'Nother one mystery tool.

[Boringgeoff]

Hi all,
A friend sent me these pics of a tool he would like identified. Length 12 1/2" and jaws are 1 7/8" wide. The jaws are perfectly flat and close flush with each other. Any ideas will be appreciated.
Cheers,
Geoff.

[Heavansabove]

blacksmith tongs is my guess.

[RedShirtGuy]

Hopefully it's not an old dentistry tool

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

For getting camels stared when you don't have a pair of bricks handy?

[auscab]

I don't know Geoff, It looks like a tool I saw a few years ago and gave up on. Here is a picture of what I saw at Camberwell Market one Sunday. I wondered if they were used hot to press or flatten something .

Rob

[orraloon]

Looks like the thing for holding patches on tyre inner tubes. The ends would have been heated and the wood handles to protect the hands from the heat.
Regards
John

[Boringgeoff]

Thanks for your thoughts,

That's a nice tool Rob and it looks like it's for the same purpose but a bit more sophisticated than my friends example.

Having repaired hundreds of inner tubes, John, I'm not keen on that as a vulcanising tool although to exert pressure on a glue in patch might work, and completely reject the notion that it may in any way be associated with camels. For a start the handles are way too short and why would you want to make a camel stare.....?
The owner had been told it was possibly a sail makers tool, I showed the photos to a sail maker and he'd never seen one before.
Cheers,
Geoff.

[son_of_bluegras]

Since it has a box joint I vote against blacksmith tongs. However I've seen sketches of pipe tongs that look like that similar though smaller (used to take an ember from a fire to light a pipe), so perhaps something along the lines of transferring a hot coal to start another fire?

ron

[Uncle Al]

Might be a tool used in the glass blowing craft?
Alan...

[auscab]

You could be right there Alan ,

I just saw this .

http://www.fireglassbeads.com/2011/0...ral-tongs.html

[robbygard]

Hi all,
A friend sent me these pics of a tool he would like identified. Length 12 1/2" and jaws are 1 7/8" wide. The jaws are perfectly flat and close flush with each other. Any ideas will be appreciated.
Cheers,
Geoff.

have a search on farrier tongs and see whether they are the same

regards david

[Uncle Al]

You could be right there Alan ,

I just saw this .

http://www.fireglassbeads.com/2011/0...ral-tongs.html

Interesting web site. I still like Skews idea of camel starters, but would rather have longer handles

Alan...

[anglesmith]

All good guesses, but they are "pinching Irons" for straightening hair ! This is the only photo I can find on the www!? http://toolmonger.com/2011/07/22/que...-is-this-tool/ I do have a small pair in my collection and they are listed in several reprinted early 1800s pattern books that I have. These are "extra large for Hairdresser's" yes there were professional hair dressers back then !
Graeme

PS They are not for sale are they?

Geoff, Do you have The Victorian Catalogue of Tools for Trades and Crafts (R Timmins pattern book) by Philip Walker in your Library if not you should have !?
Graeme


spelling !

[Boringgeoff]

Good one Graeme,

Thanks for your detective work and the link to the toolmonger site.

I showed it to our local farrier yesterday and his opinion it wasn't farrier and the handles weren't long enough to be a blacksmith tool. Interesting also the last post on question monger mentions folding wooden handles which sounds like the elegant tool that Auscab showed.

The owner of that tool is at Toowoomba so he's actually closer to you than me, he's not on the internet, we communicate by the ancient method of hand written letter or phone. I'll pass your interest on and get back to you.

Don't you just love a happy ending?

Cheers,
Geoff.

[anglesmith]

Thanks Geoff, I will have to try get the catalogue page on hair dressing tools up on the net! Did you note that I hadn't convinced all on the toolmonger blog of it's use.
Graeme