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Name that tool!! What in the heck is this thing?


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Ok everyone, here is an interesting one for you. I picked this up at a flea market for scrap, and I have never seen one of these before. I was hoping that someone could help me identify it. It looks to be some sort of file, with two filing surfaces, and two flat surfaces. Anyone want to have a guess?

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Sometimes a smith makes a single tool for a special purpose that no one has made before or since.  What is left is for us to wonder what those tools were used for.  If I had to guess, my guess is that the pointy end was driven into wood, and the tenoned end was to support something with a matching square hole.  

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Self guiding draw file? 

If used as a draw file the square pegs on either end could slide along guide rails...the further out the rail on the tapered spike end the lower the cut?

The other two handed thing it reminded me of was a pit saw which had a fixed handle end and a Tee handle end which could be detached to allow the saw out mid kerf in order to sharpen it.

This file could be passed through a large flywheel axle hole and your mate on the other side tapped on his Tee handle and kept the file true to the keyway...

I can't see in the photo but are the two cutting surfaces adjacent to one another, or on opposite sides?

Alan

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6 hours ago, David Einhorn said:

Sometimes a smith makes a single tool for a special purpose that no one has made before or since.  What is left is for us to wonder what those tools were used for.  If I had to guess, my guess is that the pointy end was driven into wood, and the tenoned end was to support something with a matching square hole.  

This is very true.

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21 hours ago, Alan Evans said:

Self guiding draw file? 

If used as a draw file the square pegs on either end could slide along guide rails...the further out the rail on the tapered spike end the lower the cut?

The other two handed thing it reminded me of was a pit saw which had a fixed handle end and a Tee handle end which could be detached to allow the saw out mid kerf in order to sharpen it.

This file could be passed through a large flywheel axle hole and your mate on the other side tapped on his Tee handle and kept the file true to the keyway...

I can't see in the photo but are the two cutting surfaces adjacent to one another, or on opposite sides?

Alan

The two filing faces are on opposite sides. 

2 hours ago, Joel OF said:

Sadists rolling pin.

Ha!

19 hours ago, oldshove said:

Are you shure there is only 2 filing sides on it , Years ago I saw a 4 sided sharping stone each side got finer .It looked a lot like that I was told it was for knife makers

jmac

Definitely 2 filing sides opposite one another, with the remaining sides blind.

23 hours ago, David Einhorn said:

Sometimes a smith makes a single tool for a special purpose that no one has made before or since.  What is left is for us to wonder what those tools were used for.  If I had to guess, my guess is that the pointy end was driven into wood, and the tenoned end was to support something with a matching square hole.  

Yeah, that was my first thought when I saw it. A custom made tool for a custom job. 

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came across this while looking at sharpening stones, reminded me of this thread. its a stone, not metal.

5tg-NORTON-ABRASIVES-KNIFE-SHARPENING-STONE-Crystolon-Utility-File-in-Good-Shape

                                                                                                                   Littleblacksmith

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Mark,

That sharpening stone, with a handle, is definitely used by shoe repairers, and shoe makers.

I bought several of them from a shoe maker supply dealer years ago. I repair my and my  family members' shoes. I do a much better job. Hence my frequenting that establishment, & acquiring all manner of tools and supplies.

I believe this kind of stone is/was also used to sharpen hand powered lawn mowers and even scythes, years ago.

I also vaguely remember seeing other artisans using the tool, years back but I forget for what purposes.

Hope that helps,

SLAG.

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Found this thing in the scrap pile. It looks interesting, but no-one seems to know what it is. It is obviously missing a part or two. I have set it up with our wheelwright stuff because that's the nearest guess we could make. It looks like part of a machine for joining iron rims but not sure.

 

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...and here's another thing I found. Drill is there to judge size. Any ideas??

 

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Top photo is a tyre stretcher for the wrought iron bands to fit on wooden wheels. Google image search might turn up something useful eventually, but I mostly get hits on medical stretchers, and the stupid useless car trend of putting narrow rubber tires on wide rims.

Second one may be for pushing the spokes into the hub and the fellow mortises by compression, but that is just a guess.

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I vote tire stretcher for the first pic.

The second one I recognize but can't remember the name. "Monkey" Something maybe monkey jack something. I only remember what it did in a general way, Sort of like a "handy Man jack" for pulling things together say making a good tight joint on a dovetailed log cabin wall. 

The lever handle advances the point a bit with each pull and that section wracks on the rod and can't go backwards. Here's another possible use off the top of my dented head. It might be just the tool to suck floor or hull planks together tightly. 

If nothing else it'd look cool on the wall.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Anyone know what these things are? I would like to put a label of some kind on them. (or I could put on a big pair of eyes and some antennae to make giant caterpillars. :rolleyes:)

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