Showing 574 items matching "small tools"
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Mont De Lancey
Clothing - Leather Boots, Wandin Thomas Sebire JP
Wandin Thomas Sebire JP (1867-1960) learnt boot-making as a young man. In a small workshop on his property in Sebire Avenue, Wandin he made boots for family, friends & neighbours. He also repaired boots & made other small leather articles. Bootmaking is a complex process requiring a variety of tools. The leather is cut to shape, glazed & burnished (polished) with heated irons. The pieces are stretched onto, & nailed to, a wooden last to form the boot. Once attached to the insole, the boot is finished on a metal last. Uppers are stitched with waxed thread through holes made with an awl. Heels comprise pieces nailed together & neatened with a heel shave. Metal plates, short nails or hob nails driven into the sole & heel, often in a pattern, improved durability.2 pairs of handmade, adult brown leather boots, with decorative stitching, eyelets and stitched with waxed thread. Soles covered with hob nails in a decorative pattern. 1 handmade child's brown leather boot, with decorative stitching, metal eyelets, heel has patterned nails.bootlaces, boots -
Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association (FCRPA)
Fire Beater - Canvas, c 1930s
Bushfire perimeter rather than bushfire area is the main control problem for firefighters on the ground. A conundrum rapidly compounded by spot fires. A small 5 ha fire can be nearly 1 km around the perimeter. That's a long way to build a control line by hand in rough bush. Dry firefighting techniques by hand were mostly confined to “knocking down” or “beating out” the flames, as well as "digging out". Digging or raking a “mineral earth” trail down to bare dirt proved most effective in forest fuels which, unlike grass, tend to retain heat and smoulder. Early tools were whatever happened to be close at hand. They were simple and primitive and included shovels, slashers, axes, hoes, beaters and rakes. A cut branch to beat the flames was often the only thing available. Farming and logging tools, developed over centuries of manual labour, and readily available at local hardware stores came into use, but little thought was given to size, weight, and balance. This canvas hose beater was based on a century-old design which used lengths of canvas fire hose rivetted together and lashed with wire to a broom handle. The hose was be soaked in water to improve its effectiveness. If the flames were more than a metre or so the user was generally not able to get close enough to extinguish the fire It's recommend that users lift no more than above knee height to conserve energy and let the beater to the work. For years foresters experimented with combination tools. In about 1952 fire beaters and other implements were being replaced with Rakuts and later RakehoesEarly firefighting toolBushfire beater - Canvas with wooden handleR P PWD (Public Works Department) The handle has painted markings which indicate which FCV District it belonged to.bushfire, forests commission victoria (fcv) -
Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association (FCRPA)
Fire Beater - Leather, c 1940s
Bushfire perimeter rather than bushfire area is the main control problem for firefighters on the ground. A conundrum rapidly compounded by spot fires. A small 5 ha fire can be nearly 1 km around the perimeter. That's a long way to build a control line by hand in rough bush. Dry firefighting techniques by hand were mostly confined to “knocking down” or “beating out” the flames, as well as "digging out". Digging or raking a “mineral earth” trail down to bare dirt proved most effective in forest fuels which, unlike grass, tend to retain heat and smoulder. Early tools were whatever happened to be close at hand. They were simple and primitive and included shovels, slashers, axes, hoes, beaters and rakes. A cut branch to beat the flames was often the only thing available. Farming and logging tools, developed over centuries of manual labour, and readily available at local hardware stores came into use, but little thought was given to size, weight, and balance. This leather beater was based on a century-old stockman's design which used green cow hide leather lashed to a broom handle. It's recommend that users lift no more than above knee height to conserve energy and let the beater to the work. For years foresters experimented with combination tools. In about 1952 fire beaters and other implements were being replaced with Rakuts and later RakehoesEarly firefighting toolBushfire beater - Leather with wooden handlebushfire, forests commission victoria (fcv) -
Montmorency–Eltham RSL Sub Branch
Accessory - Cleaning kit
Canvas type Rifle/Gun Rolls cleaning accessories kit. It has four (4) different cleaning tool compartment with tools insitu. 1 x oil bottle, 1 x tool kit, 1 x brush, 1x pull through cord, all of which rolls up into a small kit. Shows considerable aging and can not open the tool kit. 25cms x 22cmsRolls Cleaning Accessories. 7.62m/m Rifle MX.1 CAT. NO 1005-66-100-2018 -
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Tool - SMALL HANDLE
... in one end where it fits onto shaft. Tool SMALL HANDLE ...BHS CollectionSmall metal handle in an S shape with a wooden shaped piece to turn it with. 5 mm hole in one end where it fits onto shaft.small handle -
Whitehorse Historical Society Inc.
Tool - Hand drill
Small hand drill with holding handle with a winding handle with " Leytool - made in England" Covered by Pat No. 20987/44 World PatentsAs abovetools, drill, leytool -
Whitehorse Historical Society Inc.
Tool - Hand drill -stanley
Small hand 'stanley' drill with red dial with a handle and a wooden knob. A '104' drill, has a handmade replacement handle.C0525 0255 on Dialtools, hand drill, stanley -
Old Gippstown
Building - Bootmaker and Saddler, 1906
Built in 1906 in main street of Neerim South by Samuel Fry who established his business at that time. Exhibits include early boots and shoes, Heavy leather working machines and saddlery. Many of the tools belonged to Harry Coombs, who was Moe's first bootmaker from 1910 - 1966A small rectangular timber shop. The front has a gabled corrugated iron roof, while the workshop at the rear of the shop is not as high as the front and has a flat corrugated iron roof.Sign writing on shop frontbootmakers, neerim south, samuel fry, harry coombs, old gippstown, west gippsland, gippsland, gippsland heritage park, goldfields, coal mine, victorian era, moe, historical village, baw baw shire, saddlery, leather work, old gippstown heritage park, latrobe valley, latrobe city council -
Warrnambool and District Historical Society Inc.
Memorabilia - Newspaper cuttings scrapbook, Martin Carter, Saddler, Warrnambool, late 19th century (1887-1894)
This scrapbook contains newspaper cuttings, mainly about football, and other written material from the late 19th century. It belonged to Martin Carter ((1870-1943), a Warrnambool saddler who worked for many years in the saddlery business established by his father, Samuel. Martin Carter was very active in community affairs - President of the Warrnambool Bowling Club, a member of the local Volunteer Militia, Secretary of the Progress Association, a football player and umpire and a local cricketer. He was the Secretary of the Warrnambool Town (later City) Band for fifty years and a memorial plaque in his honour was erected at the Band headquarters in Warrnambool. He was also a Warrnambool Councillor (1917-1925) and Warrnambool Mayor (1922-24). His interest in football can be seen from the great number of football newspaper cuttings in this notebook.This little notebook is most interesting as it provides us with details on football in the Warrnambool district in the late 19th century and gives us an indication of the popularity of the game at that time. It is a valuable research tool.This is a small notebook with a black cover. The pages contain ruled red lines over which have been pasted newspaper cuttings. Some pages have handwritten material and some pages are blank. There are also several loose cuttings. The notebook has been stapled but the staples have been removed.M.L.Carter Warrnambool June 13th 1887 S.Carter Saddler Warrnambool (stamp)warrnambool town band, martin carter warrnambool, football in the warrnambool district, sydney giddings warrnambool saddler -
National Vietnam Veterans Museum (NVVM)
Equipment - Field Ration Eating Device
Standard issue item used by Australian servicemen during the conflict in Vietnam (1962-1972)Field ration eating device: being a small metal can opener, bottle opener and spoon in one tool.Taiwanmess hall, eating, fred, field ration eating device, soon, multi-tool -
University of Melbourne, Burnley Campus Archives
Tool - Hand directed seeder, Mintern, 1930's
Hand tillage implement for research on small holding plotsMintern No300A Seeder - Two long wooden handled, pedestrian directed, tillage implement with metal seed hopper attachment. Small cast metal spoked front wheel with chassis. Metal painted Red.Small Metal front wheel part no. K694. Tillage part no. K712, Seed Hopper part no. AP803, Attachment for seed hopper part no. 6539X Metal wheel cog driver fro seed hopper operation part no. K721mintern, hand plough, tillage, seeder -
University of Melbourne, Burnley Campus Archives
Tool - Pedestrian Hand Plough, c. 1940
Used by students on Burnley garden small holdingSingle cast iron wheel, 1 metal tyne, hand directed tillage implement. 2 Wooden handles. Used at Burnley College.Tyne part no. R6tillage implement, hand plough -
Whitehorse Historical Society Inc.
Tool - Wrench
Small metal wrench with wooden handle. W & B Made in USAW & B Made in USAtool, "w &b", wrench -
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Tool - Small gold puddling Cradle
... damaged. Tool Small gold puddling Cradle ...A wooden miner's cradle with metal sieve used to separate gold or other heavy minerals from soil and water. Washdirt and water were tipped into the sieve at the top while the cradle was rocked. The oscillating motion washed away sand and fine particles, leaving the gold trapped behind ridges across the bottom. Large rocks and gravel caught by the sieve were discarded by hand. The metal sieve is slightly damaged.gold minning, gold washing cradle -
Clunes Museum
Tool - SEED SOWER
THIS SMALL MANUAL SEED SOWER WAS USED IN THE SEBASTOPOL GARDEN, THE SEED BOX HAS THREE SETTINGS ALLOWING THE OPERATOR TO SOW VERY FINE, MEDIUM OR LARGE SEEDS.PLANET J Rlocal history, tools, rural, tools -
Bendigo Historical Society Inc.
Tool - MAGGIE BARBER COLLECTION: STEEL BUTTON HOOK, 1800's
Object. Handle engraved with the owners initials - MB. A ''knob'' at the top of the handle, has a foliage type design impressed in the steel. This continues down each side of the handle, finishing with further decoration at the base of the handle. Just beside this lower decoration, on each side is a hallmark, now very difficult to read. A small one cm. diameter hook at the lower edge of the tapered shaft.On the shaft of the hook - ''English mane ? Or make? Steel . On handle MB in ornate engraving- (Maggie Barber).personal effects, steel button hook -
Mont De Lancey
Book, D.W. Chandler Ltd, D.W. Chandler General Hardware Ltd. Catalogue, 1937
A comprehensive 1937 catalogue of general hardware for household and farm use for buyers to order in Melbourne and rural cities in Australia. The company was established in 1876. This is the 49th issue.A comprehensive thick catalogue book: D.W. Chandler General Hardware Ltd. Catalogue established 1876 which has a very decorative busy front cover with green, burgundy and cream colours for the title, full details of the contents, address, Registered Trademark, phone numbers and more. It is bound on the spine with red tape, 27.5 Inside on the left front end paper are details about Chandler's mail orders, a map of the Melbourne city location and addresses for Melbourne, Fitzroy and country cities. Opposite is a NOTICE page, explaining prices were current at the time of issue, (October 1937) with several altered prices since printing. Pp. 180 with four thin blue paper Order Forms at the back; two which have been filled in and two with a child's scribble on them. There is a comprehensive four page Index at the back. Hundreds of black and white drawings of hardware items and general life of the times are included throughout. Inserted in the catalogue are four dried plants or flowers, a small leaflet which shows illustrations and information about "Rega" spraying nozzles with diagrams and handwritten prices. A leaflet of a Parts Price List for Stewart No.1 Clipping machine and clipping heads. A copy of a D. W. Chandler Ltd Fitzroy order dated 12 March 1937 for "Ringlock" Fencing. On page 146 is a light blue thin paper Note for P146 about models of Churchill's and Jeffery's guns. Attached to this paper with cellotape is a typed copy dated 10/11/37 for an order for Square Iron Tanks to be delivered by rail. The back cover has advertising for "Perfect" Welded Fencing from Chandler's hardware stores. There is a manufactured hole by the publisher in the top left hand corner to hang it for future reference.non-fictionA comprehensive 1937 catalogue of general hardware for household and farm use for buyers to order in Melbourne and rural cities in Australia. The company was established in 1876. This is the 49th issue. social history, australian history, history, hardware, catalogues, objects, tools -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Pattern, Briggs Brass Foundry, Early 20th century
The wooden pattern is part of a set that are stored in a strong wooden crate. It was used at Briggs’ Brass Foundry for making sand casts. The traditional craft of sand casting is over 2000 years old. The handcrafted process produces brass and copper alloy goods that are well suited to marine use; bells, boat hooks, cowls, propellers, handles, lids, rowlocks, hooks, letters, bolts, rail holders, brackets, deck plates, flanges, rudder guides, portholes and covers. Briggs’ Bronze mixture is a copper-based alloy made from local ingots of copper, tin, zinc and lead in carefully measured quantities. The finished product is non-ferrous and can last indefinitely. The crate of patterns was donated by the Briggs family in the early years of Flagstaff Hill, along with other related items such as brassware, tools and machinery. The donated items were displayed in a simulated Brass Foundry in the Village along with other working crafts, trades and services found in a Maritime town. The items were on show from the completion of the building in 1986 until 1994 when the building was repurposed. The patterns represent the trades of foundering and metalwork, both supporting maritime industries such as shipwrights and boatbuilders. Farmers, manufacturers and other local industries also needed the castings made by foundries. The Brass Foundry included a historic Cornish chimney set up as a working model, to tell the story of smelted metal heated in furnaces then be poured into the sand moulds. This chimney was made from specially curved bricks and is now about two-thirds of its full height when originally located at the Grassmere Cheese factory. The craft of sand-casting from carved wooden patterns to create metal is an example of skills from the past that are still used today. The foundry pattern set is significant for its association with brass foundries locally and generally in coastal areas of Victoria. Marine industries such as ship and boat building rely on good quality castings for their machinery, equipment and fittings. Briggs Brass was especially formulated using non-ferrous metals to ensure their longevity. The patterns are associated with the long-running firm Briggs Brass Foundry that specialised in cast goods for the marine industry, ready to supply the needs for once-off or mass-produced items. Their products would have been fitted to sail and steam vessels along coastal Victoria including Warrnambool. Briggs Marine was also a bell-founder specialist and is also associated with the Schomberg Bell at Flagstaff Hill, having restored it to is former state as a fine example of the bell from a luxury migrant vessel from the mid-19th century. Pattern; an unpainted, rectangular wooden frame with a top and sides, similar to a small rectangular stool. A solid half-cylinder shape was added under the horizontal 'seat' with another smaller half-cylinder attached to it, end-to-end. A string is tied between two metal loops attached to the back. There are two X marks stamped into the back. The pattern is part of a set of foundry patterns from Briggs Brass Foundry.Stamped: "X" "X"flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, briggs' bronze, traditional method, trade, sand cast, cast, brass alloy, copper alloy, pattern, mould, foundry, brass foundry, metal foundry, casting, sand mould, sand casting, marine equipment, marine tools, marine fittings, copper tin zinc lead, non-ferrous, non-corrosive, brassware, metalware, foundering, metalwork, maritime, bell founders, ship chandlers, marine products, biggs, briggs family, herbert harrison briggs, h h briggs, george edward briggs, cyril falkiner mckinnon briggs, cyril briggs, briggs & son brass foundry, h h briggs & sons foundry, briggs marine, alliance casting & engineering solutions, grassmere cheese factory, cornish chimney, curved bricks, collingwood, moorabbin, collingwood foundry, moorabbin foundry, 1912 -
Whitehorse Historical Society Inc.
Tool - Screwdriver
... Tool Screwdriver Small screw steel with wooden handle Tool ...Small screw steel with wooden handletool, screwdriver -
Clunes Museum
Container - COOLAMON
... TOOLS COOLAMON, VERY SMALL POSSIBLE USED FOR NUTS. Container ...COOLAMON, VERY SMALL POSSIBLE USED FOR NUTS.local history, aboriginal artifact, aboriginal artifacts, tools -
Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society
Photograph, Symington Brewery, Hopetoun, near Bacchus Marsh 1883
The family of William Symington arrived in Melbourne in 1855. By 1858 they had come to Bacchus Marsh and built a house at Hopetoun a few kilometres east of the town. A brewery next to the house was also built around this time. It was a licensed brewery between 1862 and 1886. The elder William Symington died in March 1867 and the brewery was then operated by his son the younger William Symington for a number of years. It ceased operations sometime before 1900. Small sepia unframed photograph on card with gold border framing photograph. Housed in the album, 'Photographs of Bacchus Marsh and District in 1883 by Stevenson and McNicoll'. The image shows the brewery and house which belonged to the Symington family of Hopetoun, near Bacchus Marsh. The house is a timber structure with two chimneys and a front verandah. The front yard of the house is enclosed by a timber fence. At the front of the fence can be seen a dog kennel. Other tools, such as a wheelbarrow, lie in the yard. The brewery building is of timber and brick. On the hillside behind the buildings are paddocks fenced with post-and -rail fencing.On the front: Stevenson & McNicoll. Photo. 108 Elizabeth St. Melbourne. COPIES CAN BE OBTAINED AT ANY TIME. On the back: LIGHT & TRUTH inscribed on a banner surmounted by a representation of the rising sun. Copies of this Portrait can be had at any time by sending the Name and Post Office Money Order or Stamps for the amount of order to STEVENSON & McNICOLL LATE BENSON & STEVENSON, Photographers. 108 Elizabeth Street, MELBOURNE. stevenson and mcnicoll 1883 photographs of bacchus marsh and district, breweries, symington family bacchus marsh, william symington 1840-1929, william symington 1802-1867 -
Melbourne Tram Museum
Document - Specification - set of 3 - Air Compressors and equipment, Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB), mid 1950s
Three documents for the purchase of air compressors and associated equipment 1 - "Three (3) engine-driven portable air compressors" - 11 sheets, undated 2 - "Five (5) electrically driven portable air compressors" - 9 sheets + small sheet - undated - draft with handwritten notes. 3 - "Supply and delivery of pneumatic tools" - 6 sheets with handwritten notes.Yields information about the MMTB tender for pneumatic equipment.Set of three documents - foolscap sheets stapled in top left hand corner and hole punched along the top edge.mmtb, tramways, contracts, purchases, trackwork, tools, air compressors -
Trafalgar Holden Museum
Tool - Drapers scissors
domestic drapers scissors used ca1900 on equine leather accessories domestiSmall domestic drapers scissors used by Holden and Frost Small metal silver drapers scissors Sheffield Englandscissors, drapers -
Trafalgar Holden Museum
Tool - Small drapers scissors
... Stytters 173 Small silver metal drapers scissors Tool Small drapers ...drapers scissors as was used by Holden and Frost in the manufacture of equine accessories ca1900Drapers scissors as used by Holden and FrostSmall silver metal drapers scissors side1=sureditch 173 Side 2- JW Stytters 173sciissors, drapery -
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
Log Splitting Gun
Black powder splitting guns were commonly used to split large logs into more manageable pieces before the advent of excavators and front-end loaders in bush logging operations. A typical splitting gun used in Victorian forests was a piece of high-grade steel about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter and about 16 inches long, and slightly tapered at one end. They had a ¾ inch hole drilled about 9 inches deep into the centre of the shaft with a small pilot hole drilled from the outside to load the fuse. The tube was carefully loaded with an amount of black gunpowder using a funnel and spoon. Experience being the guide on how much powder to use, which depended on log size, species and difficulty of splitting the wood. The hole was stopped with a piece of wadded paper and the gun positioned at the end of a length of the log to be split. The splitting gun was then belted into the log with a large wooden maul or even the back of an axe to a depth of about 3 to 4 inches. There were often markings as a guide. This also had the effect of tamping the black powder inside the gun. Preferably the gun was backed up by another large log to absorb the recoil shock and avoid it flying off in the bush somewhere. I have seen guns where a length of string and coloured flag could be attached to help find them. A length of fuse was then inserted in the small hole and lit. Kaboom !!!! Needless to say, the splitting gun was a dangerous implement.Log Splitting gun (large 50cm)forests commission victoria (fcv), hand tools -
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
Log Splitting Gun
Black powder splitting guns were commonly used to split large logs into more manageable pieces before the advent of excavators and front-end loaders in bush logging operations. A typical splitting gun used in Victorian forests was a piece of high-grade steel about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter and about 16 inches long, and slightly tapered at one end. They had a ¾ inch hole drilled about 9 inches deep into the centre of the shaft with a small pilot hole drilled from the outside to load the fuse. The tube was carefully loaded with an amount of black gunpowder using a funnel and spoon. Experience being the guide on how much powder to use, which depended on log size, species and difficulty of splitting the wood. The hole was stopped with a piece of wadded paper and the gun positioned at the end of a length of the log to be split. The splitting gun was then belted into the log with a large wooden maul or even the back of an axe to a depth of about 3 to 4 inches. There were often markings as a guide. This also had the effect of tamping the black powder inside the gun. Preferably the gun was backed up by another large log to absorb the recoil shock and avoid it flying off in the bush somewhere. I have seen guns where a length of string and coloured flag could be attached to help find them. A length of fuse was then inserted in the small hole and lit. Kaboom !!!! Needless to say, the splitting gun was a dangerous implement.Log Splitting gun (large 45cm)forests commission victoria (fcv), hand tools -
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
Rakehoe (McLeod Tool)
Bushfire perimeter rather than bushfire area is the main control problem for firefighters on the ground. A conundrum rapidly compounded by spot fires. A small 5 ha fire can be nearly 1 km around the perimeter. That's a long way to build a control line by hand in rough bush. Dry firefighting techniques by hand were mostly confined to “knocking down” or “beating out” the flames, as well as "digging out". Digging or raking a “mineral earth” trail down to bare dirt proved most effective in forest fuels which, unlike grass, tend to retain heat and smoulder. Early tools were whatever happened to be close at hand. They were simple and primitive and included shovels, slashers, axes, hoes, beaters and rakes. A cut branch to beat the flames was often the only thing available. Farming and logging tools, developed over centuries of manual labour, and readily available at local hardware stores came into use, but little thought was given to size, weight, and balance. For years foresters experimented with combination tools. In about 1952 fire beaters and other implements were being replaced with Rakuts. However, its believed the now common Rakehoe is an Australian variation of the American McLeod Tool which was developed in 1905 by forest ranger Malcolm McLeod of the Sierra National Forest. The late Athol Hodgson advised that predecessors, Reg Torbet who had been the Chief Fire Officer for the Forests Commission from 1948-1956, along with his QLD counterpart Clive Price, went in late 1951 as Australian delegates on a 10 week fire study tour of Nth America organised by the United Nations. They came back with a couple of McLeod tools from Canada. Cam MacLeod (different spelling) had been the Head of Fire Research for the Canadian Forest Service at the time and had supplied them. The tools were ideal for deciduous forests in the eastern provinces and Clive arranged to have them manufactured in QLD. The Rakho, as it was then spelled, was first issued to FCV crews 65 years ago in 1955-56. The American Pulaski had been trialled, but never found favour with Australian firefighters.Rakhoeforests commission victoria (fcv), hand tools, forest harvesting, bushfire -
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
Log Branding Hammers (various)
Metal branding hammers were the most common way to control the sale and movement of hardwood timber produce like logs, railway sleepers, fence posts, and poles from Victorian State forests. Royalty was also paid on this basis. Hammers most commonly had a crown stamp on one end with a unique number in the middle which identified its owner, and a crows foot or broad arrow on the other. The broad arrow was a symbol traditionally used in Britain and its colonies to mark government property. Other local configurations were used by sawmillers, post cutters and pulpwood contactors. Forest regulations state that an authorised officer may use the crown mark to identify produce which has been sold and may be removed from the forest, whereas the broad arrow can be used to brand and mark trees which are not to be felled, or to indicate forest produce which has been seized. Hammers were traditionally only ever issued to forest officers and were an important, and closely guarded tool-of-trade. They were not transferred between staff and lending hammers was not permitted. But it was an onerous task for staff to hammer and tally hundreds of logs, or thousands of fence posts each week, so in about 1990 a system was introduced whereby hammers were allocated to logging contractors to grade logs and tally them instead. But there was still spot checking by authorised officers. A register was kept, and contractors paid a substantial deposit to make sure they didn't lose them, but they occasionally turn up by fossickers with metal detectors. While branding hammers are still used in some smaller locations, plastic tags and barcodes are now more common.Log Grading hammersforests commission victoria (fcv), hand tools, forest harvesting -
Whitehorse Historical Society Inc.
Functional object - Wooden darning tool
Wooden mushroom used for darning may be gloves from Patrice Jennings' grandmother's collection.Small wooden mushroom used for darning small items such as gloves.darning, wood, jennings patrice, elsie doris whitten -
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
Fire beater (canvas)
Bushfire perimeter rather than bushfire area is the main control problem for firefighters on the ground. A conundrum rapidly compounded by spot fires. A small 5 ha fire can be nearly 1 km around the perimeter. That's a long way to build a control line by hand in rough bush. Dry firefighting techniques by hand were mostly confined to “knocking down” or “beating out” the flames, as well as "digging out". Digging or raking a “mineral earth” trail down to bare dirt proved most effective in forest fuels which, unlike grass, tend to retain heat and smoulder. Early tools were whatever happened to be close at hand. They were simple and primitive and included shovels, slashers, axes, hoes, beaters and rakes. A cut branch to beat the flames was often the only thing available. Farming and logging tools, developed over centuries of manual labour, and readily available at local hardware stores came into use, but little thought was given to size, weight, and balance. For years foresters experimented with combination tools. In about 1952 fire beaters and other implements were being replaced with Rakuts. However, its believed the now common Rakehoe is an Australian variation of the American McLeod Tool which was developed in 1905 by forest ranger Malcolm McLeod of the Sierra National Forest. The late Athol Hodgson advised that predecessors, Reg Torbet who had been the Chief Fire Officer for the Forests Commission from 1948-1956, along with his QLD counterpart Clive Price, went in late 1951 as Australian delegates on a 10 week fire study tour of Nth America organised by the United Nations. They came back with a couple of McLeod tools from Canada. Cam MacLeod (different spelling) had been the Head of Fire Research for the Canadian Forest Service at the time and had supplied them. The tools were ideal for deciduous forests in the eastern provinces and Clive arranged to have them manufactured in QLD. The Rakho, as it was then spelled, was first issued to FCV crews 65 years ago in 1955-56. The American Pulaski had been trialled, but never found favour with Australian firefighters.Fire Beater (canvas) 1930s designforests commission victoria (fcv), hand tools, forest harvesting, bushfire