Antique Ford Tools

Answer Man: What's this thingamabobber used for?

Q. Friends were going through some old family tools when they found one they couldn't identify. It looks like a pair of tongs but it's made of rusting iron so it's nothing you'd want to serve salad with. At the ends where you'd grasp something are two seashell-like objects and there's what looks to be a bar that slides along the two arms. Then, at the closed, looped end, there's a screw. It's about 4 inches long or so. My friends sent the picture to me, but I'm no help. I'm hoping you can identify it.

-- Myrtle West, of Belleville

A. Sometimes I stumble upon answers in the oddest ways and the strangest places.

Ever since you e-mailed your picture several months ago, I've been showing it to just about every hardware dealer, auctioneer and antique store I've run across, figuring one of them surely has seen something similar in his business.

They pored through old catalogs and called other colleagues but no luck. In a way it looks like it might be some kind of antique lighting sconce, but not really. And, of course, that screw at the end baffled everyone.

But I've kept the picture handy, ready to show it to anyone I thought might have a chance of recognizing it. So there it was on the front seat of my car when I drove into my mechanic, Steve Bertelsman, for some brake work two weeks ago. After running some diagnostics, he came back in the office and, after apologizing for snooping, asked why I was driving around with that picture.

He knew exactly what it was -- or, at least, what his family used it for. His Uncle Norm "Skippy" Bertelsman was a longtime mechanic at Auffenberg Ford and a skilled handyman at his house on Jackson Street behind the White Cottage in Belleville.

He used the thingamabobber to hang things. He'd use the screw to fasten it into the ceiling joists of his basement or garage. Then, he placed the object to be hung between the two "seashells" and run the clamp down the arms until the object was tightly in its grasp. (You can see how the arms are notched to hold the clamp in place at the desired spot.

For Sale – Vtg/orig Ford 8n Tractor Tool Kit Plow Wrench. 9n17014 ...

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Vtg/Orig Ford 8N Tractor Tool Kit Plow Wrench. 9N17014

Up for bids is an old plow wrench that is an original tool included in the toolkits on the 8N tractors.  This is a used wrench, but it is in decent shape.  It does have some rust, pitting, nicks & dings on it.  It could use some cleaning.

This has incremental markings on it for measuring the plowed furrow depth and width.  It is marked with the FOMOCO logo, which Ford started using in 1950 and after.

Please note that this is NOT a gas measure wrench.  I do not believe that sparks caused by hitting the wrench against the tank opening or static electricity causing a fire were ever in Henry's intentions for this wrench.

With a  little cleaning, this will make a decent old wrench to add to the toolkit of your show tractor, or to add a to a Ford tool display. 

If you have any questions, or would like additional pictures, please feel free to email me.

Please check out my other auctions for more vintage tools up for bids this week. 

Thank you for looking, and have a great day.

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All items are shipped by USPS Priority mail unless stated otherwise in the shipping options and will be shipped no later than 72 hrs from receipt of payment (items usually ship within 24 hrs).

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Nigeria

 ***Please note that smaller, heavier items are shipped Priority mail in a flat rate box.  I gladly combine shipping.  If you win more than one auction, and if your items all fit in one of these boxes, it will save you a good amount of money.  Please email me to see if all the items you are interested in will fit, and if they do, it can save you some $$.***   

Payment is due within 7 days. All items are sold guaranteed as described. Please contact me within 3 days of its arrival with any problems so that we can work together towards a solution.  Please bid only if you intend to pay.

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