I ain't mine (darn!) but buddy wants to ID it. He's looked. But I don't know
how hard or where, so I'm prevailing on the illuminati to assist.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/183694571@N.../49336952417/in/dateposted-public
/

 

With the handle so clean. I'm (just guessing) at ruling out metal/woodwork
device, also surgical( wooden handle)

 

So that leaves the inevitable "leather work " item, but I'm also thinking
upholstery (as in holding tufting needles for threading the buttons)...just
a guess though

 

Searched images of leather/upholstery tools to no aviail.  It also has some
similarity to embrodry/needlework  "birds"

 

Any thoughts/ideas/guesses/outright conjectures gladly accepted.

 

Happy new year folks

 

Eric in Calgary

When Y first looked I thought the handle was brass.
Don't have a clue, sorry.



Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S10.



-------- Original message --------
From: Eric Coyle 
Date: 1/5/20 20:28 (GMT-05:00)
To: oldtools@s...
Subject: [OldTools] Can anybody ID this device?

I ain't mine (darn!) but buddy wants to ID it. He's looked. But I don't know
how hard or where, so I'm prevailing on the illuminati to assist.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/183694571@N.../49336952417/in/dateposted-public
/



With the handle so clean. I'm (just guessing) at ruling out metal/woodwork
device, also surgical( wooden handle)



So that leaves the inevitable "leather work " item, but I'm also thinking
upholstery (as in holding tufting needles for threading the buttons)...just
a guess though



Searched images of leather/upholstery tools to no aviail.  It also has some
similarity to embrodry/needlework  "birds"



Any thoughts/ideas/guesses/outright conjectures gladly accepted.



Happy new year folks



Eric in Calgary





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OldTools@s...

Eric Coyle posted a whatsit:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/183694571@N.../49336952417/in/dateposted-public

and said: "With the handle so clean. I'm (just guessing) at ruling out
metal/woodwork
device, also surgical( wooden handle)."
Don't rule out medical because of a wood handle. Before Lister demonstrated
antiseptic surgical technique in the late 1860s, no one bothered about
cleanliness in surgery; surgical instruments often had checkered wooden handles.
And it took decades before the germ theory was accepted generally. Also, 19th-
century surgeons were notoriously fond of inventing new surgical instruments,
and variations on old instruments, which the surgical instrument makers were
happy ot make up for them in one or two examples; when a new tool caught the
medical community's fancy, it could make the reputation of a surgeon, and a
whole lot of money for the company that made it. The level of craftsmanship and
finish on surgical tools was exceptionally high; we all know about the fine
woodworkers who used cast-off bone saws for dovetailing because of their high
quality.

I don't know if the whatsis is surgical; I'm just saying, don't rule out
surgical origin.
Tom Conroy