Another unidentified old tool (Gage set?)

[Mike Cogswell]

Another mystery item from my wife's grandfather's tool chests.

This is a 3 3/4" H x 5 1/2" W x 1/4" thick metal box made of folded brass. As you can see, it's from Henry Taylor, Sheffield. There are no other marks on the box, just the label.

241953

The box is divided into four compartments. Each compartment holds a set of three comb-like pieces of blued steel. All the combs are 0.020" thick and 3 1/2" high and are all stamped with the Henry Taylor name and acorn logo. The three combs in a set differ only in the width of the "teeth". The four sets are 1", 2", 3" & 4" wide.

241952

Anyone know what these are?

- Mike
Si vis pacem, para bellum

[george wilson]

Those are "graining combs". Used with paints to make painted,decorative fake wood grains over otherwise plain,featureless woods.

[Andrew Hughes]

My guess is Moustache combs? Or glue spreader. My next guess was something to do with paint George wins again.

[Bill White]

Monotone music box tines. :)
Bill

[Adam Neat]

I think George is right but I like Bills answer better:D

[Todd Burch]

Guys I went to school with fluffed their hair with these. They carried them in their back pocket, but the handles are missing from those.

[Halgeir Wold]

George IS right, - of course....:rolleyes: I have an old set myself, not Taylor made, though....

[Mike Cogswell]

Thanks George. Armed with your answer a quick Google turned up a new set on Amazon. They look exactly like the old Henry Taylor ones, right down to sets of three in four widths.

What I can't figure out is how they fit in with all the other tools in my wife's grandfather's chests. All the rest are straight up mechanic's or machinist's tools, which makes sense since his job was maintaining the speeders on a railroad. The closest thing to woodworking tools turned out to be a set of bearing scrapers.

Here's the modern set:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41q6whapLsL.jpg

[Adam Neat]

Since they are so pristine he probably never used them, he could have got them the same way you did, someone knew he was a "craftsman" they looked like tools so could have had them given to him; or they could have been in a set of tools he purchased.

So in the tool box they went, for the next generation

[Mel Fulks]

They are the long lost combs from that incident where the guy sold his watch to buy them for his wife but she had sold her paint contracting business ,and signed a non- compete clause so that she could buy him an alligator watch strap. I think it's called the GIFT OF THE MAGI.