weird things in attics

[TexasRed]

..... we discovered that the sonic squeakers we bought to chase the bats killed all the wasps. Also got rid of all but the occasional bat.

I'd love to know the brand / model or any info about your sonic squeakers. We have wasps upon wasps - I'm willing to try almost anything before resorting to chemicals again. We had the local "bug manager" spray last year and it did help for a few months, but with spring arriving, so are the wasps.

Thanks for any info you could pass on.

[awomanwithahammer]

It wasn't, strictly speaking, in the attic, but when the 1870 college building in which I work was gutted to the exterior walls and floors and rebuilt a few years ago, the 3rd floor was found to be hung from the roof by long poles! Fascinating, and more than a little frightening.

[Texas_Ranger]

Well not attached to the house in any way but in the middle of a collection of rusty hardware I found several huge screws called "Tirefond screws" and used to attach railway track to the sleepers! On top of that we found a piece of rail in the garden - I suppose discarded somewhere and repurposed back when this was a working farm. The screws were the real deal but the rail was quite small in profile, much to small for a regular railroad. It might have come from some kind of factory where they pushed large carts around by hand, apparently that was fairly common around the turn of the century.

[phil]

I bought a box of old tools at an auction , there was a little 4 jaw chuck in there I wanted but it had some other interesting old goodies. amongst them were these things that look like staples only thye were heavier than staples. the prongs sort of lean away from each other with a U shape between them.
I was puzzled so posted them on a woodwork forum. it turned out they are things you drive in between two adjacent boards and so as they go in they draw the boards together. I assume to glue them or maybe to nail them up tight against one another. maybe something from boat making? I think they are supposed to be reusable and not hardware you'd leave there, and there were various sizes of them. I've never seen anything like them before or since.

[phil]

I think "tirefond screws" is basically french for "lag screw" I dont' really speak french but I found a few references.

maybe it it's small track it could be remnants from a mine. sometimes mines get deserted and then later people go take the stuff, like the tracks used for the coal carts to run on.

[phil]

Dad gave me some nice old long clamps. they are rectangular wooden rods with holes drilled in every inch or so. the moveable cast iron part is designed to hook into your choice of holes and squeezes against the fixed end. They work much like a modern day pipe clamps (or pony clamps) but they are older and neater

[phil]

here's a pic of the "tirefond scres used on railway track of some sort. you can see this type of screw has a heavy shoulder near the square head.

http://www.trainsfrancais.com/forum/vie ... 25&t=28038

on this page , part way down there is a black and white line drawing depicting a somewhat unusual looking crescent wrench.

http://www.vis-express.fr/blog/retirer- ... -conseils/

there is an antique electrical display near here with a wrench like that in a display case. I sort of wondered what reference to early electrical the wrench had and why it was offset. It now occurs to me that they would have used these lag screws for holding the parts of early telephone or telegraph lines together and maybe to fix insulators and whatnot to poles and houses. so maybe that funny shaped crescent wrench was sort of an early linesman tool that was used in conjunction with the early lag screws.

above the picture of the wrench is I guess what must be a n early "ez out" type thread extractor. I can't read the text but it appears they have a broken bolt, then drill it then use the extractor tool to unscrew the broken section. the shape of the "screw" which is reverse threaded is an early design. I'm pretty sure I got one of those in my box of goodies as well.. It looks kind of handmade. I thought it was perhaps for removing plugs in wooden barrels or something.

[Texas_Ranger]

In German the term is used to describe a very specific type of screw with a square (very old) or rectangular (post-WWII) head, only used for railway construction.

I doubt the rail is from a mine as there aren't any nearby but similar systems were used in factories all over the place. Even some small urban workshops had track systems like that. They'd lead from the street entrance of a working-class apartment building into the backyard shop. Some of those tracks can still be found in Vienna.

[Olson185]

here's a pic of the "tirefond scres used on railway track of some sort. you can see this type of screw has a heavy shoulder near the square head.

on this page , part way down there is a black and white line drawing depicting a somewhat unusual looking crescent wrench.

http://www.vis-express.fr/blog/retirer- ... -conseils/

there is an antique electrical display near here with a wrench like that in a display case. I sort of wondered what reference to early electrical the wrench had and why it was offset. It now occurs to me that they would have used these lag screws for holding the parts of early telephone or telegraph lines together and maybe to fix insulators and whatnot to poles and houses. so maybe that funny shaped crescent wrench was sort of an early linesman tool that was used in conjunction with the early lag screws.

I did not realize other people also called adjustable wrenches a "Crescent wrench". Sharing the same hometown as the Crescent Tool Co.'s (Jamestown, NY), I thought it was just us. The type of wrench depicted appears to use a sliding lever (like found on a box cutter) to tighten the jaws of the wrench, instead of a thumb screw. However, I can't imagine this would work with an offset head. I'm guessing it was just drawn incorrectly or it's not adjustable or I'm just seeing it incorrectly.

Glass insulators on old telephone poles are set on wood dowels (no screws involved). Which is how they're easily picked-off with a long pole. They used to have a decent market value to collectors (about $20 ea. in the late 1970's-early 1980's) until so many railroad right-of-ways (RoW's) became abandoned (and wires moved) that now they're only $5-$10 each (for the common ones) and hard to find on abandoned poles.

The porcelain insulators (found on old houses & KnTube) are screwed into place as you described; I guess because they're lighter than glass.

[phil]

I figured maybe they would have been using lag bolts for things like attaching the "stays" or whatever the crosspieces that carry the wires are called but maybe they just used spikes.
I've got one of the threaded wooden pegs and an old telephone pole that was used for the clothesline, and some old insulators. I have always wanted to set up the insulator to hold the end of a radio antenna but I keep putting off trying to climb the pole with a ladder and the pole is pretty old , maybe I can reinforce it . it looks solid enough but I'd hate for it to fall on someone. Ive even got some old antenna kits from the 30's with all the accessories, not that you need a lot but they are at least original old parts. there is a bit of flat tin to bend through the window frame and the wire and lightening arrester and about 70 feet of wire is optimal.

the insulators vary but only the rare ones are really worth the money. my parents were friends with this guy that has an "insulator ranch" evidently he has a huge collection and once a year hosts all the local insulator collectors. they must be a rowdy bunch I have a couple of green and blue ones..

Yes we have crescent wrenches the name stuck with the tool, I guess you can call them an adjustable spanner or adjustable wrench but normally we always called them crescent wrenches. I have a few of the crescent brand and they are great. Im a millwright so they are my favorite and also more often than not a hammer too.. sometimes you have to improvise or go get more tools so Ive learned what I need to carry and a crescent is a necessity.

I think that one is showing the thumbwheel and even the little screw that holds the thumbwheel but it's just an artists rendition. I dont' see offset ones very often.
I've even got a monkey wrench or a ford wrench. they probably arent' too uncommon some people call a crescent wrench a monkey wrench just using the term loosely. I guess that was the predecessor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_wrench

I guess this was the inventor of the monkey wrench.
Coes from Worcester MA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coes_Wrench_Company