Anyone ID this hand tool?

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dannyr

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dug up in my allotment in Sheffield - about 20ins long rusted steel bar with heavy lead/pewter knob on each end

reminds me a bit of a foundry tool for tamping mould sand?

hope it wasn't a Sheffield gang wars (1930s) knobkerry - (I found a couple of buried bayonets once in my garden, and word was, they belonged to the infamous Mooney gang).
 
I can’t see the picture here in the wilds of the highland, but from the description it sounds like part of a fly press.

edit … pic now appeared, probably not but might be something like that.
 
steve355 said:
I can’t see the picture here in the wilds of the highland, but from the description it sounds like part of a fly press.

edit … pic now appeared, probably not but might be something like that.
Click to expand...

I think I know which part of the fly press you mean, but it's a pretty slim steel bar (or rod), maybe even wrought iron (the true old stuff) - would likely bend if swung hard to press

but maybe something to swing?? as you suggest --- could swing it to twist a pair of thickish wires together??
 
dannyr said:
I think I know which part of the fly press you mean, but it's a pretty slim steel bar (or rod), maybe even wrought iron (the true old stuff) - would likely bend if swung hard to press

but maybe something to swing?? as you suggest --- could swing it to twist a pair of thickish wires together??
Click to expand...

Realistically it probably isn’t part of a fly press. As you say, perhaps for twisting rope or cable though.

IMG_0775.jpeg
 
che?

not a fisherman, see paternoster on web but not paternoster beam --- would that be at a certain depth, hanging a number of hooks? how would you keep it level - float each end? - quite heavy for all that and easy to tangle
 
dannyr said:
che?

not a fisherman, see paternoster on web but not paternoster beam --- would that be at a certain depth, hanging a number of hooks? how would you keep it level - float each end? - quite heavy for all that and easy to tangle
Click to expand...
Well some kind of fishing thing maybe.
 
My grandfather was an old-school plumber from the days when plumber meant a man who works with lead. He had some tools like that, but I don't remember what they were called or how they were used. I think it was something to do with lead roofing rather than pipe work, but not totally sure.
 
niall Y said:
It is a long dummy for bending lead pipe. Mentioned in " Practical Plumbers Work" by Paul N Hasluck, ( 1910 )
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thanks - you sound confident and seems like best answer to me, but I can only picture it being used in bending the very end of a pipe - I presume it's inserted and on removal helps ensure the circular cross-section?

I don't have a copy of Hasluck, so would be v grateful for your explanation.
 
Great - wonderful knowledge y'all have - thanks.

(and I do like the wild guesses)

so it's officially a "Double Dummy" --- go to the back of the class
 
I checked about the tools like this that my grandfather had. My uncle, who used to work with him, still has at least one of these tools. Apparently grandfather called it a dolly, mainly used when doing lead flashing to work lead around downspouts and the like. He would hold the dolly on the inside of the curve and hit the other side with his wooden lead-dressing tools to form the shape he wanted. It was easier to have something to hit against other than the lead he was working.
 
Just4Fun said:
I checked about the tools like this that my grandfather had. My uncle, who used to work with him, still has at least one of these tools. Apparently grandfather called it a dolly, mainly used when doing lead flashing to work lead around downspouts and the like. He would hold the dolly on the inside of the curve and hit the other side with his wooden lead-dressing tools to form the shape he wanted. It was easier to have something to hit against other than the lead he was working.
Click to expand...
panel beaters call the inside handheld anvil a dolly - does same job, but for steel
 

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