What would this little 'tool' be ?

[fernando]

I wonder if any of you guys find this thing familiar ....
Handmade, with an old 'decor'. Nothing further i can add; pictures speak for themselves.


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[Jens Nordlunde]

Is it sharp?
Could it have been used for leather decoration?

[fernando]

Yes Jens, it could be !
It is sharp; both point and edges !
But not sharp enough to be a blood letting lancet, though.


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[kronckew]

Mason's string tools. used either end of a brick run to enable a string between them to ensure the run was straight. Usually there are two. I've got a couple somewhere made of aluminum, also about 5 in. Points & edges are sharp.

[fernando]

Very good shot, Wayne Kronckew; i owe you a pint.
My consolation for mine not having its pair is that it is a 'pre-industrial' specimen, visibly with some age; XIX century ?

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by fernando

Very good shot, Wayne Kronckew; i owe you a pint.
My consolation for mine not having its pair is that it is a 'pre-industrial' specimen, visibly with some age; XIX century ?

Probably older

[Kmaddock]

a lab spatula?

sharp edges are good for when you have a powder on the tip. You tap the spatula and a small amount falls off so you can easily control how much of the compound you are using.

also a heaped spatula is good for a defined measurement of powder

Do I win anything?

[Kmaddock]

or even closer

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

... a lab spatula?... Do I win anything?

It is more that the one i posted has a more open air rustic look; hence i would stay with the mason brick liner assessment, if you don't mind .
But you qualify for half pint, though .


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[francantolin]

Hello,
an old lab spatula
or a special ''needle'' for drill and sew thick leather or something ??
( hole at the end ?!)

[fernando]

Not the right configuration. Both head and hole should not be wider than the shaft. Neither the material; mending needles have a harder steel finish, not soft enough to have decorations. A worse situation if it were for leather penetration; edges and point sharpness having to be more acute.
Still so far the brick laying level tool is the winner.
...Further opinions to be considered, though.

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[Kmaddock]

I think the tip is neither wide enough nor long enough for work in masonry.

the torque when pulling the string would, I think, pull it out of the mortar too easily.

plum bob maybe?? but it does not look heavy enough.

regards

Ken

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

... plum bob maybe?? ...

Nahhh .
Look at the picture in #11. Those thin holes were probably made with simple nails. If they stand the torque of a thin string, why wouldn't this thing ?

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[Richard G]

To change track - could it be a scarification tool or knife, if sharpened?
Possibly African
Regards
Richard

[fernando]

One possibility that i wouldn't reject ... at all, Richard.
The decoration, yes. What i don't find when i browse the Web on those, is a tool with a similar pattern.But still.

PS
Should i discard the blood letting (phlebotomy) scalpel/lancet ?


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[kronckew]

Any Masons out there?

P.s. - Dha spines have similar crosses and bars decorating some.

I've been thinking Roman for this item... Very little info on small disposable ancient tools like this.

P.p.s. - Nails work too, over shorter distances or on floors. The mortar is quite stiff after the next brick is placed on top and pounded down. This item is indeed way too light for a plumb bob.

You go back later with a semicircular tool to point up & smooth the joints into a concave profile (and fill in the holes). This is done to allow rainwater to run off the join, instead if sitting in the groove, other , including more decorative, profiles are OK for non weathered interior walls.

[kronckew]

Heck, could even be an oyster shucking knife, here's some that were made earlier (Romans ate tons of oysters ).

p.s.- I hate raw oysters! I hear though, that Letra 'C' stout goes good with them. even better without the oysters!

[Mel H]

Originally Posted by fernando

One possibility that i wouldn't reject ... at all, Richard.
The decoration, yes. What i don't find when i browse the Web on those, is a tool with a similar pattern.But still.

PS
Should i discard the blood letting (phlebotomy) scalpel/lancet ?


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The wood handled implement in the photo is an antique ink eraser.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by kronckew

Heck, could even be an oyster shucking knife, here's some that were made earlier (Romans ate tons of oysters ).

p.s.- I hate raw oysters! I hear though, that Letra 'C' stout goes good with them. even better without the oysters!

Raw oysters are great...until you get a bad one.
That material looks a lot like re bar Wayne.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Rick

Raw oysters are great...until you get a bad one.
That material looks a lot like re bar Wayne.

I must have had a bad one. I do like oriental oyster sauce, the version made with real oysters.

Anyway, the Romans used concrete. The Parthenon in Rome has the largest unsupported concrete dome roof in the world made 2 millennia ago, we can barely get a concrete building to last a few decades.

The Roman Oyster Shuckers are so old the blades have been replaced 4 time and the handles three.

Anyway I did not say when 'earlier' they were made.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Mel H

The wood handled implement in the photo is an antique ink eraser.

You are right, Mell. This is not an uncommon confusion, one that i (now and then) fall into.