Time for a new contest

Sorry Roger. Missed this one earlier.
These are copies of actual manufactured items that you can buy yourself.

No, I did not name them. They have had the same name since long before I knew they even existed.

Didn't need to tell anyone. I made them for my own use at the place I was working at the time, because I was tired of always having to borrow one from someone else.

If you're trying to imply that I just whipped these together and invented a name for them, just to confuse people on this forum, you're sadly wrong. There were several days of spare time labor that went into machining all of the parts, heat treating the blades, surface grinding the bottoms and honing the blades to a razor edge. I no longer have a milling machine, surface grinder and the materials needed available to me.

I am going to add to jugglers thoughts because they got me thinking in a different direction and maybe I can do the same for others.

1. If they were for marking there would not be two sizes.
2. The point in the smaller one is not flush with the wood so it does not look like it would be for scraping a level surface. But he surface ground the bottoms to get them perfectly flat so the surface that they were sliding on was no wider than the blade.
3. It appears that Don was working in a shop that has machine tools because that is what he used to make them.
4. They were used in all positions from on the knees to overhead.
5. Something in jugglers post was in the ball park.
6. By the size of the handles and the heat treating of the points for hardness means that they were uses aggressively.
7. They were only used occasionally because before he made them he had to borrow them from co-workers.
8. It appears like he was working in a shop setting.
9. Because he was so meticulous about sharpening them they must have been for cutting something or scraping off something pretty hard.
10. The bottoms of the points do not look like they were slid along anything that would mar them.

I think this is going to take a team effort to figure this out.

So my question at this point is: Were they used to cut fiberglass?

Oh yea, by the way, good morning Don.
Jim

Hey Jim, thanks for joining the team effort.

In #2 you suggest that the surface that they're used on is not wider than the blade. I also noticed that the blade on the wooden one is not flush with the bottom, and that bothers me. What you said makes sense for the wooden tool. However, on the metal tool, the blade is wider than the metal handle. Why would Don go to the effort to make the blade so much wider if the tool was used on something only as wide as the narrower groove in the handle? Could it be that the picture is deceiving? Maybe what we're seeing on the wooden tool is just a gap between the wood and the metal, but they are actually flush on the bottom.

I might disagree with your point #10. On the metal tool with the wide blade, I see scratches, especially along the bottom half in the picture. They could be sharpening marks, or they could be scratches from the surface. I'm really not sure.

It confuses me that the blades are so different. The smaller one seems designed more for poking and the larger one seems designed for slicing.

Your idea about the shop environment is something I hadn't thought of. Don was using these over his head and on his knees. He also said they range in length from 4 inches to 4 feet so that they can fit in spaces of varying size. I keep picturing them used on walls and ceilings now, not necessarily floors. I was thinking they'd be used in construction of houses in some way. Possibly for wall coverings like drywall, wallpaper, paneling, etc.

I've been searching the web for pictures by searching for things like "drywall tools", but Don has what seems to be an obscure page about these tools and their use. Are they for something that isn't done much anymore? Is there now a better way to do the job? Was it once a job for a craftsman, but is now mass produced in a factory?

The pic of the wood handled tool may be a bit deceiving. what you see is a thin strip of a special industrial epoxy fastening the blade to the wood.

Much of this particular type of work / hobby has been replaced with a special type of CAD milling machine. But old school craftsmen still use these objects.

Actually, I used an oil stone on the blade to remove some rust before taking the pic. That's what left the marks.

Don, why is your username "jakesrocks" if your name is Don? Does Jake know you have his rocks? Everything about you is a mystery!

Deburring large counter sink holes in metal.

snuffy

Jugglerguy, Jake is his DOG! Everyone knows when you own a dog, everything you own is his!

Don, you picked a good 'un this time. I think a group effort will be required to nail this down.

1. When at first it was affirmed that this tool was used with clay, I think everyone, including me, thought pottery - vases, decorative items, etc, that are either made in plaster molds, or thrown on a wheel. Yes or no, was this tool used in BRICK manufacturing?

2. Although Don's not saying, the blade being flush to the milled flat bottom edge does suggest that it is slid. The scratches may be from him cleaning it up, and not from use. But suppose that the surface that it is slid on does not leave scratches? It's not a tamper, as that would have a larger flat head, not the thin flat point slid sideways. Not a tamper, yes or no?

3. If I understand this, it is not used often (not everyday), yes or no?

4. Is it a tool that is used for cleaning purposes, after a batch is done, such as removing dried clay from some type of extruder? Different sized extruers would require different sized tools to remove the dried clay? Am I getting close, yes or no?

That's it for now, someone else can take it and run with it. Gotta get the read end of the Ranger put back together today, but I'll check in as I get time. Jean

Since the work/hobby is now done with a milling machine the tool has to be for cutting because that is what they do and the blade is flat with the handle.

Are they used to get a surface perfectly flat?