Found these today and have already put to use on small brooches and jewelry projects.  Just wonder if anyone knows the original intent for them.  My guess is upholstery, carpet laying or something of the sort to place and pull tacks or staples.  Thoughts?

Was an awesome sale that added another anvil to the stable but will share that later. 

Thanks as always!

Whisky

They are Farrier hoof clinchers. For clinching horseshoe nails.

They look like Cobblers Pliers to me, my dad made shoes for a living for over 30 years. He had several pairs very similar to the ones shown. They where used for lasting the uppers. 

 

Have a good one,

W

Mr. Dragon is correct.

And,

Mr. Steven NY is also correct.

They are called "lasting pincers" in the shoemaker's trade.

Check "United Global Supply" for pages of cobbler's tool pictures and explanations.

In other words, we have,  here, one tool and two different uses.

Just sayyin'

SLAG.

Lol...cool!  Farrier tool was my first guess, my cohorts drove me toward upholstery and carpet...nonetheless, useful little buggers!

I've seen pliers like that used to stretch and hold leather over a last to tack and peg it. 

Pnut

I have used a set like those for 20years to stretch wet rawhide onto drumbodies: I know that they were not intended for that,but I'll put my $$ on upholstery  or farrier's tool.

 

 

Cobblers use them for stretching leather tight over a last so it's can be tacked down. It would work well for stretching drum heads also. I've made a few djembes and they would have been handy.

Pnut

People in the upholstery trade use something similar as well.  I'm inclined to go against the farrier thinking for a few reasons.  First, there is a nail pulling tip on one of the handles.  Second, the gap between the inside jaw and that nubbins is just about perfect for stretching fabric over a wooden frame.  Finally, all the hoof clinching pliers I've seen in my very limited exposure to the craft featured jaws that did not mesh.  That makes sense because they're trying to pull the top facing jaw down towards the edge of the hoof.  These pliers look like they would have the handles too far apart for the farrier to clinch one handed if the bottom jaw was against the shoe, and the top jaw was laying over a nail tip in the hoof.

 

I could see it being very handy in an upholstery shop as well. It's pretty similar to some of the work a cobbler performs. 

Pnut

 

Just tell people they are toe straighteners--convincingly, of course.  Used on the old days of "hand-me-down" shoes to make your next youngest rug rat's feet fit that old pair by moving their toes around.

Now that I am an old geezer (give or take) Iv'e decided that every oddball tool needs a much better story than its original intent.  How else will I earn my "crazy old man" moniker?

So what's your tale about the old "tong like" Bunion Stretchers?

39 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

So what's your tale about the old "tong like" Bunion Stretchers?

Leading poorly behaving grandkids around by the nose, of course  

Curing chronic constipation. 

Frosty The Lucky.