Odd auger type bit
- Thread starter digitalbot
- Start date
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toolsntat
Yep, I collect tools and tat
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
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.
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.
digitalbot
Established Member
Boringgeoff
Established Member
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.
Geoff.
Cheshirechappie
Established Member
Dowel rounder, by the looks of the cutter. Very unusual pattern; nice find!
Sheffield Tony
Ghost of the disenchanted
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.
bugbear
Established Member
Anybody got an old Mathieson catalogue to look in?
BugBear
BugBear
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.
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.
Rhyolith
Established Member
Very good! Mathieson stuff is always nice.
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.
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:
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:
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.
But I guess the Mathieson one is also like a pencil sharpener, but one with a removable, sharpenable cutter.
