The Lugzsonian - A Virtual Tour

[Private Lugnutz]

According to our shoddy Records Dept, the last time we did a Curator's Corner was #10 (Masonry Pins) back in April, linked here, and the Display Staff didn't even bother getting the signage out! Sheesh!

Today we're doing...


#11: Wheel Knockers

We had a total of two (2) of these forceful types of wheel removal tools in our collection prior to yesterday, when the Acquisitions Dept ran into this rusty box of miscellaneous brands.



Here they are cleaned up.



The top row are all Herbrand.

Left to right in the second row are K-D, NB (x2), and two unbranded/unknowns.

Bottom row is unbranded/unknown, PLVMB, and a brass hex nut or connector we are certain the PO was using as a wheel knockout.



We love the succinctness of the instructions on this SK box (that belongs to @Oldtuleguy ), which pretty much tells the whole story of how to use these tools, and the Curator can't and won't presume to do them more justice than that.



Look for more on the Herbrand, the NB, and the KD examples in their respective brand threads.

 

[Mintgrun]

When we think of Parker-Kalon around here in the Lugzsonian, we think of SHUR-GRIP file handles, a good period-, supplier-, and spec-correct choice for the wartime GMTK.

I stumbled upon two full boxes of those handles in size 3 and 4. There was a second box of #3s but they dumped them into a bin by the register and sold them separately. I spotted the empty box in the trash and grabbed that along with the full ones, but didn't buy any of the handles in the bin.





Coincidentally, I recently found a Hex-E-Case set like yours but in rough condition by comparison.



It feels like there is a rubber insert that holds the wrenches. I like the design but that Parker set is super cool.

 

[oldpliers1]

I stumbled upon two full boxes of those handles in size 3 and 4. There was a second box of #3s but they dumped them into a bin by the register and sold them separately. I spotted the empty box in the trash and grabbed that along with the full ones, but didn't buy any of the handles in the bin.





Coincidentally, I recently found a Hex-E-Case set like yours but in rough condition by comparison.



It feels like there is a rubber insert that holds the wrenches. I like the design but that Parker set is super cool.

They are a really nice thing those file handles , when we’re they made ? Thanks for the share.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I stumbled upon two full boxes of those handles in size 3 and 4.

Nice! NOS!

If you wanted to make a little lettuce with them, SKROO-ZON are a very popular choice with GMTKers. As are SHUR-GRIP, Lutz, and Disston. The spec was small (1" dia. handle x qty 3) and medium (1-1/4" dia. handle x qty 2) in each kit. Not sure if the numbers are standardized across the industry, but the Nicholson sizes were No. 2 and No. 3.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

This is the flea market find from Friday about which I was most personally excited.



It's a fid. These were used to pry open three-stranded ropes for tying various knots on all kinds of vessels.

The marking on it is "S.S.S. SERAPHIS."



That prefix, if you don't recognize it, is the abbreviation for Sea Scout Ship.

The Sea Scouts were a component of the Boy Scouts of America. They performed light harbor duties as they trained, checking buoys and lights and such, but many were famously involved in actual search and rescue operations. My dad was a Sea Scout on Lake Erie. Many of you know he was in the Merchant Marines before WWII, then the Navy during WWII, and back to the Merchant Marines. But he was a Sea Scout as a teenager and I have his manual from 1934...



...which happens to provide a perfect illustration and definition!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Naturally, this tugged on the heartstrings, and I spent a good part of the last two days searching through every Boys Life or Scouting magazine I could find online.

I lost count of the Sea Scout Ships and names and locations, hundreds, easily,...




...but I have not been able to find any record of an S.S.S. Seraphis.

My hunch is it plied the ocean or estuaries somewhere right here in NJ. There is a small Sea Scouts station on the Navesink river and a large one in Little Egg Harbor. I may have to pay a surprise visit and see if they have any records or know of any oldtimers who might.

Anyone familiar with American Revolutionary War history may recognize the name. The HMS Serapis, a Royal Navy Roebuck-class fifth rate two-decker armed with 50 guns, was captured by Admiral John Paul Jones on board the Bonhomme Richard in the North Sea near England. Outgunned, Jones eventually had his ship lashed to the Serapis so it could not maneuver. While his men raked the deck with small arms gunfire, a frigate in his nearby fleet closed in and blasted it from the other side. This was the famous "I have not yet begun to fight!" battle. You can find accounts of the capture of the HMS Serapis where it is repeatedly called the Seraphis instead. I have a strong feeling it's the source.

 

[Old Radar]

That prefix, if you don't recognize it, is the abbreviation for Sea Scout Ship.

The Sea Scouts were a component of the Boy Scouts of America.

Another new wrinkle in my brain!

 

[Mintgrun]

NOS!

Definitely NOS, but I don't know how O. (I'm not able to answer O'pliers' question).

I did just go measure them and the fattest part of the handles are 1-1/8" on both sizes, so I'm not going to be filling any GMT Kits. You guys sure are fussy!

I'm in pretty good shape in the file handle department, without digging into these boxes.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

You guys sure are fussy!

Haha. That is the perfect word for it!

Definitely NOS, but I don't know how O. (I'm not able to answer O'pliers' question).

I missed it. Thanks for the tip.

...when were they made ?

1950's. The "SKROO-ZON" name is pretty old. The US Patent (1374715) was granted to Henri Bernay of the Thurston-Bernay Company in San Fransisco, on April 12, 1921, they were bought out by Safety Tool Company as early as 1923, and you can find ads in trade mags throughout the 30's, but Safety Tool Co did not apply for a TM until March 23, 1949, and it was granted on June 23, 1950. The box could not be marked "REG. TRADEMARK" until then. These and other versions of NOS boxes with the same TM notice and surplus handles inside are floating around G503.com, too. The problem is the TM marking on the box and Safety Tool had no contracts. I've always said they were a little sketchy for wartime, but it's not a popular opinion. (Which reveals the other side of GMTKers. We're extremely fussy up to a point when impatience runs out. Then, we're willing to squint and say, "close enough!" )

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Long-time faithful followers probably remember that we have a quirky thing for utility knives and may recall our Curator's Corner #8 on the subject, linked here. Hats off to the Acquisitions Dept, who always has an eye peeled for an example we don't have, turning up an interesting model this morning at the flea.



It's a "Seeco" made by the Seed Filter & Mfg Co in NYC, NY. It functions as a scraper or a cutter pretty much as you would expect looking at it, by loosening that brass knurled nut, and sliding and pivoting the blade holder effortlessly into one of the two positions, and cinching it back down again.



The patent numbers you see are from 1929 and 1941.



Here are a couple different ads from those two timeframes.



It didn't come with any extra blades, but if it did, they would be snugged inside a little compartment in the back, with a cover that slides off and on and snaps back securely into place.

 

[four.cycle]

^ You found ads I wasn't able to find. The company had some difficulties early on with patent infringement suits (not on the scraper.)
Again - very interesting rabbit hole.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

We present an item unique to the whole of the Lugzsonian..., the fleam.








Not to be mistaken with the angle of the cutting face of a tooth on a hand saw!

If we spelled it like phleam and said it was used for phlebotomy, would it begin to make more sense?

The various sized semi-circular shaped blades or lancets you see near the ends of the shanks on these ancient bloodletting "tools" (instruments would be more accurate) were designed to be placed over the jugular or saphenous vein - most likely of various-sized farm animals, but apparently sometimes humans (including as late as the Civil War) - and then struck with a sharp blow by a fleam stick or a wooden mallet.

Credit to one of our colleagues on the Left Coast, @RTM, for recognizing its shape. Admittedly, the Acquisitions Dept was thinking leatherworking or metalworking or even gages for something special when he plucked the curiosity out of a box of smalls at the flea market this morning, and the Curator could brook no argument nor offer any better alternatives. It was well-spotted, especially for a squeamish sawdust maker, and wethinks he is correct.

Here are a few legitimate models purloined from the web exemplifying its unmistakable design.



And, believe it or not, a few have shown up on GJ before, classically, as Whatzits - of course!

An example with an ornate ebony handle, linked here.

And a cruder, more modern example linker here.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What's odd about our fleam, which has obviously been home- or shop-made, is while the flechettes and the main blade may look sharp...



...they are in fact as dull as, um, er, a worn-out simile.



They would not penetrate a filet mignon or slice a loaf of bread, let alone pierce a subcutaneous vein.

We postulate that what we have here is either a practice piece, or perhaps unfinished.

 

[Outlawmws]

What is odd there is those blades are clearly stamped out, if you look at the second to last pic, indicating its not shop made?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yes, but they could've been modified out of something made for some other purpose, no? Like wrenches. The grinding is crude. Granted, it's not finished, and maybe it would've been cleaned up and polished better. The case gives me some pause, because it's fairly sophisticated, but it, too, shows some seams and could've been put together in a shop. Maybe not. I'm not sold either way. It's ferrous with a brass finish, by the way, not brass.

 

[RTM]

Hmm, a repro is available for $120. Too lazy to read about details.

Medical Items

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...a repro is available for $120. Too lazy to read about details.

People are nuts! Haha. There are no details. But phot is not like mine at all. Single blade folding into an ebony handle.

 

[bmwrd0]

That Phleam looks like a movie prop.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That's a possibility. Safer that way. Maybe I'll hang on to it and sell it to Netflix for the mega studio they're building on the grounds of the former Fort Monmouth!

 

[Beerhippie]

I'm thinking it's from one of those Junior Barber/Surgeon sets. Very popular with the kids two hundred years ago.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Snerk.

 

[Patrick Eubanks]

What's odd about our fleam, which has obviously been home- or shop-made, is while the flechettes and the main blade may look sharp...



...they are in fact as dull as, um, er, a worn-out simile.



They would not penetrate a filet mignon or slice a loaf of bread, let alone pierce a subcutaneous vein.

We postulate that what we have here is either a practice piece, or perhaps unfinished.

Why is that so cool. Now I want one

 

[555]

In the 80s I had significant C4ISR interaction with Fort Monmouth organizations. I was overjoyed when it came out on the BRAC list in 2005.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Well, I'm not sure why you'd be overjoyed, but I was upset. I've been BRAC'd twice. Vint Hill Farms Station in Warrenton, VA, was my duty station when it was BRAC'd in 1995. The R&D lab I support got moved to Ft Monmouth. We had a long run there and all five of my children went through grade school, middle school, and high school in one of the neighboring towns. Then Ft Monmouth got BRAC'd, and the lab was moved to APG, MD. I have an office there and JB MDL, and I spend a lot of time at Ft Huachuca, AZ, but my house is still a 5-minute drive from the back gate of Ft Monmouth.

 

[gearhead1960]

Vint Hill is no longer recognizable as a base.....has a great Brewery there now....

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yeah, I've seen it, and the Covert Cafe. (Groan.) I've been out there recently, a side trip, just for nostalgia. At least they erected a historical sign, and installed a little museum, which made me feel, well, old. One of the coolest things I have ever seen in terms of reuse with old listening posts is the FLR-9 antenna at Clark in the Philippines. If you're not familiar, they were the largest CDAA's ever built, big circles, called "elephant cages" for a reason. (There was a smaller one at VHFS.) Massive structures that look, well, like giant cages. Instead of tearing it down, they made it into a fabric-covered amphitheater.

 

[four.cycle]

We postulate that what we have here is either a practice piece, or perhaps unfinished.

Given that it appears to be a production piece - not a home-made affair - is it possible it was made as a sample? (e.g. "salesmans sample?)

There were (and are) all kinds of makers of medical tools and instruments that we very deliberately do not focus on. I would think they would be "marketed" not much differently than pliers and screwdrivers - the only difference being the client base.

Definitely an interesting and curious find. Didn't they stop doing that right about the same time as the Civil War?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Didn't they stop doing that right about the same time as the Civil War?

Not sure. There are stories that George Washington succumbed to bloodletting, but I don't know if that's apocryphal or not.

 

[Old Radar]

Vint Hill Farms Station in Warrenton, VA, was my duty station when it was BRAC'd in 1995

Vint Hill is no longer recognizable as a base.....has a great Brewery there now....

Closing out the third of GJ's "coming in threes" tradition, while living in Alexandria about 12 years ago, I visited the Vint Hill Craft Winery, located in the big barn, and received a complementary Vint Hill wine glass. Sadly, two days ago I knocked it off a tray and broke it. Happily, it was empty.

 

[gearhead1960]

Closing out the third of GJ's "coming in threes" tradition, while living in Alexandria about 12 years ago, I visited the Vint Hill Craft Winery, located in the big barn, and received a complementary Vint Hill wine glass. Sadly, two days ago I knocked it off a tray and broke it. Happily, it was empty.

Old Busthead Brewery

 

[555]

Well, I'm not sure why you'd be overjoyed, but I was upset. I've been BRAC'd twice. Vint Hill Farms Station in Warrenton, VA, was my duty station when it was BRAC'd in 1995. The R&D lab I support got moved to Ft Monmouth. We had a long run there and all five of my children went through grade school, middle school, and high school in one of the neighboring towns. Then Ft Monmouth got BRAC'd, and the lab was moved to APG, MD. I have an office there and JB MDL, and I spend a lot of time at Ft Huachuca, AZ, but my house is still a 5-minute drive from the back gate of Ft Monmouth.

Probably had to do with the weather every time I made the trip to Monmouth. Usually February and usually weather related flight delays. I would have been overjoyed to go to Huachuca. We made 7 PCS moves in 6 years between BRAC and force realignment/reduction so I know the pain. My oldest attended 3 high schools and my two youngest attended 2 different high schools. My last assignment was supposed to be Fort McPherson which is now Tyler Perry Studios.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I would have been overjoyed to go to Huachuca.

Preach, brother! I am pretired, but I keep trying to talk the missus into it for the real thing. No dice. My catch phrase "high mountain desert" has been used so much it's now a family inside joke, I've given up talking about how cold it gets at night, and I no longer send photos of how green and beautiful it is after monsoon season.

My last assignment was supposed to be Fort McPherson which is now Tyler Perry Studios.

What the? I guess old, small, quaint former Army bases being turned into studios is a trend!

 

[four.cycle]

^ Fort Worden is now a State Park, thanks to Doctor Joseph Wheeler (who founded "Centrum Foundation") and Sand Point up in Seattle is residential now if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

This lumber crayon holder, also called a keel, which is not at all the file or bit holder the Acquisitions Dept thought it might've been when he first spotted it at the flea market this morning...



...is not vintage. The wood is walnut, but that end cap - which is missing a leather thong or lanyard to wear on a wrist, is plastic, and the knurled thumbnut is pot metal.

Its origins are, though! Almost antique, in fact, giving the Curator a good hour of fun and interesting research.

The classic lumber crayon holder was patented (1,603,713) on October 19, 1926, by a Norwegian immigrant, Thomas A. Peterson, a young planer mill foreman for the Carlisle Lumber Company in Onalaska, Washington.



This Issue of the DISSTON CRUCIBLE provides a brief bio for Peterson and sings his praises running a planer mill before closing with a paragraph about his invention.



And easier to read excerpt of that last paragraph.



This November 1925 issue of The Timberman does a nice job introducing it.



And it's been the standard design for lumber crayon holders ever since, copied by many companies.

The company who made ours, Peterson Mfg Co...



...founded by the inventor, is still in business. Although they now only make pucks for wood smokers, their website "About" page references their long history and original product.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Jock (@Provincial) has posted a couple lumber crayon holders in his tool scrounging hauls over the years. Here are a few more photos of ours. The premise of the tool's basic function are those splits and the nut to squeeze them around the crayon. (Interestingly enough, it is very similar in appearance and design to vintage Disston file handles, which have the same splits and a coiled spring steel ferrule that stretches and re-grabs the file tang in a slot. I don't recall finding the Disston patent, so I am not sure who got the idea from whom!) The hollow body provides a place for an extra crayon.

 

[Outlawmws]

I have one of those crayon holders; It never occurred to me to go try to ferret out its history!

 

[The Bean]

I have something similar for holding a pencil. It used to have a tapered plastic sleeve that slid to tighten the shaft but it split. It's marked A.W.Faber.



This from the timeline of Faber Co history:

• 1870 – A.W. Faber is officially entered into the US Register of companies, fifth on the list. As the four companies before it no longer exist, A. W. Faber is the oldest brand name in America
• 1900 – The company takes the name Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell is the Cadillac of drafting pencils. I think I have the stub of an Eberhard Faber in my holder.

Luv the Lugzonian.

 

[four.cycle]

^ I have been to Onalaska! I had an account there, believe it or not! (You drive through it on your way to Cinebar.)

Somewhere around here I have a wood and plated metal "pencil extension". Because... you know: those drafting pencils could get really expensive! had to use 'em all the way down to the nub!

 

[Beerhippie]

I have the exact same Peterson keel holder in my Bucket Boss. I bought it new back in the '90s.

Screw collar on mine is aluminum.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It never occurred to me to go try to ferret out its history!

It's what we do!

I have something similar for holding a pencil

Indeed! Very interesting, Bean. In one of Henry Petroski's books he talks about most mechanical inventions being reduced to only a handful of basic principles and that concept is definitely in play here.

Luv the Lugzonian.

And we appreciate your appreciation!

I bought it new back in the '90s...[ ]...Screw collar on mine is aluminum.

Thanks. I was trying to figure out when Peterson stopped making them. That seems about right. I have seen some with a brass end cap. That would be more desirable and, wethinks, older.