toolbox with interior drawers, etc with a weathered worn exterior box. For security I suspect. So it's possible that the interior is not an addition, but you can probably tell better from where you sit.
hey - I'm back at it after a break for the holidays - sorted 20 gallons of farm metal -
now how do I store it while maintaining accessability?View Image
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"there's enough for everyone"
"how do I store it while maintaining accessability?"
Nails on the walls. Use longer nails so you can double-stack similar items.
Don't tell me you're out of wall space. You have a loft in that barn don't ya ???
(-:
Sometimes a fool makes a good suggestion. [Nicolas Boileau]
Don't tell me you're out of wall space. You have a loft in that barn don't ya ???
I'm outta wall space - the upstairs of the barn is where all this stuff is - 4' deep shelves around half of it, crates in the other half, and the rest of the space if full of free standing - even buit a loft up at the next level - full of specialty wood, cardboard packaging, etc etc -
Hello, my name is David, and I have a problem....
"there's enough for everyone"
"Hello, my name is David, and I have a problem...."
HI DAVID!
David, listen man, what say I do you a solid and take some of that stuff off your hands? It's the least I could do. I could maybe fit some in the van when I come to get the sawmill, huh?TIPI,TIPI,TIPI!
I was going to call the Cracker Barrel hotline and tell them about his barn. They'd probably send over a commando team to clean it right out. ;)
jt8
"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill the world with fools." -- Herbert Spencer
David, listen man, what say I do you a solid and take some of that stuff off your hands? It's the least I could do. I could maybe fit some in the van when I come to get the sawmill, huh?
tell ya wot...y'all c'mon over here, ya kent have 't mill, but I kin have ya hep around here, I'll get ye checked out on the mill - 2-3 tousand board feet oughta do it - I'll even let you operate that last couple hundert - we drive down ta capital city where they make 'em 'n pick out a nice scratch 'n dent demo unit fer a nice discount, I'll load ya up to yer weight limit with the finest Indiana crap 'n you can drag that great orange albatross back to the great northwet - View Image
"there's enough for everyone"
hehehehehehe (I'm reaching for the vicodin tonight)TIPI,TIPI,TIPI!
pulled this stuff our from under the shelves in order to place the last sheet of insulation on the floor -
does your dad's barn have one of these in it?
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"there's enough for everyone"
Ha. I know what that is. That's one of them there roller things you find inside the walls of old vicky's that are being torn down for the parking lot of the new Autozones.
As for storage you need a biiiiggg wall full of nails.
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Edited 1/19/2006 11:42 pm ET by razzman
...walls of old vicky's...
not sure what this is -
'n I'd have to build a wall to hang that stuff on - every wall I have is already full of something -
hook department....View Image
View Image
"there's enough for everyone"
I was speaking of old Victorian style houses that are mercilessly being slaughtered every day somewhere.
They looked like the roller mechanisms that ran the sliding double doors that separated the large rooms.
Some folks collect those with serious intent.
I've never seen that square bar apparatus that it is connected to tho'.
Some of those old doors had pulley systems with weights to help slide the doors but I can't see how that thing would hook up.
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Edited 1/20/2006 12:13 am ET by razzman
By the way, not to get off subject but do you produce apple cider vinegar for retail?
'Nemo me impune lacesset'No one will provoke me with impunity
Edited 1/20/2006 12:24 am ET by razzman
By the way, not to get off subject but do you produce apple cider vinegar for retail?
no, never have - investigated once, but big tanks and long periods of time and a low value product - I'd rather go to the lake - -
"there's enough for everyone"
haven't seen you post anything under 'what tool did you buy today' - are you still thinking about specifics?
any man needs a good screw 'n I got two of 'em in the museum - I don't know what the metal one did in its useful life...
a few feet of heavy chain too -View Image
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"there's enough for everyone"
"does your dad's barn have one of these in it?"
Not anymore. My Dad and his Dad tore off the old wood shingles in the 1960s and put sheet metal on his barn. When they replaced some of the rotten sheathing boards the track was in the way. So they took it out.
Unfortunately, stuff like that wasn't at all unusual back then. So Dad sold it for scrap.
The barn was set up in an interesting way for hay unloading.
Most barns had a pointed overhang out one of the gable ends, and the hay fork ran out there to pick up the hay.
But the guy who built this barn had plenty of money, so he had to do something different. He built the barn big enough that he could have a drive-through hay unloading area in the center of the barn.
Did you see the post did about the recent repairs? There are a couple of pics of the barn in there.
There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse. [Quentin Crisp]
Did you see the post did about the recent repairs?
yes - I was going to make some smart azzed comment about your mom not wearing PPE while picking up nails under where dad was removing siding - but discresion got the better of me till now - I do thank you for posting the thread tho - good picts and a good story - always glad to see someone put some effort into those grand white elephants -
is the frame of your barn hewn or sawn?
"there's enough for everyone"
"is the frame of your barn hewn or sawn?"
I think it may be a combination of the two.
There are some beams with hewing marks in them. But others have smooth, straight sides. Some have curved saw marks.
As for Mom working under Dad and all that - Did you ever try to tell elderly parents anything ???
It's pointless.
Besides, I would never tick Mom off, or she might stop making her chocolate chip cookies and bringing them down to us.
(-:
And you thought punctuation didn't count:
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
Woman. Without her, man is nothing.
Did you ever try to tell elderly parents anything ???
I know what you mean - tho I didn't have to ask Dad twice when I suggested we go out to lunch today -
I was wondering if your barn had been built all at the same time or whether the low bays off both sides might have been added on - seems like maybe they took pieces of another (older) barn and made enough new sticks to build a new structure - I've seen that a lot -
"there's enough for everyone"
"I was wondering if your barn had been built all at the same time or whether the low bays off both sides might have been added on"
I'm virtually certain it was all built at once.
The son of the guy who built it is a friend of the family. He's told us his Dad made a killing in the stock market around 1900. He bought the property and built both the house and the rather massive barn around 1908.
Then he lost everything in the market crash of the 1930s. The property was bought by the Bank of Chicago.
They sold it to a church, and it was a church camp for many years. The girls slept in the house, and the boys slept in the barn. (Kinda sexist, huh?)
The church sold it to Mom and Dad in 1958, and the rest is history.
One interesting side note - When the church owned it, they ripped all the closets out to make more sleeping room. To this day there are no closets on the first floor.
Maybe that was more than you wanted to know...
The earliest Chinese ideograph for "male" was also a synonym for "selfish".