Check out my junk!

[MadMan]

You know, junk. Like junk junk. Not junk. Gah, get your mind out of the gutter.

So, cleaning out grandad's garage, I found all sorts of knick-knacks that he never ever showed me, and in fact, were hidden away in a box in the farthest, darkest corner (that corner also happened to be infested with termites - leaky roofs are no fun). I suppose that's the downside of always being into the newest and greatest technology as grandpa was... the old stuff gets tossed by the wayside.

Didn't know where to post this, or if even it'll be of any interest. Every so often I'll post a new piece of junk and talk a little about. If this is stupid and you hate it, let me know!

As my grandpa was an engineer for Simpson, it should be no surprise that the majority of this stuff is somehow related to Simpson. In fact, there are a couple of interesting one-of-a-kind things made from Simpson parts that I'll get to later. Here's a preview of just some of the junk:



And here's what I've got for show and tell today:



2 connector studs, and 4 knobs, each with numbers 0-9 (twice). The top says Leeds & Northrup Co. Philadelphia. The top looks like dirty bakelite, but it's too soft and easy to scratch, so I don't think it is.



Apparently used in Simpson's repair department in the 1960s. The stylish wooden box almost looks laboriously handmade and has no markings matching it to the device it holds. I can't really tell how old it is, but if the box actually belongs to this, I'd imagine it's a lot older than the 60s.



At first I had no idea what it was. After opening it, I found a ton of coiled wire resistors. And the only electronic component type thingy I've ever seen made by Simpson (the cardboard one with the 'S' on it - a precision wire coiled resistor [which I believe is standing in for an old failed coil]). I later noticed the 4 knobs each have a number noted on them (1, 10, 100, and 1000). I deduce this is a giant variable resistor! Sure enough, if I put an ohm meter across the connections, I can dial in whatever resistance I want and read it on the meter. Neat, eh?