What is it? Game 33

By Alex in What Is It on Aug 16, 2007 at 3:01 am

Today’s collaboration with What is it? blog brings us this strange looking tool – can you guess what it is? More clues and another photo at What is it? blog.

Place your guess in the comment section, but please post no URLs – let others play! No prize this week, you’re playing for bragging rights only.

Technically, no one got it right, but there are a couple of good guesses (booby trap, trip wire gun) and one really close one (gopher trap). Here’s the answer:

Anti-rodent device or mouse killer pistol, invented in 1862. To operate: Pull back the hammer and insert the safety, place a percussion cap on the nipple, load 10 grains of black powder into the barrel along with some paper wadding, put some peanut butter on the bottom of the trigger, place the device in a good location, set the sear, and finally, remove the safety.


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  1. Ali S.
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 4:18 am

    It looks a bit like the device used for morse code. Or perhaps an old Exacto Knife blade maker!

  2. Ari
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 4:25 am

    its a lathe type device that shaves and shapes wood as you work it over the article

  3. Simon
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 4:36 am

    It’s a tripwire gun

  4. PensarCusta
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 6:14 am

    carpenter toll. to polish the wood.

    sorry for my poor english

  5. shihui
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 6:28 am

    pedal?

    morse code thingy?

  6. becky frederick
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 6:55 am

    PensarCusta is right. It’s a plane.

  7. Felipe Venancio Alves
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 7:25 am

    Correcting!
    its a telegraph device!!!

  8. kuujjuarapik
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 7:51 am

    It’s a booby trap.

  9. Sid Morrison
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 8:09 am

    It looks to me like an early starter’s pistol. You can see a where the psitol’s hammer is — looks like it takes a percussion cap like early 19th century firearms. I am guessing the big lever is a foot operated release, but I’m not certain of that.

    (I actually like the booby trap answer better, but I got beaten to that).

  10. trey
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 8:13 am

    i agree it could be a plain and the other tool is for adjusting it up and down !

  11. trey
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 8:14 am

    its a leather punch ?

  12. Daniel Fazzio
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 8:23 am

    This is an alarm system that works with a percussiona cap.
    (sorry about my bizarre english)

  13. matt
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 8:36 am

    i highly doubt it’s a planer.

  14. George 3
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 8:48 am

    Tripwire gun / anti-poaching gun. Can’t have the commoners hunting in your woods!

  15. Robert
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 9:02 am

    Agree with the tripwire gun. I saw one similar in a museum.

  16. breccav
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 10:02 am

    It looks like a car jack.

  17. TubbyCat
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 10:22 am

    Harpoon and telegraph?

    It’s gotta be a banana.

  18. Drew
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 10:25 am

    It’s a monkey

  19. Tyroniuss
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 11:01 am

    Its an ice shaver

  20. DJ
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 11:05 am

    Look at the brown part in the lower half of the picture. See the black part in the middle that points upward and to the right? That’s a percussion nipple. Resting on that nipple is a hammer that curves upward and to the right. The black, curved object that is connected to the base with a screw and rests against the lower right end of the hammer is a mainspring. The part sticking out to the left is a trigger. The pin at the top with the attached chain, I am not familiar with; perhaps it is a removable safety pin.

    Thus, this is quite obviously a percussion lock for a firearm or similar device. I’ve never seen one of this overall configuration before. Perhaps it is for use on a small artillery piece.

  21. Solo
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 11:43 am

    It’s a vintage nose, nipple or tongue piercing device.

  22. Jennifer Emick
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 4:59 pm

    Looks like my grandpa’s button maker.

  23. FarSighted
    Aug 16th, 2007 at 8:37 pm

    Thats a percussion fired gopher trap. The forward facing paddle must be pushed upwards to trip the trigger. Place over a gopher mound.

  24. Timbo
    Aug 17th, 2007 at 4:55 pm

    This is a little wood plane that was worn on the end of a watch fob. I have a book that describes this very tool, but I am moving and it’s buried. If memory serves, it was meant to shave tiny bits of wood from instuments back in the day. Norm Abram mentions it in his book “Measure twice, cut once”.

  25. Alex
    Aug 17th, 2007 at 5:47 pm

    Ooh, very close guess, FarSighted! The answer is actually a rat pistol, circa 1862.


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