Odd auger type bit

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digitalbot

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Anyone know what this is used for?
I could guess but I'd probably be wrong.
 

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That is one heck of a lovely old bit =P~
Will need confirming but could be a plug cutter or dowel rounding bit with a very nice removable bit to enable sharpening.
Very nice find and of a type not acquired myself even though I've been hoarding them for years.
Any chance of easily removing the screwed section and letting us see the workings please?
Cheers
Andy
 
+1 to what Andy said. Try it on a scrap of wood to see if it's a plug cutter, or on the end of a stick to see if it's a dowel pointer or rounder. Very rare - more pictures please!

Does the name marking say "Mathieson" with a star in a crescent? They were Scotland's biggest, most wide ranging tool maker in the late 19th/early 20th century.
 
So by what you've said it's got to be a dowel rounder/tipper then. The cup part on the end is about 10mm deep.
Yes, it is Mathieson stamped on it.
 

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That's great, one found means there could be more out there. Something else for me to keep an eye out for. Thanks very much for showing us.
Geoff.
 
It is, as already commented, not the usual pattern of dowel rounder, which usually has a vaguely cup shaped or conical end. I'm considering the outside of it, and thinking that it looks like someone designed it quite carefully to have a cylindrical shape with nothing sticking out - the cutter seems to be ground off so it comes flush with the outside of the cyclidrical end part of the bit, as if it is to go inside something, or for working in a confined space ? Odd.
 
Only a partial reprint here, which doesn't include it.
Mathieson produced some magnificent catalogues - I think I read somewhere that their 1909 edition was Ken Hawley's favourite - a huge hardbound volume.

I think someone in New Zealand did a reprint of at least some of it, so someone else may be able to help.
 
As mentioned, I don't have a Mathieson catalogue with this rounder in, but I have just found this image of a dowel rounder which I think might be the same thing.

dowel_rounder1891_zpsknbhewt2.jpg


The image is far from clear, as it comes from a photocopy, but the shape is similar, there's a line on the end which could be the cutter and there's a retaining screw in the right place.

It's from the 1891 catalogue of Charles Nurse and son, who were a big London toolmaker, wholesaler and retailer.

The engraving shows it marked "C N & Co" ie Charles Nurse, rather than Mathieson, but such "OEM" marking was commonplace, on the actual tools and on the printing blocks used to illustrate catalogues.


What may help a little with the dating is the fact that this pattern of rounder does not feature in the 1902 or 1908 catalogues from Charles Nurse.
Instead, by 1902 you could buy the more common pattern that looks like a big conical pencil sharpener, for only a shilling. The Mathieson style rounder was very expensive, which would help explain how rare it is!

Digitalbot, your challenge, should you wish to accept it, is to find the other size. :lol:
 
forgive my ignorance, but is this the normal type of dowel cutter? (Wm Ridgway 1936)

I think I can see how this one works (giant pencil sharpener?) - how does the OP's work?

s__3ENrNPgnvJE270bKKu5viPIQdgr4aLom9xiM5LS3qwOGtUTJINA
 
Yes, that's the sort I meant, only a shilling, not 3 shillings. One piece of steel, sharpened until there's no metal left, like an auger bit.

But I guess the Mathieson one is also like a pencil sharpener, but one with a removable, sharpenable cutter.
 
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