Whatsit pliers

[James Taglienti]

I picked thse pliers up a few months ago and have been baffled ever since. They look like some kind of bending pliers with a set of fenced nippers. The other nipper pliers cut a small notch that looks like it is for folding metal. They came with a collection of woodworking tools so i am even more puzzled. The fenced nippers are extremely well made. They all read "HH Co."

[Jim Koepke]

I have one pair of pliers like the pin nose pliers shown.

They were my dad's from a set he bought in the 1930s or 1940s. They were used for forming wire to solder to a lug or fasten under a binding head screw.

I believe jewelers call them chain pliers.

As far as the fenced nippers, it looks like they may also be from a metal working trade. If they can cut thin metal in continuous strips, that may be their purpose.

The other nippers look like something to cut tabs for folding and soldering metal boxes and such.

If you could find a tin smith, they would likely be able to give names to all of them and not just Steve, Bob and Charles.

jim

[Bill Houghton]

As far as the fenced nippers, it looks like they may also be from a metal working trade. If they can cut thin metal in continuous strips, that may be their purpose.

Jim, I don't think the fenced pliers are for cutting thin metal in strips - the metal would hit the pivot point. If you look at tinsnips, you'll see that the jaws are formed to give the metal on both sides of the cut somewhere to go. More likely cutting-off pliers of some kind.

Always interesting to see the specialty tools. I worked VERY briefly as a sheet metal worker (aka tin-bender), and some of the specialty tools for sheet metal work look very strange until you see them in action, at which point they make perfect sense.

[David Epperson]

I have one pair of pliers like the pin nose pliers shown.

They were my dad's from a set he bought in the 1930s or 1940s. They were used for forming wire to solder to a lug or fasten under a binding head screw.

I believe jewelers call them chain pliers.

As far as the fenced nippers, it looks like they may also be from a metal working trade. If they can cut thin metal in continuous strips, that may be their purpose.

The other nippers look like something to cut tabs for folding and soldering metal boxes and such.

If you could find a tin smith, they would likely be able to give names to all of them and not just Steve, Bob and Charles.

jim
If one were going to make several identical links of chain - you might need to start with several pieces of wire of identical length.

[Paul Atkins]

Jewelry making tools.

[James Taglienti]

Wow guys, thanks a lot!
The cutters on the fenced nippers do not end in a perfect "vee," there is a gap just under 1/16" to nest the workpiece in. Jewelery making sounds pretty good, since there are also a handful of graver handles with HH stamped on them as well, and some small gravers. I can't decide if HH was the maker of the tools or a, "inventory control" measure applied in a factory. the chain making theory sounds pretty good. I also thought that they might be used for fabricating springs in some sort of factory setting, but then the engraver handles would be an oddball.

[harry strasil]

I believe what you have are a set of opticians instruments for adjusting eye glasses frames.

[Stephen Shepherd]

They look like jeweler's tools to me. You only need one or two pliers for eye glasses, those usually have padded jaws.

As for chain making the fenced pliers are not what was used, they have another purpose. To make chain [links] the wire is twisted around a mandrel many times then they are all cut at once usually with a saw.

Hard to tell from the angle of the photograph but it looks like some of them have box joints, which are higher quality tools than side joints.

Stephen

[David Epperson]

As for chain making the fenced pliers are not what was used, they have another purpose.

Stephen
Which would be??????????

[James Taglienti]

Here are a few more batches of pictures of the notching nippers and the fenced nippers, as well as some small anvils and whatnot that came with all the aforementioned pliers. The anvils don't fit anything in the set.

[James Taglienti]

more pictures here

[James Taglienti]

perhaps this is a box joint, with one half of the tool enclosed in the other half? if thats the case then they are indeed box joints.