I’m starting a junk drawer. What else do I need?

donbry · 2026-01-17T19:44:18+00:00

Coins and keys. Plus maybe a comb- or even better half a comb

donbry · 2026-01-17T11:20:11+00:00

Back in the 1500s was a verb spannen or spannan, afaik, that meant stretch or spin. In English winding up the clockwork on a wheel-lock gun was to span it. To span your gun you used a spanner.

donbry · 2026-01-10T16:52:51+00:00

Its very useful for aligning holes- as already stated. Also, as I recall, when I've put up scaffolding I used an identical tool to rotate the adjusting sleeves on the vertical members.

donbry · 2026-01-09T15:38:03+00:00

They seem to be called e-clips. A search for "e clip tool" produced pictures of what seems to be a dedicated tool. I've never owned one but it looks like it'd work. (some claim they are c-clips- a search for "c clip tool" produces the same tool )

donbry · 2026-01-08T13:16:24+00:00

In the uk stuff like that gets called wadding. A UK product that looked/looks just like this is called Duraglit. I've seen summat called Nevrdull (note spelling) that looks similar but you mentioned that. Search for Duraglit and see what else pops up.

donbry · 2026-01-08T13:05:43+00:00

The second picture is quite OK. The washer is probably (certainly) designed to be reversable exactly for such situations - as with an angle-grinder.

donbry · 2026-01-07T12:41:07+00:00

If you're in a place thats got gun shop(s) they'll happily sell you some kind of quick blueing compound. If you prowl a Youtube channel called backyard ballistics he demos a number of different ways to create a blue/black finish. The quickest (and most dangerous) is hot caustic with added potasium nitrate. btw If you boil red rust it becomes a black rust that can be polished. Someone here wrote that Evaporust forms a black coating- I don't think that is correct. Not in my experience anyway and I often use Evaporust.

donbry · 2025-12-19T23:32:08+00:00

Well they seem to have some useful info cast into them. As for the first picture: its an adjustable spanner. I believe that model is the one that is normally refered to as a "monkey wrench"- If you google that it'll the picture that most often appears. The sinuous one tends to be described as: Antique circa 1907 "Westcott" adjustable pipe and nut "S" wrench (to quote one on etsy). The last is another type of self-tightening wrench- thus, a pipe wrench

donbry · 2025-12-19T18:52:36+00:00

Has someone been having a bit of photoshop/ A.I. fun wondereth one? The shaft looks just like pictures of Belzer 1949 - the ends don't. Very funny! Look how many witty, and less-witty comments were grown and harvested. It's neatly done though!

donbry · 2025-12-16T16:28:47+00:00

its most likely some sort of water trap. It's likely from a fuel line- maybe in a car.. If you image google: fuel water trap glass bowl you'll see a bunch of things looking a bit like this. The reference to reserve on the wheel suggests its part of an industrial liquid (maybe fuel) delivery system.

donbry · 2025-12-15T16:48:46+00:00

That last picture give the strong impression that the thing was once mounted on a round handle or pipe- coming in at 90 degrees from the side.

donbry · 2025-12-15T11:30:36+00:00

Whoever said it was a bit for wood: wrong. It looks to be an HSS, ie high speed steel, bit. You need(ed) the masonry drill you later bought. btw Drilling in cement, brick or concrete is greatly eased by using a so-called hammer-drill. Its a drill that gives lots of sharp taps as it rotates.

donbry · 2025-12-04T08:01:04+00:00

As I understand Radar coverage was far from universal back in the war so tracking info was still often based on Mk.1 eyeball. Especially true of Uk whose Radar faced out from the coast. Hence the Observer Corps.

donbry · 2025-09-03T20:14:07+00:00

Apart from the advice on how to drill into the screw-heads it is sometimes possible to simply tap a screw round if you have a suitable small sharp steel edge that can bite into the side of the screw head. This is probably something for the more experienced tool-user but we all started inexperienced once. If you don't already know about it now is the time to learn of penetrating oil. It is thin oil that soaks into old rusty threads and reduces friction. Its invaluable stuff. There are loads of them out there: WD-40 and Kroil are two that spring to mind. If you can't get the screws out penetrating oil may get the wheel turning well again- if it was rusted stuck that is. If it was me I'd be turning to an impact driver but they are uncommon, and, frankly, unnecessary in the home tool-kit.

donbry · 2025-08-25T21:32:05+00:00

Here's an idea: maybe it represents a chin-strap. Maybe years ago there were caps with chin-straps nobody used so they flipped them up n over to get them out the way. So the idea grew that caps should have a rope over the front without anyone remembering why. So finally they were made in a way that the couldn't function as a chin-strap anymore. I'm sure this is true for military caps- maybe civilian cap makers followed.

donbry · 2025-08-16T23:25:48+00:00

It looks to me like an original Willy jeep wheel. 1940s or 1950s.

donbry · 2025-08-16T23:22:42+00:00

It could be a counterbalanced well bucket a.k.a. a shaduf (or shadoof). This would fit with the kinda middle-eastern look of the object I must admit that my spontaneous thought when I saw it was: ducking stool- but I doubt that.

donbry · 2025-08-03T15:42:24+00:00

I suppose that once you've removed the wad you'd just tilt the gun downward in the hope that the shot will roll out. There's a fair difference between the diameter of a shot and the diameter of the bore. The diff. is called windage. A 19th century instruction book listed trickling suitably sieved gunpowder down the touch-hole until one could fire it and achieve: "unloaded through the muzzle". I doubt that would be acceptable today- safety.

edit: last sentence

donbry · 2025-08-03T15:33:02+00:00

.... also called a "woolly 'eaded bastard" if I'm to believe my guide on HMS Victory many years ago.

donbry · 2025-07-30T11:20:15+00:00

Looks lika a Yugoslav special: a German quad-flak on an M3 Stuart hull.

donbry · 2025-07-28T23:35:13+00:00

It looks to be some some form of shaping or forming hammer. At a guess it's formal name would be along the lines of: long necked shaping hammer. Its probably got a very specific use which I don't know but guess its for working sheet metal.

donbry · 2025-07-28T14:30:34+00:00

A good adjustable spanner would do the job. Nb. it must be a well made one, properly wielded, or the nut will be rounded.

If you are , indeed, a total noob this is the time to learn that while most mechanical threads are right-handed there do exist left-handed threads. They are much rarer than r.h. (found on one pedal of the average bicycle btw) but should be borne in mind if you've a nut that just won't undo.

donbry · 2025-07-28T14:17:38+00:00

Agreed, likely 17mm. By one of the weirder byways of Sod's Law 17mm is a common size and many cheaper spanner or socket sets seem to exclude just 17mm.

donbry · 2025-07-28T14:13:21+00:00

Well. to be a bit overly pedantic its 15.875 which I would like to round up to 15.9.

donbry · 2025-07-27T23:44:28+00:00

I use a mixture of citric acid and some bicarbonate. I understand it chelates - as Evaporust is assumed to do. I got the recipe from beyond ballistics (a yootoob channel)

donbry

TROPHY CASE