hand tool still unidentified...

bravowhiskey

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May 29, 2009
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posted this years ago with no definitive answers. I know you are keen to keep trying. lol

DSC00729.JPG DSC00726.JPG DSC00728.JPG

good luck and am anxiously waiting.

Bravo.
 

My first thought was a farriers tool for shoeing horses, but not so sure!!
 

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I'd like to see a pic of these ferrier pliers.remember gang...it went unsolved....not gonna be that simple would be my guess...good luck all...lets solve this one
 

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With the indentations on one flat surface, I was thinking some kind of hog-ring pliars that would force a staple-like thing through ?? (Like a sows ear) and then turn the ends to make it stay. Can't figure what the groove is for though . . .
 

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as there are no apparant patent numbers or makers mark(I'm sure bravo would have let us know)and its design is not found in the catalouges of pliers avail.to consumers......my best guess is that this tool was made for a specific manufacturing application or it came with a piece of equipment for its repair exclusively.As such,(and we have seen other one off tools)it may be near impossible to id.

just a guess
 

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When you squeeze the handles closer together, do the jaws also close or do they spread apart?
 

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The jaws close when handles squeezed. I have looked at ferriers tools endlessly and have not found a match. clinchers and grabbers have similar attributes, but no match.
the slotted jaw looks like some type of nail or brad pulling device, but the opposing jaw is squared and doesn't appear to be able to "help".
I have personally used hog ring pliers and these wouldn't fit the bill.
It looks like when handles compressed something aligned with the grooves and would end up bending in a circular fashion???
Much like a sawed off tree part, I am stumped.
I'ld like to thank you all for trying.
 

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The jaws close when handles squeezed. I have looked at ferriers tools endlessly and have not found a match. clinchers and grabbers have similar attributes, but no match.
the slotted jaw looks like some type of nail or brad pulling device, but the opposing jaw is squared and doesn't appear to be able to "help".
I have personally used hog ring pliers and these wouldn't fit the bill.
It looks like when handles compressed something aligned with the grooves and would end up bending in a circular fashion???
Much like a sawed off tree part, I am stumped.
I'ld like to thank you all for trying.

I had much the same thought. The indented grooves looked like what you see in a common hand stapler. I started looking at possible uses for bending split pins, or a cotter pin "bender", or specialized narrow staples, but couldn't find anything. either.
 

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bravo and GP .. your both on the same page as i am, the 2 grooves are both made cupped to turn and object like a crimping tool..but the other jaw of the pliers has a spade tip for nail/tack removal.
i do not know how many more pictures i will be able to find though ,, and none match up,,,lol
 

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think rivet tool type ear piercer--- the clip part goes on one side with the slot in it , on the other side a rivet type "nail" is placed so that when closed together --the nail part pierces thru the ear of the animal going thru the slot on the far side and as it closes it clips together thus sealing a tag on a animals ear
 

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PM Bosnmate if ya wanna rule out Farrier tool....doesnt look like any clinchers I have seen though :dontknow:
 

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I think parsonwalker's and ivan salis's observations are really astute. The two grooves really do look a lot like you'd see on a stapler.

Looking at it from this angle, I see a good deal of visual correlation between the posted images and pig nose clip applicators, which are applied to keep pigs from digging.

Hard to find a decent picture of these online suitable for posting, but you can see some modern ones on the top image on this site (HI-1001):
Bull Ring and Shearing Instruments

Here's a modern one with the ring type I'm thinking...
image_2958.jpg
 

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phil , i also think it is a stapler , but i disagree it being for livestock, all pliers for ear tags , nose rings ect i have seen and used growing up and researching today online are for a ring and has 1 single groove that runs in the center of the pliers .
the picture of the pliers i posted is the closest i can come to the OP ones, they have the grove in the 1 side and 2 little grooves side by side, they are called " hand staplers " . as heavy as the ones are that the OP posted i do not see them being used for paper but something heavier like canvas ,cloth or leather ?
no matter how many different searches i have done i can not find one that looks just like the OP one or a exact use for the hand stapler .
 

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Ya Mical, I think we're on the same page. Do note the image of "staples" I provided. Now, whether they were simple "hand staples" at one point and are still used today specifically for pig nose clips (because they are still an effective method of solving a particular problem) is really anybody's guess. But I think those clips are exactly the type of thing that would be used with that tool.

Sorry I was probably editing the post when you responded.

EDIT: Wait, no, maybe that's wrong. I found an image of a nose clipper that has the clip held parallel the handle, and it I guess the open part is put around the flesh and squeezed in. Still, the staples look like they would fit the staple tool.
 

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Doing a little more digging into specialty pliers, and noticed this in a gallery of Sargent vintage pliers. Button Setter??. And then found this Heaton's peninsular button fastener plier on Ebay with the same slot sideways.Button Setter.JPG

Heaton's button fastener.jpg
 

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