This is a tool I picked up last week; a Stanley No. 197 Fluting Tool. Jim Bode listed it as being "Very Rare" and I believed him, as I had never seen one before.
Checking out the four Stanley catalogues I have, ranging from 1897 through 1958, I couldn't find one listing for the thing. It does have "Stanley, Made in USA" stamped on the ferrel. Searching the web, the only other reference to one that I could come up with was one displayed in Bob Kaune's, "Seldom Seen Archives" page. His example has a completely different handle than this one.
Here's the rub. I have no idea how to work it.
Any suggestions?
Peace,
Mitchell
That so called fluting tool, was used to cut decorative designs in hard boards (IE kind of masonite boards)
ReplyDeleteIt was manufactured between 1936 to 1942, and rank in usefulness high up there with all the specialty hardboards planes that were designed escpecially for the then new-fangled hardboards.
How to use? Like any hand held gouge, but in order to cut flutes, you'de be better off using a plane designed for such.
The name is a bit of a misnomer, any gouges will cut flutes...
Hope this help
Bob
I've never seen anything like it. Can't quite tell from the picture--it looks like it's folded over, like a loop? If so, I wonder if the handle should be upright and you pull it toward you? I don't know...just a guess.
ReplyDeleteBob, you were a big help with this, thank you. Your wealth of information regarding this thing is amazing, but not near as amazing as your ability to tell me, without hurting my feelings, that I bought a hunk of junk, a collectable one, but still a hunk of junk. You gave me some great information and some serious chuckles. I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteYes, Kari, it is a loop. It comes down one side and up the other, both end fixed to the handle. It is about a half inch wide, and the thickness of a kitchen knife. By the look of the amount of sharpening that has taken place on both corners of this thing, based on what Bob has told us, someone out there 60 or 70 years ago went through a lot of masonite. It took me forever to figure out that what we call "masonite" here in Canada is what others called "hardboard".
I had the same thought as you, though, when I first saw this thing; stand the thing up straight and drag away. I thought I was wrong, though, which is why I put it out there for you guys, because I thought that it would "dig in" and splinter using it that way. I then tried to figure out how to use it as a scratch tool, but with the loop, not to mention the angled corners of that loop, I couldn't imagine how it would work.
Now that Bob has clued us in, you were right and so was I, before I second guessed myself. You can't do much "splintering" on hardboard. Tear it, maybe, but you can't splinter it.
Thanks guys. You made my night.
Mitchell
If you look on page 79 of the 1939 Catalog No 139, reprinted by Roger Smith in 1988 - there is an illustration of the tool and the brick type patterns it puts in Masonite.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Peter
It is like a hook or crook knife or a timber marking tool. To use it it is best to hold it at a skew while pulling it toward yourself.
ReplyDeleteIf you use it straight it is more difficult to work and using it on a skew will tend to pull it to one side, but gets the best cut.
Stephen