On Mar 23, 6:45 pm, "R.H." wrote:
934) ... It would be interesting to see other views, to see whether there
is some provision for adjusting the thickness per slice.

I don't own the microtome but might see it again next weekend, if so I'll
take a few more shots.

Six of the seven have been answered correctly this week, please see the
answer page for more details:

http://pzphotosan161z.blogspot.com/

Hey Rob. I don't think that the tool pictured in 938 has anything to
do with elephants, though similar looking tools are used in that
application. Here's a link that shows various types of elephant
hooks. http://www.upali.ch/hook_en.html The second tool picture,
938a, has Chinese or Japanese writing on the butt of the handle, and
Asian elephants are predominantly from areas where Chinese writing
would be unusual to find. http://www.upali.ch/asian_en.html

My main reason for believing the tool had another origin and purpose
is because I owned one that was identical to the tool pictured in 938,
except for the cross-hatching on the handle. It's pretty weird to see
a tool you own pop up in one of your "What Is it?" quizzes! I'd
picked it up when I bought an estate tool collection. The collection
has tools that I'm still trying to figure out, but all of them are of
American or English origin. The hook had a tag that said it was a
pickaroon, used for handling smaller logs - maybe as in firewood as
someone else suggested. Here's Lee Valley's version:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...08&cat=1,41131

I demonstrated some antique tools at a local country fair a couple of
years back, and the pickaroon was a favorite. It was _fun_ to give a
quick flick and have it stick into the end of a log. Made manhandling
a log a breeze. I really don't think you could design a better tool
for that application.

Anyway, thought you'd like another opinion. Take it for what it's
worth.

R