OldTools Archive

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273867 sushimonster 2021‑06‑05 Buried treasure #photo-notice
Galoots!

Can you spot the hidden treasure in this photo? (and it’s not the fluffy orca).
Or is there any even there?

Given lockdown, we’ve all been largely unable to attend auctions, swap meets and
yard sales in person, and instead had to rely on the photographs taken by owners
and auction houses. Trouble is, they don’t all do a great job.

This was a box described as ‘assorted vintage rules and levels’, and the hammer
price ended up as £10. The question is - what’s in the box, and was it worth it?

https://groups.io/g/oldtools/album?id=264853
273869 Don Schwartz <dks@t...> 2021‑06‑05 Re: Buried treasure #photo-notice
I'm guessing the paper package is full of NOS folding rules, and the lot 
was worth the price.

Don

On 2021-06-05 8:11 a.m., sushimonster via groups.io wrote:
> Galoots!
>
> Can you spot the hidden treasure in this photo? (and it’s not the fluffy
orca). Or is there any even there?
>
> Given lockdown, we’ve all been largely unable to attend auctions, swap meets
and yard sales in person, and instead had to rely on the photographs taken by
owners and auction houses. Trouble is, they don’t all do a great job.
>
> This was a box described as ‘assorted vintage rules and levels’, and the
hammer price ended up as £10. The question is - what’s in the box, and was it
worth it?
>
> https://groups.io/g/oldtools/album?id=264853
>
>
>
> 
>
>

-- 
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is
not to stop questioning.”  - Albert Einstein
273870 John Ruth <johnrruth@h...> 2021‑06‑05 Re: Buried treasure #photo-notice
My guesses:

A) There's something rosewood or ivory in there which I can't spot.

B) The cardboard box contains a mint cast-iron artifact such as an inclinometer
or machinist's level.

John Ruth
273873 sushimonster 2021‑06‑05 Re: Buried treasure #photo-notice
Don.

That was my first thought - what’s in the package. Turns out to be a recent
Stanley plastic level, so functional, and may be paying for the lot on a good
day, but not the prize I was hoping for, unfortunately.

So is there something else?
273874 sushimonster 2021‑06‑05 Re: Buried treasure #photo-notice
John.

Sadly, nothing old Ivory, and nothing rosewood as far as I know, although
everything was covered in so many years of grime and indifference I still
haven’t finished cleaning all the items.

See above for the package :)
273876 Spike <spikethebike@c...> 2021‑06‑05 Re: Buried treasure #photo-notice
Dead mouse in the corner?

 *Ducking and running*
  Best-ish, Spike

Sent from my refuge
273879 sushimonster 2021‑06‑06 Re: Buried treasure #photo-notice
Ah hahaha 🤣 

No dead mouse - although they came with an impressive amount of cobwebs as a
free gift.
273882 sushimonster 2021‑06‑06 Re: Buried treasure #photo-notice
[Spoiler alert]

Ok, maybe I should reveal what’s there then. 

If you look right to the bottom, there are what look like four thin, possibly
square section rules. I thought I could see a joint, and if they were connected,
they’d be consistent with some kind of customs dipping rule, but not an everyday
kind of one.

It was a pleasant surprise when the post person delivered this beauty. A 4-4
side by side format dipping rule by J Gilbert, There were two John Gilberts
(father and son, I believe) working in London in the 18th Century, but I’ve
taken the style of the numbering to be John Gilbert the father, working 1719 to
1750 in Tower Hill.

https://groups.io/g/oldtools/album?id=264874

This rule has quite possibly more data on its surface than any rule of a similar
dimension that I’ve seen. The stats on this are mind blowing.

Two sides, end to end, are almost entirely covered in tables, making upwards of
6.5 feet of data made up of tiny numbers and letters - in this case, look-up
tables of Inches, Parts and either Wine Gallons or Beer Gallons. There are over
2500 individually stamped digits just in these two sides alone. I cannot fathom
how long it would’ve taken back then to complete just one rule, start to finish.

I guess companion instruction manuals weren’t a thing yet, as surely paper would
have been easier. Imagine getting to, say the 2264th digit, and stamping a 6
instead of a 9 ( I believe they used the same stamp back in the day, just
inverted when needed). That leads me to think how many rules like this are
inaccurate, where they made a snafu, and just carried on? I mean, who’s checking
about 3000 digits on each rule in the quality control dept?

So, an interesting discussion piece, and certainly the best £10 I’ve spent in a
while. It never fails to amaze me how bits of history like this wind up at the
bottom of a box of 20th century anonymous every day working tools.
273883 Mick Dowling <spacelysprocket@b...> 2021‑06‑06 Re: Buried treasure #photo-notice
Wine gallons or beer gallons!

Mick Dowling
Melbourne Australia

> On 6 Jun 2021, at 3:56 pm, sushimonster via groups.io
 wrote:
> 
Snippage
273892 Dan Beck <drumsandbacon@g...> 2021‑06‑09 Re: Buried treasure #photo-notice
Really interesting find! Thanks for sharing. 

-- 
I'm a simple man. I like pretty dark-haired women and breakfast food.

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