Hargraves bar clamp

This is an old cast iron tool that could be put to use in anyone's shop immediately. This is a 500A bar clamp, 2 feet long. CT Co. is Cincinnati Tool, the circled H mark signifies that it was designed by John Hargrave, son of the company founder. Previous post here.

 

Early amphibian with Geoffrey Malins

Apparently this contraption is an arrangement designed in 1931 to assist film producer Geoffrey Malins in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in a car.

Quite the adventurer, he had filmed the Battle of the Somme in 1916.  He was part of a team that had tried to fly around the world in 1922, they got as far as India. In 1926 he and a partner Jimmy Baxter rode motorcycles with sidecars around the world, the journey taking 13 months. He filmed the trip and published an account "Going Further" in 1931. I don't see any evidence that the automobile trip was ever made.

 

F-104 Starfighter

Sidecar Sunday

 

Sager Chemical Axe

Sager made axes for the professional lumberjack, this is the regular double bitted head. The Chemical part of the name referred to the chemicals that the head was quenched in during the manufacturing process, which resulted in a gun blue-type finish.  The difference in colour of the hardened blade area versus the body is apparent.  Stamping the manufacture year is also unusual.  I need to find out more on these things!

Update: Yesteryears tools has what seems to be the only history of the Sager process and axes. It turns out there was a Canadian branch of the company, the Canadian Warren Axe & Tool Co. located in St. Catherines. 

 

Plastic igloo

Ken Lefolli, The Canadian Look, Canadian Centennial Pub. 1965

The 1965 caption says, "Eskimos toting a plastic igloo."  Updated to the 21st century we could say, "Inuit toting a plastic igloo." 

The question still still remains, Why?

 

Challenge Postal Scale

 

We used to make things in this country #334; Cigars

History here.

The building today, Kamloops

Back and Decker U1021 right angle drive, complete with drill

This is something nice in a cast aluminum way, probably more decorative than useful at this point in time.  I found it at the Gore St. Antique market in Perth Ont. and might have bought the right angle drive but it came attached to an old 1/4" drill which I don't need. The drill looks like a PET (Portable Electric Tools) Zephyr drill but has the name BVT on the side, the logo incorporating the word Service, So maybe BT?  PET made tools for several companies over the years.

Anyways, once again no information that I can find online...

PicClick

Swallow Hornet

Swallow bodywork on a lengthened Morris Minor chassis, powered by a Wolseley 1200 cc six. Looks fun. More here.

 

To the stars, with Esso!

 

1946 Socovel Electric

Here's an electric motorcycle made in Belgium during WW2. The large box contains three 12 volt batteries which supplied, according to the article in the November 1989 issue of the Classic MotorCycle, a 48 volt motor located in front of the rear wheel. Lighting came from a 6 volt tap on one of the batteries. I know, the numbers aren't adding up.

Top speed was 15-20 mph and range was a short 25-30 miles. The company apparently made at least a thousand of them, but as the war ended and as soon as gas became more plentiful, the company stopped production. 

More here.

 

Bugatti 251 GP

 

This was the Bugatti factory's last gasp at trying to field a Grand Prix car.  The car featured a transverse mid-engine straight 8. It was built during 1955 and appeared at one race in 1956. Short and wide, the car was ill handling, underpowered and uncompetitive. It retired after 18 laps with a broken throttle linkage, the driver Maurice Trintignant, no doubt breathing a sigh of relief at having survived the ordeal.

More here.

Circular stairs

 People climbing circular stairs in the Eiffel tower. Makes me nervous just looking. Women must have been more sure-footed in previous centuries.

Carabela

 Don't see many of these around!

Annual dinner

 Gorgeous poster, hope the food lived up to the poster quality!

Morris Woodie

 

Sidecar Sunday

 This is George Richard's 600cc Douglas Speedway sidecar outfit, the slanted wheel is supposed to give better traction.

We used to make things in this country; #333 Robot boltsetting tool

 Great logo, good name and intriguing company name. Despite the instructions and the diagrams, I'm not sure how exactly it is used but it does appear to be a device to set some sort of bolts into masonry.   

And of course, other than a mention of a patent, no information on the vanished company at all. 

 Update; Found on ebay, (bottom image) the missing info on the side of the box showing the various types of bolts available, I guess it was part of a whole masonry-fastening system. 
 

thanks, Vecair!

Oldsmobile Starfire GT

 Who wrote that copy? cringe.

 Who is this late seventies hottie named Mary Lou?

 This is the Oldsmobile version of the late seventies Chevrolet Monza. This rear drive H body GM was a pretty good looking car, I thought; though I don't think many agreed with me, and I expect few people would view them as collectable.  The Starfire GT wasn't near as successful in sales as the Monza, 750,000 vs 125,000 sold over 6 model years. The replacement model was the Firenza, just a Cavalier. 

Sterling hacksaw blades

 Diamond Saw and Stamping made power hacksaws and blades of all types, starting business in Buffalo in 1890. I was a little surprised to see they are still in business today. Now located in Chaffey, NY and apparently not building power hacksaws anymore.

Canadian Pacific Railway, 1943

 

Great word, we must strive to use the word "blunder" more in everyday conversation...

Spine-framed Monard

Jan 66 Motorcycle Mechanics

The Classic MotorCycle Nov 88

The Monard was a special built by Geoff Monty and Allen Dudley-Ward, first raced in 1964, the name combining elements of each last name.  Monty felt the British racing singles had reached the end of their development so the heart of this racer was a 500 twin, really a destroked and modified 650 Triumph, allowing a 9000 rpm redline.

   The frame was Monty's own design, based on his mid-fifties 250 cc GMS Special. The drawing above (squint at the drawing a bit) shows a large diameter main tube that curves down from the headstock to the swingarm pivot and rear engine mount similar to the Aermacchi horizontal 250 and 350 singles. This design keeps popping up, Guzzi in the early nineties and later Triumph. 

  Bill Ivy raced the bike in 1964 but moved on the next year. There were plans for mass production but Monty found that people weren't prepared to pay for a complete racer from a small company. The project was discontinued in 1966.

 

GMS Special

GMS Special

And again.

Flashbackfab
Aermacchi 350, (Harley Sprint)

Dr John's Guzzi

1993 Triumph Tiger

Shingle hammer

 Here's another tool I should have picked up, just because. 

No maker's name evident.

Another job you probably wouldn't want (your girlfriend) to do...