Hello from Hazard!
We received several more correct identifications of Item No. 641, which we first unveiled last week (no, they didn’t cheat after they saw last week’s paper; there’s several days of overlap between when we go to print and when you receive the paper). Item No. 641 was a set of taps used to cut threads.
Gold stars go to: John Borsi of Chesterland, Ohio; Jeffrey Lehn, Baden, Pa.; Randy Winland of Prospect, Ohio (who’s 2 for 2 in the last two weeks!); Willis J. McCurley, New Castle, Pa.; Ron Morris of Hartville, Ohio; Rex Rowland, Lake Milton; and Jack Neumeyer, Locust, N.C.
Mr. McCurley describes the taps’ use in an automatic threading machine, which threads the nuts continuously: “The unthreaded blanks are fed onto the tap from a hex-shaped tube that rotates, driving the nuts over the tap and cutting the threads. As more blanks are fed onto the tap, the threaded nuts pass around the curved end of the tap and fall off into a bin or tub.
“In order for the process to be continuous, the tap cannot be attached to anything, so it “floats” in a confined space. The reason for the curved shank is to keep the tap from rotating as the nuts pass over the thread cutting portion of the tap.”
On to Item No. 642. I received only one guess by Monday morning (so far…), but it was a correct one. Another gold star goes to Tom Collier of Uniontown, Ohio, who tells us the tool is used to grease automobile leaf springs. You drive the wedge part between the leaves, then turn down the grease cup.
Many thanks to Gailey Henderson of Williamstown, W.Va., for submitting the item.
This week’s item is a fun one – maybe the most unusual one we’ve featured in a long time. Ron Holland of Malvern, Ohio, shares this gizmo, which is about 11 inches long. What do you think it is? Send you responses to: Hazard a Guess, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460; or via e-mail to: editorial@farmanddairy.com.
