A Mystery Tool

[Mark Wyatt]

It's been a while since we had a good mystery tool. I picked this one up today as part of a package deal at a garage sale. The other tools that sat next to this were molding planes (that's what I was really after), two Stanley traditional planes, and a cobbler's hammer.

I looked through my American Dictionary of Hand Tools and couldn't find a match.

It is not particularly sharp and is heavier than it looks. The handle end is weighted, like it is full of lead or something. No moving parts. Total length is about 7 inches.

What do you think? A cobbler's tool? Something to stretch fabric? Any ideas at all?

[ray hampton]

upholstery tool , tack puller are built in

[ray hampton]

is it mark United States Marine Corp.

[Mark Wyatt]

Ray,

I can't tell if that is suppose to be USMC or if there is some bizarre character between the S & C. A search of USMC and cobbler on e-bay reveals a couple of hammers with this mark. So, I guess the question is, how would a cobbler use this?

[James Taglienti]

United Shoe Machinery Corporation
...
Thats all I got.

[ray hampton]

Ray,

I can't tell if that is suppose to be USMC or if there is some bizarre character between the S & C. A search of USMC and cobbler on e-bay reveals a couple of hammers with this mark. So, I guess the question is, how would a cobbler use this?

the teeth on the edge may be a guide to set the distance of the thread, and the V notch may be to pull nails

[Philip Duffy]

It is a tool used to strip dogs of their excess hair - -Airedales specifically. Got one more if you need two. Phil

[Jeff Wittrock]

It is a tool used to strip dogs of their excess hair - -Airedales specifically. Got one more if you need two. Phil

What do you do to the poor dog with that checkered, weighted handle? :)

[Trevor Walsh]

You tenderize his steak of course, he's such a good dog.

[Robert G Brown]

A site http://www.addoway.com/viewad/four-vintage-leather-working-tools-craft-usmc-238072 says vintage leather working tool. Is grouped with other leather working tools, so may be true.

[ray hampton]

the only tool that I found that resemble that is a pricker tool, the edge points are are place against the leather and the tool back are stuck with a mallet to mark the leather for a hole to sew it together

[george wilson]

You really can't draw conclusions from any Ebay type ad. The handles do look quite similar,though. With the serrated,heavy handle tip,it does seem like something to use on leather.

[Mark Wyatt]

I'll give it a try tonight when I get home from work. I have a cobbler's hammer and a piece of leather so I'll document what happens when I pound on the leather. Should be educational and stress relieving at the same time.

[Steve Friedman]

Sure looks like one of these - Tack Puller and Staple Remover:

http://springfieldleather.com/24814/Snap%2CMagnetic%2CAntqBrs%2C3-4%22%2C10p/

[Robert G Brown]

Tack and Staple Puller
Product ID: O121
Category: Staple Pullers & Tack Pullers
Description: This tack and staple remover is constructed with the same honest craftsmanship that goes into all tools. Can also be used for grooving out drawers, so that when reglued they will stick. Made of forged steel.

http://www.ansaldi.com/Catalog/SearchResults.asp?SearchFlag=1&CategoryId=31

Same Look - "grooving out drawers" struck me.

[Mark Wyatt]

It could certainly be a staple and tack puller, although they look a little lighter and somewhat curved at the tip versus this tool.

In any case, I performed my experiment in leather just for fun. After a couple of attempts that did not produce any positive result, I managed this seemingly useful task:


(1) place serrated edge on leather and whack.

(2) Use tip to increase depth of cut.

(3) Viola, holes suitable for stitching.

[Robert G Brown]

I think you demystified it.

[Bill Houghton]

It's been years (almost 40), but I remember a similar tool in use during my brief* escapade in a shoe factory. We "stapled" the boot uppers to the boot lasts with a couple of nails at the heel using a machine called a last stapler**, and the tool I'm vaguely remembering was used to pull misfires.

*Two weeks, and surely one of my least fun jobs. I figured out at some point that I was making less than the unemployment I'd been drawing right before starting there in exchange for utterly mindless but highly pressured work, so my reaction when the foreman let me go because the guy I'd replaced was coming back (a polite way of saying I wasn't fast enough) was...well...not what he'd expected.
**I've always been far too amused that the last stapler was one of the early machines in the production process. I know the reference is to the wooden last around which the boot was formed, but it was just chuckle-worthy. I think this demonstrates that my sense of humor is more infantile than fittin' for my years.

[Richard Jones]

A stitching wheel is generally used to lay out for sewing. That thing looks to me like it's made to simultaneously cut thread/whatever. I've hand sewn leather for years and have never seen/heard of this, at least for hand sewing leather. Not that I'm the end all to hand sewing, just saying.....................

[george wilson]

I have an old harness maker friend,the real deal,lifelong leather worker retired from Williamsburg. When I see him again I'll hopefully remember to sketch your tool and he will definitely have the answer.

The tool looks to me like the long set of teeth is for straight stitches,and the 2 end teeth can be used to space stitches around curves.

[Brian Rabinovitch]

My guess is that it was used for cleaning fish.

[Mark Wyatt]

My guess is that it was used for cleaning fish.

I might use it for that. I'm not going to be pulling tacks or punching leather anytime soon, but I will do some fishing!

[george wilson]

Since the end of the tool punches exactly the same spaced divots as the side teeth,I am pretty sure that this means the 2 teeth on the end were for marking around curves. Otherwise,why bother to make those teeth the same space and shape?

[Bill Houghton]

I might use it for that. I'm not going to be pulling tacks or punching leather anytime soon, but I will do some fishing!

Just be sure to do some catching, too, or your nifty little tool won't be useful.

[Mark Wyatt]

Just be sure to do some catching, too, or your nifty little tool won't be useful.

In every story I tell, there's at least one fish. ;) They tend to get bigger over time. The fish and the stories.

[ray hampton]

In every story I tell, there's at least one fish. ;) They tend to get bigger over time. The fish and the stories.

THEN TELL ANOTHER STORY but with a meal of catfish fried southern style in cornmeal