Mystery trigger operated shears / scissors .......

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toolsntat

Yep, I collect tools and tat
Joined
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Location
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When I do pay attention at tool sales I get something like this.
Curate`s pipe trademark, mashed up trade name.
Pull lever to cock.
Pull trigger.
VERY VERY strong spring means they slam shut with immense force.
Andy.
(Pictures from David Stanley Auctions)
 

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toolsntat":3qvmmvdl said:
When I do pay attention at tool sales I get something like this.
Curate`s pipe trademark, mashed up trade name.
Pull lever to cock.
Pull trigger.
VERY VERY strong spring means they slam shut with immense force.
Andy.

Looks like it could be painful if held too low
Timber
 
Wonderfully ridiculous!

Someone obviously felt there was a need for such a thing though. Medical? To be used in a confined space where a quick snip and get the job done was needed?

Probably invented by a woman.
 
Is the curate's pipe stamp from George Wostenholm & Son Ltd. in Sheffield?

pipe.jpg
 
They are from Newcastle, their function is to castrate rampant Geordies. Every set comes complete with a pair of running shoes!
 
You posted this a day late, didn't you?

Seriously, what a wonderful contraption.

I suspect Chyrugery, as in the days before anaesthetics surgeons had to be very fast in order to prevent the patient dying of shock on the table. It looks like something that could be cocked then be handed to the surgeon who could "aim and fire" quickly. It would explain the strong spring too, as it had to work first go, no matter what.

I doubt it was too successful though, otherwise there would be more of them about.
 
I've seen this thing in the flesh and it's just weird and a big puzzle. Andy, these are all the photos I took. The mark shows up in a couple of them, though the focus could have been a bit better - sorry.

IMG_20170203_142424147_zpsbkcqln7i.jpg


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[Edited to restore missing photos.]
 
First off pictures are great Andy, thanks for posting.

Naz, I had been looking into Wostenholm but failed to find anything.
It's not exhausted so maybe there's a chance.?

Yes Eric, should have posted yesterday morning......
You and swb have valid ideas regarding medical possibilities.

I have had lots of suggestions but in all this you have to ask is there a simpler option and invariably the answer is yes.
Just the act of pulling the trigger makes what ever grip you had disappear, unless you hold just one side of the spring?
Get that wrong and it'll smart a bit..... :roll:

As said regarding success, there should be more if so and we surely would have seen them. Just too unusual to stay hidden.
But then if it wasn't for the first one of anything, there wouldn't be any discoveries....

Andy
 
toolsntat":t5aoakcs said:
Just had a thought as soon as I seen that close up.....
How about PEGLER ?
Heard it before but not sure why.
Andy

Are you sure you're not just remembering the name as a maker of taps and valves?
 
The Wostenholm stamp is the other way around. I don't think it's them.

I've searched for 'churchwarden's pipe' too, nada. :-(
 
Is there any sign as to where that loose bolt fits? Also I have difficulty in seeing how this could be held for use, so feel it's part of something automatic, operating in a trap or case of emergency release cutting a cord or strap, but it's also quite decorative so it's been made to be seen not lost in the back of machine somewhere.
Watching with interest.
 
AndyT":2cdg433z said:
toolsntat":2cdg433z said:
Just had a thought as soon as I seen that close up.....
How about PEGLER ?
Heard it before but not sure why.
Andy

Are you sure you're not just remembering the name as a maker of taps and valves?

Is it French, with the last 4 letters being "CIER" ?

(so perhaps, "FECIER")

BugBear
 
I have a mental picture of toolies scratching their heads over some of the recent Veritas 'April offerings' in a few decades time - which leads me to wonder if it isn't a sort of Victorian or Edwardian April Fool; or at any rate, a sort of entertainer's prop of some sort. As others have said, it looks to be an awkward thing to actually use, and it looks rather too well finished (posh handle on the cock lever) to be a regular working tool, which leads me to the 'gentlemen's curiousity' thought.
 
I like the idea that it's for entertainment purposes - it still works for that!
On a similar track, I wonder if it was for cutting a ceremonial ribbon or similar, despite the design flaw that the sudden spring action would tend to eject anything forwards from between the jaws, rather than cut it, unless things were fixed in place firmly.
Designed to be used with a flourish.
 
I think it's one from a set of dualling scissors.

... ''haberdashery at dawn'' kinda thing.
 
NazNomad":2brqikke said:
I think it's one from a set of dualling scissors.

... ''haberdashery at dawn'' kinda thing.

I now have a mental vision of a middle-aged Victorian gentleman with heavy frock coat and bristling handle-bar moustache bursting through a drawing-room door, brandishing the object in question, and addressing the male half of an embracing young couple, "Unhand my daughter, you foul fiend, or I shall snip your trouser buttons!"

Well, they had to come up with something after duelling was banned and a horse-whip wasn't to hand....
 
I also have thoughts of them being Continental with regards to the style of knob on the lever.
My friend has said he's seen the pipe on some French engravers tools but cannot remember the manufacturer.

Yes Andy, PEGLER taps :oops:

It is of course totally plausible that they are a one off and like you say for an entertainer of sorts.
Also, addressing the holding quandary this could be explained by them being mounted for a ceremony of some sort.
Another observation is that not only does the spring close rapidly, the cocking lever is flung forward as well, at a rate of knots.
With regards "CIER" , the font spacing is a little wide for me between the I and E as if something is missing but any shot at a name is worthy of consideration.
The attached bolt is the worn out original and need to get around to doing a restoration of it. ( before or after making planes with planemakers planes ? :roll: ) It is worth mentioning at this point that they are totally worn out in most moving parts but the blades still look originally ground.
Possibly used once and played with by children time and time again?

Also attached is a neatly engraved tag bearing the number 227 in very nice cursive numerals as though for display identification purposes.
The closing position of the blades was regulated by a stop which is also very worn.

Keep the thoughts coming as any idea is better than no idea.....
Cheers
Andy
 

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