Mystery tool

Hi there

Ive had this tool for ages, and no-one has ever figured out what it is. I dont have a pic of it yet, never remember... I'll ask anyway and see.

Its a metal thing with wood handle, obviously an old tool. The metal part consists of the usualy round stem then a banana shaped section, like so:

:
Reply to
N. Thornton
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Without a picture it's difficult but it sounds like a Swedish 'fid'. But I could be wrong. It has been known.

A picture would help ...

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Immmm! Immaybe, it sounds more like a soupçon for caustic soda to me.

Reply to
Michael Mcneil

Are the edges / ends of the banana part sharpened ?

Could it perhaps be a gouge, or a wood turning tool ?

Reply to
Paul C Lewis

Ah, very possible. The end does taper to a rounded flat point, just right for sliding between the subparts of the rope. Only thing is this is miles heavier metal than would be needed for that: rather than being like tinplate this is 3-4mm thick steel. I suppose it could be one made to last a century, which it looks like it has. I guess I have a fid then. What I will do with it I have no idea! I got it with some old carpentry tools, but I cant see any woodworking function for it.

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

No ... Spouse makes his own fids, for working with straw rope when making skeps. But he keeps all his skepmaking tools in the same place (a skep!) and nowhere near woodworking, metalworking, plumbing or electrical things.

If only he were so tidy with his other tools ... :-(

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Umm I have a couple of Swedish fids and I splice ropes on a regualr basis. They look nothing like the description. each is piece of steel bent into a tapering shape (a little like a cone open from tip to base). The base is then closed by a very short wooden handle which looks a little like a "bun" shaped doorknob.

see

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has a different handle to the ones I use, but you can see the construction.

Reply to
Steve Firth

I've seen many designs, they're not all the same. and when I suggested a fid I did say that it was difficult without a picture:-)

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Wonder if this could be a tool for carving bowls or spoons by hand as apposed to turning on a lathe. Mouse

Reply to
Mouse

Interesting: the tip does taper down to nothing, and might have been sharp. I think with all the angles on it it would inevitably damage the wood though, a more scoop type shape would be more sensible for bowl making. Also the banana bit is of such shallow curvature that it would be a very large bowl indeed. So I guess probably not.

The sides are in no sense sharp.

A lathe tool wouldnt need to be banana shaped, nor have a c shaped cross section, so I guess the odds are against that... looks like fid is the best explanation so far. But what a fid is doing in a collection of carpenters tools... unless ropes were used for raising the woodwork? That might make sense.

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

How about one of those manual lathes that use rope attached to a pedal powered sapling? You know, the sort you see at craft fairs. Perhaps he made his own ropes?

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

A pole lathe. They're not manual though, they're powered pedally.

The ropemakers I know don't use fids - unless they do it clandestinely. I'll ask one this weekend.

Mary

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Well, if you define manual as being "by hand", excluding the feet! I did mention the pedal, you know!

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

How else could it be defined?

So you did ... sorry. but it's still not manual :-)

The ones I know are used for serious work ... like Spouse's ... and never used at craft fairs.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

In article , N. Thornton writes

A gouge? What width is it 15mm, 20mm, 22mm, 25mm? American equivalent? Could it be for rounding out raggles for pipes and conduits? Or if less heavy duty looking is it a woodcarving gouge?

Reply to
Z

If you mean the rough ends of cut pipes, I guess it could smooth out the inner wall, but not the end or outer. And its excessively long to do just that.

No, the angles on the sides make that impossible. Its a very solid piece.

I think this one's about unwinnable :)

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

: > >Its a metal thing with wood handle, obviously an old tool. The metal : > >part consists of the usualy round stem then a banana shaped section, : > >like so: : > >

: > >: >| >( >

: > >Now the banana bit is upto 5/8" wide in the middle, tapering at each : > >end to 0.5". The banana bit has a rounded surface on one side, it is a : > >C shape section. : > >

: > >Now this sounds exactly like a tool for smoothing brickwork pointing, : > >except for one thing: it is not the outer side of the banana that is : > >rounded, but the inner side, so it could not possibly be a bucket : > >handle type pointing tool. What it is I have never discovered. There : > >are no markings on it anywhere. : : : > A gouge? : > What width is it 15mm, 20mm, 22mm, 25mm? : : > >Now the banana bit is upto 5/8" wide in the middle, tapering at each : > >end to 0.5". : : > American equivalent? Could it : > be for rounding out raggles for pipes and conduits? : : If you mean the rough ends of cut pipes, I guess it could smooth out : the inner wall, but not the end or outer. And its excessively long to : do just that. : : > Or if less heavy duty looking is it a woodcarving gouge? : : No, the angles on the sides make that impossible. Its a very solid : piece. : : I think this one's about unwinnable :) :

Turners use a similar tool for deburring the inside of pipes, flanges etc.

Reply to
J.Milton.Hayes

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