Mystery Solved: July 2016 Mystery Tool Answers

Lufkin reel for 100-foot steel tape measure with chaining pins. Identified by John D. Crockett, East Falmouth, Mass.; Darrell Jodock, St. Peter, Minn.; Nathan H. Drum, Littleton, N.H.; P.T. Rathbone, Marsing, Idaho; David Wilcox, Sherburne, N.Y.; Bill Shumate, Urbana, Ill.; Gary Imhoff, Lohrville, Iowa; Richard Vlach, Auburn, Neb.; Lyle Kurth, Dalton, Neb.; Dan Banwart, West Bend, Iowa; Nels Jensen, Britt, Iowa; Richard Hines, South Charleston, Ohio; Lew Payne, Remsen, N.Y.; Leonard Keifer, Gaithersburg, Md.; Dean Wealing, Fowler, Ind.; Tom Gerow Jr., Cary, N.C.; Larry Drake, Olathe, Kan.; Harry Jones, Brookings, S.D.; Linda Star, Corsica, S.D.; Al Angus, Fairmont, Minn.; Dick Poovey, Paxico, Kan.; Joe Novak, Welcome, Md.; Steve Jaouen, Greely, Colo.; Gary Studebaker, Larwill, Ind.; Guy Fuller, Longview, Texas; Daniel Naeger, St. Mary, Mo.; Richard Grosshauser, Paullina, Iowa; Rich Brehmer, Deer Creek, Ill.; Nick Cerbo, Parsippany, N.J.; Bob Moore, Columbia, Mo.; Alan Duffield, Browns Valley, Minn.; Oscar T. Lund, Cumberland, Wis.; Jim Glascock, Cedar Grove, Ind.; Paul Ryberg, Cambridge, Minn.; William E. Crockett Jr., Waynesboro, Ga.; John F. Whitaker, Wolcott, N.Y.; John O. Drivdahl, Denton, Mont.; Mike Gunther, Dixon, Mo.; Vern Notestine, Frankenmuth, Mich.; Ken Hevner, Okawville, Ill.; Ken Bolton, Fall Creek, Wis.; Amos J. Gay, Dayton, Maine; David Ruark, Pomeroy, Wash.; Weldon W. Hammond Jr., San Antonio, Texas; Amanda Kapaun, Grasston, Minn.; Bobby Brooks, Edison, Ga.; Harry Bartosch, Schulenburg, Texas; Jim Koltes, DeForest, Wis.; Walter Borkowski, Wessington Springs, S.D.; Ken Gates, Bellevue, Neb.; Tom Sager, Seymour, Iowa; Duane Schulte, Longmont, Colo.; Norman Kuper, Lennox, S.D.; Richard Bader, Middletown, N.Y.; Ron Gasser, Sterling, Ohio; Ken Bynum, Fort Stockton, Texas; Holly Manson, Stoughton, Wis.; James W. Montgomery, Shelbyville, Ind.; George Reed, Louisburg, Kan.; Mark Oliphant, Ocala, Fla.; Bernard Geisel, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.; Wendell Starkebaum, Higginsville, Mo.; Erwin Fullerton, S. Woodstock, Vt.; James Martin, Constable, N.Y.; C. Donald Carpenter, Galway, N.Y.; Milferd Smith, Darwin, Minn.; Robert M. Peters, Independence, Mo.; Don Schaunaman, Aberdeen, S.D.; Ray Armstrong, Roanoke, Ill.; and Dwight Wells, Prospect, Ohio.

“Back in the 1950s and ’60s,” recalls Dick Poovey, “my father worked part-time for the ASCS office in the winter, measuring wheat acres. All wheat had to be measured by the ASCS. My father figured out that if he took me along, measuring got somewhat easier. He’d stand me at the edge of the field and start walking, letting out the tape as he went. When he reached the end of the tape, he would place a pin in the ground and we’d both start walking. When I reached the pin he had placed into the ground, I would yell ‘pin!’ He’d stop and place another pin into the ground and I would pick up the original pin. When we got to the end, I’d hand him my pins and he’d read the tape. While he was figuring up the distance walked and recording his numbers, it was my job to walk back to the pickup and drive along the edge of the field to pick him up. When I was 8 or 9, I thought I was big stuff getting to help dad, and getting to drive the pickup.” Photo submitted by Mil Harr, Denver, Colo.

July 2016 Mystery Tool C

Unidentified. Photo submitted by Ram A. Cnaan, Philadelphia, Pa.

July 2016 Mystery Tool D

Unidentified. John Kraucunas, Decatur, Neb., and David Pomeroy believe it may be a pre-cleaner for a tractor air filter. Richard Bader suspects it is an air cleaner for a gas engine. Photos submitted by Richard Stout, Washington, Iowa.

July 2016 Mystery Tool E

Bench drill. Mechanical pressure was applied to the work to the drill bit, rather than on the hand brace. “This is also known as a felloe drill for a blacksmith or wheelwright,” John Kraucunas says. “This one features the often-missing steel legs, which is still bolted to the board. Wheelwrights sometimes used it to drill felloe holes in wooden wheel rims. It uses tapered square shank bits. I have two of them (the same model), but I have never found the manufacturer. I wonder if the arrowhead symbol is the key?” Identified by Bill Shumate; Nels Jensen; Linda Star; David Ruark; Amanda Kapaun; Richard Bader; George Reed; James D. French, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Wendell Starkebaum; Erwin Fullerton; Milferd Smith and Ray Armstrong. Photo submitted by Glenn Handke, Raymond, S.D.

July 2016 Mystery Tool F

Unidentified. John D. Crockett, James Martin and Nathan Drum believe it may be a traction device used in freeing a vehicle from mud or snow. Photo submitted by Richard Bader, Middletown, N.Y.