Hello from Hazard!
Gary Seekings, of Wellington, Ohio, responded to Item No. 1242. He said it is a sand casting molding tool used in foundry work and sent us an eBay photo of the item.
Clark Colby, of North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, agrees with Gary that it is a molder’s spoon used in the preparation of sand molds for making metal castings. The following website has the item: smelko.com/?page_id=476.
He said these small hand tools have been used for centuries to sculpt details in sand molds and are still available and used today. Virtually all are themselves cast from aluminum, brass or bronze.
He also had a comment on Item No. 1241. Someone questioned the type of tenacious tape wrapped on the peg. It is likely “friction tape,” popular up to the 1950s and used as insulating tape among a thousand other applications as is ubiquitous duct tape today.
“Friction tape starts as a cloth ribbon upon which a black, gooey, rubber-based adhesive layer is rubbed. That’s where the name came from, not from the friction that the tape imparted to surfaces on which it was applied (like on a baseball bat handle). The friction tape was sold in small rolls like more modern plastic electrical tapes. Once applied and left to age a few days, it became more or less permanent.”
Sue Leipold, of Hickory, Pennsylvania, submitted Item No. 1242.
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Ronald Hendrickson said Item No. 1243 is indeed a rod elevator for sucker rods in wells. Mark Wilson, of Malta, Ohio, agreed last week.
Marshall Clark, of Scio, Ohio, submitted the item.
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Teri Horning sent us Item No. 1244 from the Frostville Museum and Historic Village, near North Olmsted, Ohio. The piece was donated to the museum, and they are stumped.
Do you know what the item is and how it was used? Let us know by emailing us at editorial@farmanddairy.com; or by mail to: Hazard a Guess, c/o Farm and Dairy, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460.
