What is this tool?

[robert hainstock]

What is yiur best guess as to what this tool is used for?

118805

My best guess is that it was used for debarking cedar posts. But i look forward to your opinions. The blade of this hand forged tool is appx. 9" wide by 4 " deep less the handle.
Bob

[Jim Rimmer]

Looks like some kind of hoe - maybe for digging sod.

[John Schreiber]

We used to have something similar for cleaning the walls of a (very large) grain bin. It had a long long pole and we called it a spud.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Looks like a whale flensing tool to me. Used to strip blubber from a whale.

-Jeff

[Bill Houghton]

Looks like a whale flensing tool to me. Used to strip blubber from a whale.

-Jeff

Given Robert Hainstock's location, some kind of spud - bark, silo, etc. - seems more likely.

[Jeff Wittrock]

Given Robert Hainstock's location, some kind of spud - bark, silo, etc. - seems more likely.

What.... you've never heard of those fresh water sperm whales :)?

It looks a lot like item 250426735615 on ebay, but for all I know this one is misidentified.

-Jeff

[mike holden]

Might be for cutting turf, have something similar for cutting and lifting sod.
Mike

[Jeff Skory]

I have a tool that looks similar to this and is used for slicing out patches of grass. When sharpened it works much better than a shovel. Mine has a longer neck though which is bent so that the blade is horizontal to the ground when the wooden handle is at 45 degrees.

[robert hainstock]

sounds ;ikely. Thanks
Bob

[robert hainstock]

What.... you've never heard of those fresh water sperm whales :)?

It looks a lot like item 250426735615 on ebay, but for all I know this one is misidentified.

-Jeff

Living two blocks from lake superior, I can assure you there are no whales of any kind in lake superior, tho we do have some pretty awsome looking man eating pike in there.
Bob

[Greg Crawford]

Jeff,

I've used the type of sod cutting tool you're speaking of. It did look different than this tool. I'd like to find one since it was so handy, but I can't find one anywhere. Are they still made?

[Jamie Cowan]

It was used by the Lone Ranger's haberdasher to mold his masks. Obviously.

[Bruce Page]

Jeff nailed it. I saw several of these at the Anchorage Museum whaling exhibit a couple of years ago.

[Nathan Hawkes]

I have a modern tool that looks just like it that is for cutting sod; if yours has a really fine honed edge it might've been for whales. All the bark spuds I've seen are pretty narrow.

[Bill Houghton]

Living two blocks from lake superior, I can assure you there are no whales of any kind in lake superior, tho we do have some pretty awsome looking man eating pike in there.
Bob

You mean there are untrue things on the internet? Even - gasp! - spoofs?

http://www.northshorevisitor.com/activities/whale-watching.html

[Steve Thomas]

Whalling tool for sure. also looks a little like a leather knife.
great for cutting seal blubber.

[Randal Stevenson]

I have a tool that looks similar to this and is used for slicing out patches of grass. When sharpened it works much better than a shovel. Mine has a longer neck though which is bent so that the blade is horizontal to the ground when the wooden handle is at 45 degrees.


Jeff,

I've used the type of sod cutting tool you're speaking of. It did look different than this tool. I'd like to find one since it was so handy, but I can't find one anywhere. Are they still made?


I have an old one, and it is great. I can't say I have used it to remove sod (tried, couldn't get a big enough piece), but I have used it as both an edger, and to cut grass/weeds growing in the sidewalk/driveway/next to the foundation.

I would LOVE to know what it is called. (and if available)

[Jeff Wittrock]

Hey, who knows... everyone may be right.

Maybe people have been using whale flensing tools to cut sod all along (or could be whalers have been using sod busting tools to flense whales) :)

Kind of like beating swords into plowshares you know :).

-Jeff

[robert hainstock]

We seem to agree that it is a tool for cutting fairly long, straight, relativly soft materials, mostly natural stuff.??????
Bob

[Bill Houghton]

We seem to agree that it is a tool for cutting fairly long, straight, relativly soft materials, mostly natural stuff.??????
Bob

Yes, I think we've definitely narrowed it down that far.

New possibility: it's a flensing tool for the rare and elusive cedarbark whale.

[Ken Shepard]

Looks like an edger to me. Here is one currently offered by Lee Valley.


http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=44691&cat=2,2180,33221