Hello from Hazard!
The e-mails were flying fast and furious after readers saw Item No. 833 last week.
No mystery item here, they said. It’s a manual valve seating tool, used for seating valves in an internal combustion engine. Some called it a valve lapping tool; others said it was a valve refacing tool. No matter, they’re all correct.
There are various attachment pieces that fit on the end of the shaft, writes Bob Rachel of Akron, Ohio, and are used to fit the different types of valves. It is operated by putting downward pressure on the valve in the valve seat. The crank handle on the side is turned, Rachel explains, causing the shaft to rotate back and forth to lap the seat and the valve together.
Walter Fahrny of Rootstown, Ohio, said the next generation of this tool used smooth valve heads and had a suction to hold the valve to the tool, and then the next advancement was a carbide cutter to reface the seats and a valve grinding machine to reface the valves.
“Today’s metal used in engines is so superior that valve service is no longer needed,” Fahrny added.
In addition to Fahrny and Bob Rachel, readers correctly identifying Item No. 833 include: Les Harold, from northeastern Ohio; Otto Falkenberg, Mantua, Ohio; Linda Bertanzetti; Ray Nowak, Bay Village, Ohio; James Miller, Louisville, Ohio; and Dick Dickerson, Mansfield, Ohio.
I’m sure more correct answers will come in, since this section goes to press on Fridays, which doesn’t leave much time for mailed responses to arrive.
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Our newest gizmo to discover is Item No. 834, submitted by Paul Despetorich of Pulaski, Pa. A friend found it in a box of tools he bought at an auction.
How do you think it was used? If you know, don’t be shy.
Send your answers to: Hazard a Guess, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460; or via e-mail to editorial@farmanddairy.com. You can also visit our Web site — www.farmanddairy.com — and take a look at this week’s Hazard, as well as recent columns, and can answer or comment right online. You can find Hazard a Guess on the “Columns” page under the “News” heading.
You can also submit photos right from the Web site.
