Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Mystery tool


Visting the Black Country Living museum last week, I spotted this tool in the window of the hardware shop. The question is, what is it? 

I've put the image up so you can click on it for a larger version. After that, you know all I do. Being in the window, there wasn't a chance to get a better look, nor anyone to ask.

So, tool experts, please make suggestions in the comments please.

13 comments:

Hugh Freeman said...

Hi - Good Morning Phil. The terms hip, jack, plumb etc are terms for roof timbers. I suspect it's a marking out tool for carpenters cutting the compound angles found in roof joints. Can't quite make out the wording on the wooden part. W????? Maker Bath ?

Mark said...

As far as I know hip, jack and plumb are all terms used when making rafters. Not my area of expertise at all but I'm guessing it helps mark out the correct angles on the different parts of a rafter so that they fir together correctly.

James Finister said...

I'm guessing it is a roofer's template for marking angles on rafters

Huw Griffiths said...

Judging by the wood in the background, might this perhaps be some sort of template / profile gauge for producing / checking mouldings - skirting boards - that sort of thing?

I'd imagine that any machine tools used to produce mouldings might need their cutting heads set up in predetermined positions - standardized radius corners a certain distance from a given edge and a known distance off the "deck" / reference plane - stuff like that.

Of course, it's always possible that I might be rather "wide of the mark" here - apparently not exactly unknown - but, hopefully, this might do for a first guess.

PeteW said...

Hi Phil, I''m not an expert, but it looks like a set of templates for marking the various angled cuts need for timber roof construction. EG, see this illustration:
http://www.raftertools.com/help/jackrafter_layout.htm

Anonymous said...

I think it may be a tool for use by roofers = templates for various shapes and a trimming device for slates.

Christopher Payne

Anonymous said...

Hello Phil,

I am no expert but from examination it looks like a tool to mark out the various parts of a roof structure and the angles that the parts need to be cut at. No idea how it works though and equally I could be wrong!

Regards,

Woody

Andy in Germany said...

This is pure guesswork here.

Looking at the labels they seem to be referring to the wooden elements of a roof, and I'm wondering if they are templates for the ends of the timbers so a uniform appearance was created in the days of cutting wood by hand (the metal one being for more common shapes or not originally part of the set) The carpenter would mark around the template and then cut the wood away with a chisel.

German Zimmerer (carpenters specialised in house building) use a large set square with a similar template on the ends for this purpose. It is rarely used now except in apprenticeships:

https://www.dictum.com/de/winkel-baie/deutscher-zimmermannswinkel-707279?ftr=_12_16_98.5_1_48_12__

You can see the shaped ends if you enlarge the image.

Wild Boar Fell said...

Complete guess but looking at the mechanics of it, I would say its a tool for marking out cuts. Similar to an Engineer's Square but with a selection of pre-determined angled cuts. Simply rotate the template parallel to the metal inner edge and mark using the outer edge. Maybe...

Anonymous said...

A bit of a longs shot - you have Hips and Rafters on a roof. You can also have a Jack Rafter. So I am going to suggest that your mystery tool is for marking the timber for cutting to length and at the correct angle.

Regards, Geoff

Hugh Freeman said...

Phil - Hi, Good Morning. Rafter, Rip and Jack are terms relating to roof structures. I suspect that this is a marking-out tool for carpenters to cut the compound angles found in roofing timbers.

Grahame Every said...

I believe this is a set of tools used in roofing with lead sheet. Forming valleys between slated or tiled areas of roofs, adding flashing and so on. The templates are labelled to indicate their use. The (Beech?) wood blocks are formers to shape the lead sheet. The metal tool looks akin to a slater's tool, lacking the point to make nail holes in the slates. Maybe it is simply an edged tool, for cutting the sheet.

Phil Parker said...

Wow - the number of comments on this went through the roof! (Sorry, best joke I could think of)

Thanks for this. Very interesting.