According to R.H. :

I think that those are intended (two at a time) to match hooks
in the end of the other half of the ammo belt, to adjust it to the
wearer. That end would thread through the rectangular guide on the
right-hand end (your back view), and plug into a pair of holes to set
the length. Are there reinforcing rings in those holes?


The holes along the top and bottom of the ammo belt are larger and have
reinforcing rings, the smaller holes aren't reinforced.

Yes -- those larger holes are to prevent tear-out of the loaded
pockets. the others don't really *need* reenforcing rings, though they
*might* have had some. In any case -- the holes are to allow joining to
the other half of the ammo belt, and to adjust for the wearer's size
(and for the number of layers of warm clothing he may be wearing as
well. :-)



244) It looks as though it is intended to be assembled around a
leather strap, and then hung from something. Perhaps part of
the harness for a team of oxen?


I think you may be right about it being attached to a leather strap, or
possibly a rope as someone else mentioned, the metal is partly smooth on
the
inside from wear.

That looks like an intentional smoothing, not wear -- and it is
for a strap, not a rope (though the strap *could* be canvas instead of
leather). If it were wear from a rope, it would form two grooves on
either side of the screw which secures the two halves together.

Or it could have clamped on to a piece of metal on a
scale. Someone from a weight and scale collector web site said that it
was
an ice weight, but I couldn't find anything about it to confirm this,
nor
would he elaborate when asked.

Here is a photo showing the wear on the upper piece of this weight, the slot
is wider at the opening and tapers a bit narrower so the wear is more
prominent about 1/4" from the edge.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...03/pic244d.jpg

Yes -- I think that this is not wear, but intentional grinding
to allow some flexing of the strap enclosed.

186) I don't remember seeing this one before. I would like a closer
look at the jaws. Perhaps it is a punch for making holes in
leather belts? I'm not sure what the pivoting part is for --
other than to keep it a fixed distance off the floor, or to
clamp in a vise to free both hands to thread the leather into
position and then operate the handles to punch the hole?

A closer shot of the jaws:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...03/pic186c.jpg

O.K. Not a punch, based on those shots.

One possibility for this tool is that it could be a miter clamp, as seen in
this photo:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...03/pic186d.jpg

That looks like a proper function for it. And the pivoting of
the separate piece would allow it to deal with two pieces of wood of
different width.

I'll measure that other tool later today.

O.K.

Enjoy,
DoN.
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