#2 Alligator wrench

Just another alligator wrench, but I don't recognize the logo.

 

Motorcycles Automoto

c.1930, Max Ponty (1904-1972).

 

Horse and buggy cast iron

 Decorative clevis for hitching a horse harness to a wagon.

Coveted jobs of the past

National Geographic Magazine, Dec. 1950

  

Mailman for the lake boats, sounds like a rather nice way to spend a work day.
 

No better name for a motorcycle

  In 1931 bicycle manufacturer P.J. Meijer offered a variety of motorcycle models under the None Better marque, all of which were re-badged British machines from Wolf and Sun. The name was short-lived, a year or two later, they were called New Rapid.

Snatch block evolution

    One of my ongoing projects involves moving furniture-sized rocks with a pulley/cable system. Years ago I acquired a heavy duty (supposedly) military-surplus pulley. It incorporated an ingenious latch system to allow a quick insertion of the cable. Tip the big hook 90 degrees to unlatch a link, drop the cable in and reverse the process to use the system.

 Recently I needed to get a second pulley and ended up on Amazon for the 30 ton snatch block shown here. It does what the previous one did but with a much simpler mechanism, using just three parts (one used twice) and a circlip. I think it's brilliant, but maybe I just impress easily.

 

Lead pipe expander

  Here's a plumbing tool for working with lead pipes, it appears the cone is inserted into one end of a pipe, the handle squeezed to spread the cone to flare the end of the pipe to make an overlapping joint, presumably then soldered up to make a watertight seal. 

Datamp.org

 

Cdn patent

Sidecar Sunday

 Luigi Cavanna setting speed records in 1952 with the streamlined supercharged 250 Moto Guzzi.

We used to make things in this country, #373 "It" Khaki web cleaner

A very specific cleaner. No internet presence that I could find for the It company, presumably long gone.

 

True cigarettes

 Catchy ad from the mid eighties, back when cigarette sponsored race teams, though I don't remember any motorcycle sponsorship by True.

DFI wrench

 I suspect this is an Asian manufacturer but I see nothing online for this wrench.

 

Primitive carburetor controls

  Before "sophisticated" carburetors that mixed fuel and air in proper proportions were developed, it was the job of the rider to keep the balance. In the early part of the last century, that was done using separate levers on the right handlebar for fuel and air.  Probably a point of honour for an experienced rider, measured in fuel mileage and lack of puffs of black smoke but remember, the riders hands were also controlling spark advance as well as the usual clutch (if used) and brake levers.

 

Crosby Laughlin hook

   Just another beautiful object in an antique store, it would be a shame to put this large old hook back into service, put it in a frame and just enjoy the visuals. Not sure how old this is but Crosby and Laughlin started in 1836 and seem to be the industry standard even today. Here is a link to an odd blog entry that reads like AI though it dates back to 2012. Constructionclampsdigest.

Previous post on hooks here

 

Motorcycles on record albums, Society Of Seven

 

Open Up and Live, LP on the UNI label 

Portable bandsaw mill

  Seen along Hwy 138 in Quebec last week, no car in the driveway and a large dog made me decide not to get any closer.

  It's an unusual arrangement, a very large vertical bandsaw, possibly an old industrial unit with elevated table to match the throat height.  I assume it's homemade, built on a heavy truck axle. Quite the machine.

Kawasaki Concours/ Voyager cutaway

 

From 1986. Kawasaki made and sold the Voyager (GTR-1000) unchanged for 20 years. 

Crescent Wrench Patent

datamp.org

 

We used to make things in this country #372 J&J Taylor Safes

   Visiting Quebec City last week, we happened upon this gorgeous old safe at the entrance of the restaurant Alphonse. 

J & J Taylor set up shop near the waterfront in Toronto as a foundry in 1855, making castings of all sizes for machinery and hardware for buildings, boats and safes. They soon were manufacturing complete safes. The safes were fire and theftproof and they pretty much had a monopoly in the business that lasted well into the 20th century. This led to expansions in 1867, 1876 and 1883. By this time the Taylor family had left but the company continued to grow. When the railway arrived in Toronto it routed right past the factory, making shipping more convenient.

In the mid 1950s, they acquired Dominion Locks and  in1959 Taylor Safe was acquired by the Mosler Safe of Hamilton, Ohio.

More information here.

 

1956 Lincoln Premiere

 and also the longest, lowest and most powerful...

FICON (updated)

 

The Fighter Conveyer was an unusual approach to the problem of bombers flying without fighter escort. Utilizing a trapeze mounted in the bomb bay of a B-36, an F-84F could be launched and retrieved when needed during flight. I'd like to see the arrangement on the ground, (or maybe the F-84 took off separately.)

Update, here's a view of the fighter mount from underneath. The B-36 is up on blocks. Very limited ground clearance.

Chevy Citation

 Road & Track really trying to put a bold face on one of GMs lesser cars. Awful things. Maybe they were what was needed at the time, (Remember that the K-car saved Chrysler) but I bet there isn't a big collector following for them now, even if it will outslalom a Ferrari.... 

Sidecar Sunday

Motor Cycling Magazine Dec 4 1958

 

Back corner of the Maserati Factory, 1984

Road & Track June 1984

 Just some old junk....

Erie railway

An action photo of an Erie local passenger train rolling along in northern New York State in the early 1880s. 

Volkswagen Cabriolet, 1984

              

Cute little ride, very much a "girl's car" back in the day...

Marsland Pipe wrench

We've covered  the Canadian company Marsland before, both as an electronics company but also their vise. These heavy tools seemed out of place in an electronics company product line but they had a division that supplied equipment for mining companies. It appears Marsland acquired the Whitehall Machine & Tools, Ltd of Hespeler and the A. B. Jardine companies of Galt in the 1940s. Jardine was making a pipe wrench under the Ridge tool patent and this must be the same product under the new name. Looks like it could last for centuries.
 

Know your Lucas K2F magneto...

 

Found on most British postwar twins, apparently.

GM Bumper Jack Wheel Ratchet Wrench

No. 15659721. Part of a GM scissor jack system, in use from the mid eighties till 2007.

 

Bikes in the 'hood, RV90

I never saw these oddball fat tire Suzukis back when they were new, but they must have sold enough of them because they keep turning up, and Suzuki has reintroduced the bike as a VanVan. I still don't get them. 

 

How use a "real" phone...