Mystery Monday - 9/27 Revealed

Yesterday we asked the Mystery Monday question...

What Is It?

The answer?

The Archimedes drill predates the Yankee screwdriver by a few hundred years, but it works much the same way. When you drive the handle down in a linear motion, the small chuck at the right end of the threads spins the drill.

I found the picture above on an antique site — this particular Archimedes drill was designed for jewelers, to drill tiny holes in soft metal. I’m sure the torque is nothing to speak of, and the RPM is somewhere just above a plain old screwdriver, but this actually makes it perfect for a few applications.

The drill below, sold by Garrett Wade, accepts bits smaller than 1/16″. Though tiny bits are easy to break, with a drill like this you’ve got way more control and will probably see the flex in the bit before you break it.

The fact that you can buy this tool new makes the antique even cooler — because somebody is still using these.

Congratulations to Greta Koehl for correctly guessing what kind of instrument this is!

Mystery Monday

What Is It?

Answer below.

What Is It?

This is a butter churn!

Cornish, Curtis & Greene Butter Churn  At first this antique churn's design looks like a crazy idea, but as soon as you start to spin it, you instantly realize that this fellow had come up with a winner. Because he hooked up his supports at opposing diagonal corners, this puppy revolves almost effortlessly because it is so out of balance.  I have had square churns that were just mounted on opposing parallel sides, and they were slow, off balance, and not at all interesting to see in operation.  This one on the other hand is super both in looks and action, and will be a highlight of the churn collection.  The stencil and writing that remain attest to this fact, and it has info on several of the side panels about all the awards it won at the state fairs and such.  I imagine that it won even more than these.  This is the smallest #1 size, and I would estimate it at about 5 or 6 gallons.