Derrick55 Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Someone sent me the photo below, he is trying to identify the tools, I think they are probably hardy tools but I'm not a blacksmith so I thought I would ask about them here. His description is below:My son and I are converting an old ironmongery shop in Oakengates, Shropshire (UK) into smaller units. In the cellars we found many wonders, most of which we can indentify. These, however have us foxed. They were in a sewn-up sack, about fifty of them. Obviously they're replaceable teeth for something, but we've no idea what.Could be anything from 20 to 100 years old, but at a guess some time in the 50s from what else we found in that cubby hole. The coin is a British pound coin, 22.5mm dia. (7/8")Thanks for taking a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crantius Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 (edited) They look like hot cuts. The one in the middle might be a sort of punch, i.e. a tool that is used to make a small hole which can then be widened by a drift. If they have flat or radiused tops instead of an edge then they were most likely used to sharpen scythes. Edited June 26, 2015 by Crantius_Colto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Yes, I would say hot cuts to suit a small anvil. He obviously didn't find the anvil to go with them. Don't know why you would want fifty of them though, unless the smith was making them for sale. That crosscut saw is a magnificent piece of antique machinery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrick55 Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 Thanks for the replies! I believe hot cuts is correct. The owner said that all of them are the same. Not sure what crosscut saw ausfire is referring to, maybe it was in a different post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 (edited) Interesting, they have a ragged end which indicates that the shoulders were intended to take the thrust, but the shoulders are radiused. Unless the stem was a taper fit they would rock in the hardy hole and/or bruise the hardy hole edges if they proved harder than the anvil surface.They seem unlikely to be for blacksmiths use, as most would likely make their own, and they are tiny.They are only 25mm (1") or so high O/D. But could be for some other metal craft requiring a fixed chisel for cutting stuff to length, lead, tin, copper, maybe not even metal, could be withies, leather or rope etc.Maybe the original finders were correct and that they were teeth for some device. The tool they were designed for may have had sockets with a half round recess to locate them positively at a certain height. Be interesting in that case to see how precisely they measured one to another in the batch.I am thinking Apple scratter or mangle wurzel mangler...Alan Edited June 26, 2015 by Alan Evans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Thanks for the replies! I believe hot cuts is correct. The owner said that all of them are the same. Not sure what crosscut saw ausfire is referring to, maybe it was in a different post.????well if you cannot see the guided Crosscut in your own original post I wonder how it got there????SpookyAlan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrick55 Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 I'm running Chrome with adblock, which is possibly blocking the crosscut saw photo, I just went to an incognito window and the saw appears in my post when I view it there. On another forum I'm trying to find out the purpose of the device below. Someone suggested it could have been for holding logs in a crosscut saw, he might have been thinking of the clamp in the photo that I accidentally posted, to me it doesn't look like the same device. So I accidentally posted the crosscut saw since it was already in my clipboard, but it doesn't show up when I look at my post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrick55 Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 FWIW, I think the device I just posted is for for pivoting something about 30 degrees in either direction, but I don't have a specific answer yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 30 degrees total 15 in either direction by my eye… It looks like something you would wish to tilt one way and then the other and hold in that position doesn't it. Like a dye vat or salt bath something. Maybe even a roasting tray. The ratchet pawl actuating arms do not look particularly finger friendly do you think it was operated by a loop of rope over the end or something like a swivel window push pull hook.Do you have any provenance or context? what is the actual size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I'll side with the teeth for other item group rather than hot cuts mainly due to the short length of the stem. I don't think I have seen a hardy with such a short stem in the 34 years I have been smithing. However I could make them into hotcut hardies theough the magic of modern welding...Colto that middle one is the same as the others just turned on it's side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everything Mac Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Surely they are too small to be hot cuts - even for a small anvil. Though I have no idea what they might be for. Could be some sort of farm machinery? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Mullins Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 (edited) If they are hot cuts they must be for specific small work such as for nails, they seem too tiny otherwise. I dont' believe they are hardy tools, but I hope you find out what they are. Edited June 26, 2015 by Eddie Mullins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrick55 Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 (edited) Yes, I guess I agree that the items are probably too small to be hot cuts, they look larger in the photo, I should have posted them at their actual size. Concerning the other device, I don't know the length, someone had sent me the photos a while ago, he bought it from a person who knew nothing about it. Edited June 26, 2015 by Derrick55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Not hot-cuts, imo. Too small, as noted, but also too uniform between them. Looks to me like they are replaceable teeth for some kind of gadgetry. That saw is absolutely beautiful! I'd love to make sawdust with something like that just so I could say I'd done it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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