Gristmill What’s It

2023

From 2023 Issues

What’s Its From the December 2023 Issue

193-1 This tool is a ring inserter for use with an Alfa Laval milking machine teat cup.

It is part of this set of teat cup liner assembly tools. The fourth piece of this set was a liner cutter tool.

193-2 No answer yet, it looks like some type of grinder.

193-3 This is a cachet filling apparatus used for making early herbal powder filled paper cachets (pills). It was developed in France in the end of the 19th century for the apothecary industry. The different layers allowed the rice paper and inserts to be assembled while keeping the glue, paper, and powders separated.

193-4 A tool for puncturing rye bread, the loaves are punctured to allow carbon dioxide gas to escape during baking and prevent the loaves from cracking.

What’s Its From the September 2023 Issue

192-1 This tool is a tire bolter, the inventor of it says it was “designed for putting on or taking off the nuts from the bolts that hold wheel-tires in position.” Patent number 566,520
https://patents.google.com/patent/US566520

Tire Bolter

192-2 This device was made by Swedish company Alfa Laval and was used for expanding and folding the liner of a milking machine teat cup. Patent number 1,793,454

https://patents.google.com/patent/US1793454

192-3 No answer yet, approximately 8″ long, the owner of it says that “It appears to function to convert rotational motion into linear up and down motion.”

192-4 No answer yet, 10″ long, weighs about 5 pounds, when the handle is pushed down it acts as a lever to raise the small round part about 3/32″.

What’s Its From the June 2023 Issue

191-1

A liner stretcher for use with an Alfa Laval milking machine, it is part of a set of teat cup liner assembly tools.

191-2 This item is a sphygmograph, it was a mechanical device used to measure blood pressure in the mid-19th century.

191-3 A wedge for splitting wood for the fireplace, in use a small board was placed on the top of it and then struck with a mallet.’

191-4 A Magic Egg Tester, the wires would hold an egg which was then placed into a glass of water. The gauge on the side of this tester would then be read at the water level to determine if the egg was ready to be put into an incubator.

What’s Its From the March 2023 Issue

190-1 A dental mouth gag, it was slowly screwed between a patient’s teeth to open their mouth. More information on this item can be found on this site: https://phisick.com/item/mr-maunders-dental-mouth-gag/

190-2 A staple puller, for the large U-nail type staples that are used when making a wire fence. Patent number 2,212,080 https://patents.google.com/patent/US2212080

190-3

This item is Baunscheidt’s Lebenswecker (Life-Awakener), it was a quack device that was designed to quickly puncture the skin, creating “artificial pores” through which the “health-destroying morbid matter” in the body could naturally escape. A more detailed description of this device is located on this page: https://broughttolight.ucsf.edu/2016/07/07/baunscheidts-lebenswecker-the-19th-century-life-awakener/