What is it? CLXXV

All but the last one have been answered correctly this week:

Rob

Will try to get a few photos sent this weekend.

Consensuses is that this tool was originally intended for wood. Still curious what use (or abuse) the one pictured this week has seen. Don't see how it could ever get that *dull* being used as a corner rounder. I know wood can be abrasive, but I would have thrown it away long before it got that bad. Assuming re-sharpening was not possible, which it is. And quite simple too.

BTW one of the comments on your blog gave the exact same use I was thinking - plastics. And I can attest to there effectiveness.

Hey Rob. The wheel tool drawing looks odd. It appears that the tool is reversed. The ratchet mechanism wouldn't engage as drawn if the levering force was downwards. You're trying to pull the upper spoke downwards, right? Am I missing something?

R

Just did a Google image search for "cornering tool" and the Veritas, Lee Valley, and an antique Stanley I found on the first few pages are all ground a bit differently than the ones I have used. Would also make them slightly harder to re-sharpen. And may explain some, but not all, of what looks like extreme wear in your photo.

1013: Electronic key. Works in an electronic lock which has a keyhole that looks like an oversized watch battery holder, and usually activates a magnetic strike. 1014: Saw for cutting variable-depth slots into wood. 1015: Perhaps a nail-puller. Wouldn't be very effective as one though. 1016: For removing the cardboard box from obscenely-tightly styrofoam-packed items. (OK, perhaps not, but I think it's a press for removing the outer covering of something) 1017: The Daily Planet :-). They're all spherical astrolabes. The third one might be a sun-centered one.

It got that dull by some yahoo using a drill-mounted wire wheel to strip rust from it. Note the pitting.

I think this predates any Lee Valley offering by some time.

scott

I agree that it wouldn't work if the handle was forced down, but I think that the idea is to pull the handle up with the tool pivoting around the lower spoke. The upper part of the tool then rotates counterclockwise, forcing the spoke down. I tried it with some pieces of wood and it worked well.

Rob

Okay, that makes more sense. The handle is dropped to move the ratchet/pawl to engage in a notch, then lifted up to lever the spoke. Gotchya. Thanks.

R