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Thanks Pitch Pine and everyone - yes I do enjoy a puzzler like this one and when extra information can be found relatively easy it's very satisfying. It's getting easier, as so much information is now available online, so with a few basic books and a collection of downloaded catalogues, anyone can play.

What I especially like about threads like this is the way that everyone can contribute, and even a wrong guess can move us nearer to the right answer.

It would be extra nice to make sense of the markings on your handle - it's a pity they don't tie in with the patent date. Maybe they relate to some internal stores record system in the company where it was used.

I'm a great fan of Roy Underhill and his decades of work getting across the message that old tools work, but I shall track down that episode, which I've not seen.

And thanks for the suggestion Eric, but I don't think a deerstalker would look right with my natty waistcoat!