paul womack wrote:
> Jay moyer wrote:
>> Peter, That would be a wonderful addition to the Galoot Central 
>> Download section!  Archive the pictures and a short write up in a PDF 
>> file for future reference!  Would I be asking to much for a 
>> quick/dirty drawing of the end/profile view of the cutters?
> 
> I'll check my books; either Ashley Iles, or Stan Shaw
> shows this tool.

Checking has been done. It's written up in Stan Shaw's book.

Stan Shaw, Master Cutler: The Story of a Sheffield Craftsman

(tiny review; the detail is interesting, but the author
appears to think Shaw is some kind of God - the constant
"Stan uses great skill...", "Stan is the last man..." gets very
wearing after a bit)

Anyway, here are the pictures, first of the tool
in use, and then of a close up of the tool
(apologies for the quality - I did my best)

http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10152/parser_use.jpg
http://galootcentral.com/components/cpgalbums/userpics/10152/parser_detail.jpg

Here's the text:

Drilling cavities or holes into pearl or ivory, so that a shield can
be inserted or the knife riveted together, is such a delicate operation
that a special procedure is needed. Stan reached for a kind of
leather breastplate faced with metal, and straps it, like a strange
piece of medieval armour, around his midriff. He then clamps the
pocket-knife scale - or mother of pearl, ivory, stag or whatever - into
his vice along with a template, before picking up a leather bow and
a spiked cutting-tool with a wooden bobbin along its length. For a
moment he stands there, carefully positioning the spikes within the
template (which can be varied to give different shield shapes) and
placing the other pointed end in the small reinforced recess in the
breastplate. With the leather bow wrapped around the bobbin, he
suddenly moves it rapidly back and forth several times with his
hand, like a child's top. The results is that the double cutting prongs
withing the template become a blur as they rapidly ruck out the shield
material, following the countours of the template to give the desired
shape.

Stan in demonstrating [in the picture], one of the oldest of the cutlers'
tool - the parser. It is probably the technique he is asked most
often to demonstrate, as an example of his art; it is suitably ancient
(in fact, the Egyptians are known to have used the parser) and seems
a rather eccentric technique, as should perhaps befit a craft nurtured
within the closed world of the little mester. But looks can be
deceiving: the parser may seem bizarre, but the technique demands
the greatest skill and even today no better method has been found
for putting the inlay hole into materials such as pearl. The parser
is also a wonderfully efficient drill for making holes in the knifes
scales. Stan is almost the last person in the world who uses this
tool; watching him one feels privileged to be witnessing a living
piece of history.

    BugBear (late, but hopefully helpful)
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