Vickers Vernon transport

This bulbous transport plane was introduced in 1921, the 11-passenger aircraft had a short life, being replaced by the larger but similar Vickers Victoria. Only 55 were built in total, all were scrapped. 

 

Fiat 500 Giardiniera

  Here's a Dutch pamphlet for the Fiat 500 Gardener (sounds better in Italian).  Four people with luggage seems optimistic, and the cutaway view doesn't provide much more info on how everything fits. 

Minimal maintenance, just 2 lubrication points.

 

Billings Life-Time M-2022 wrench

This appears to be a tappet wrench, 1/2" on one end, 5/16" on the other. made by Billings and Spencer probably in the 1930s. No information turns up when I do a Google search. According to Alloy Artifacts, the Triangle B logo was registered in 1905, The Life-Time brand name 1928.

 

Monday Mystery, a powered sieve? (Repost)

We posted this 6 years ago, the owner of this model has still not found any info.  We'll repost, hopefully we've accumulated some new readers with different knowledge and experience.

 Here's an interesting device. The images are of a very nicely made model about a foot long. By the quality and detail it could be a patent model or possibly a salesman's model? 

 But what is it a model of? By the pulleys, it looks like it is powered by flat belts and the troughs (tubs) with perforated bottoms point to a production sieving device of some sort? Or a washing machine? Any ideas welcomed!

Update; More images. 

This time with the inner tubs in the raised position. It appears the belts power the rotating mechanisms which also have hand cranks on the offside. The owner tells me the model is actually a foot and a half long, solid brass, beautifully built.  He also mentions that he had suggestions 30 years ago that it might be a model of part of a metal-plating process machine but do the plated bits just get dumped out onto a tray each time? And also would the tubs, being metal,  not get plated themselves? 

F N Motorcycles 1925

   "Only the shadow knows...+, said the passenger, applying her lipstick. Strange poster by Italian designer and artist Marcello Nizzoli
 Leon Houard was apparently the motrocycle dealer.

Sidecar Sunday

This could be a "we used to make things here..." Hannigan started in Oakville Ontario but  moved to Kentucky some decades ago..

I never did understand the concept of fringe...

 

Not for legal trade...

No manufacturers name, unfortunately.

Copper firebox

Copper through the ages, Copper Development Association, 13th printing, 1956

 This locomotive, the William Shakespeare, was featured in a book published by the (British) Copper Development Association as an example of modern use of copper in transport. The firebox, 10ft long, 7 ft 1 inch wide and 7 ft high was made of 5/8 inch copper sheet, with the crown sheet 1" thick. Presumably calculations determined that the crown sheet would withstand the boiler pressure of 250 lbs per inch, but...

 

1936 Velocette KSS

 

Fashion Friday, More puttees

 

Gas or electricity?

  The idea of a pipeline supplying gas to houses for heat, cooking and light was revolutionary in the late 19th century but by the turn of the century, electricity was becoming practical enough to threaten the gases dominance. This somewhat awkward cartoon tries to illustrate that point.

 I've rented apartments that still had the capped-off gas pipe that used to be the light for the room. They generally still had the 80 plus year old flowery wallpaper. Oh, they also generally had one outlet in the room because who could need more than an electric clock or bedside light in a bedroom?

Mototri Contal

This thing dates to about 1905. Just the thing to take your mother-in-law for a ride. 

Someone decided one of these tricycles would make a good machine to take part in the 1907 Paris to Peking motor race. The machine made it into the Gobi Desert before it was abandoned.

Parilla

 Seen at The CVMG meet in June. So beautiful...

1922 Austin 7

 Maybe it's just me, but doesn't the driver look a bit sheepish slouching in this undersized car?  When the simple little Austin 7 was unveiled in July 1922, it was priced at just £165, when an Austin 20 was between £600 and £700. It was even cheaper than a model T. The average British worker earned around £5 per week so car ownership became a lot more accessible. The body bolted to a simple frame so it could be a 4 seater, a coupe or even a race car. It sold well and was built under license by BMW and also Nissan in Japan. It showed up in the US as the American Bantam.

A year after it was released with sales doing well, Sir Herbert Austin started an official competition department to develop  the car and to promote the cars reliability and performance. It became a popular racing car, winning races and setting records through the rest of the decade. The car went out of production in WW2 when the factory was converted to defence work.

Lister Diesel

 I've run across Lister wrenches occasionally but never an actual engine. This beauty, about 4 feet tall, was originally used to haul anchor on a freighter on the Great Lakes. Wish I knew more about it!
 

Most interesting find at a thrift shop ever

    This machine was sitting at a thrift shop, a handwritten note suggested it was a steam engine.  Hmmm. two single action cylinders of different diameters, no valve gear at all. 

 It's almost certainly not a steam engine but possibly an homemade experimental heat engine of some sort? There is a propane burner in a rusty box (below) that fits around half of the larger cylinder, the other half of the cylinder is surrounded by a metal trough, maybe with cold water? 

We applied a few pounds of air through the valve on the small cylinder and the flywheel turned a few degrees but no joy...

 Any ideas?

 

Flywell Might

 

   The editor of the magazine came upon this homebuilt unit while out and about and thought it worthy of publishing. It is constructed of plywood over a hardwood frame, the rear end is from a small Villiers powered motorcycle and apparently travelled along nicely at 35 or 45 mph, adequate for English traffic in 1935.

Blackbeard's ghost's CB750

Weird. I believe the movie dates to 1968, the CB750 wasn’t introduced till a year later.
 

U.S. Royal Balloon Tires, 1935

 Short and to the point...

Sidecar Sunday

 Flying in formation...

Armaloy wrench

  Armaloy was a trademark introduced by the Armstrong Bros. Tool Company of Chicago in 1946 for their new chrome-vanadium steel alloy and so their new premium line of hand tools. The brand was known for its high quality tools. 

The Armstrong brothers had opened up in 1890 as a manufacturer of bicycle parts and wrenches. In 1895 they introduced a toolholder for the lathe which was a commercial success, allowing them to build a new factory. In 1909, they started manufacturing wrenches.

 The company was acquired by Danaher in 1994- which became part of the Apex Tool group in 2010.

 

Dymaxion

 

Arthur Train, Jr. illustrated by Chichi Lasley, The Story of Everyday Things, 1941

Uhhhm Not quite...

War bond parade float

Roger Bilstein and Jay Miller, Aviation in Texas, Texas Monthly Press, 1985

 

Crosley Roamio

Music in a car? Never happen!

 

Norvin!

 John and his dad Jack admiring a Vincent-engine Featherbed special outside of Jack's motorcycle business.

Barcalo specialty wrench

I figured this was another Ford model T- related tool, but Google Lens tells me it was actually made for the Delco Light Co. of Dayton, Ohio, a manufacturer of gas-powered generator systems used to provide electricity to rural farms and homes during the first half of the last century.

 There is a iron cross-type (or keystone?) logo next to the "nut" text (bottom image) that doesn't seem to relate to either company.

And, below, a better view (from an ebay ad) (Thanks Dave)

Ebay

The Grand Prix des Frontières

 The race at Chimay, Belgium was a road course and saw racing from 1926 through 1972. The 1951 event was a non-championship Formula 2 event and was won (for the second time) by Johnny Claes. Not much information to be found on the artist "Lomba".

A find!

 Found! Two pieces of 8 inch angle, 1/2inch wall, 6 inches long. 

"Leave them there, you don't need them. What do you want with more junk?"

 "But think what could I make if I had two big heavy pieces of steel!"

 "Sigh"

I'll think of something...