Tool Talk
What's-It Forum => What's-It Forum => Topic started by: moparthug on January 14, 2016, 10:49:06 PM
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About 6 inches long, no markings, very well done but still just crude enough to know it's hand made. Not end nippers as the pincher ends are flat so it won't cut. And that odd spike, flat on the front side, razor sharp on the back. The maddening thing is I've seen these before, and I used to know their function. Every time I learn something new I have to forget something old, it seems.
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Well I don't know, but here's a theory. This is a G&W Baits "combination fish skinning, scaling, and knife tool." Patent 3,771,197 from 1972. Cast aluminum, gold painted. It is six inches long, with a pinching (not cutting) point way out at the tip of the jaws. And a razor edge on one jaw facing backwards. I'm not a fisherman, but the patent text says that the blade is used for slitting a fish. Might yours be used the same way?
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/jooliesews/Bobbys/Bobbys%20III/GampWa_zpskopxwtju.jpg)
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/jooliesews/Bobbys/Bobbys%20III/GampWb_zpszzpok47y.jpg)
Patent 3,771,197
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v307/jooliesews/Bobbys/Bobbys%20III/GampWc_zpssw1qlcpd.jpg)
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So the jaws would be for getting the fish hook out? Hmmm... I would have never guessed that.
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plyerman, is the serrated edge for scaling the fish ?
update; I just checked the patent, the use of the tool is for "cutting-skinning-scaling."
on the patent drawing, the serrated edge is listed as # 18 - for serrating.
another "tool tool"
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A question for the fishermen then, is the pliers end for removing a hook... or pulling the guts out once you cut the belly open?
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plyerman, is the serrated edge for scaling the fish ?
update; I just checked the patent, the use of the tool is for "cutting-skinning-scaling."
on the patent drawing, the serrated edge is listed as # 18 - for serrating.
another "tool tool"
Turnnut, yes I assumed the serrated edge was meant for scaling.
A question for the fishermen then, is the pliers end for removing a hook... or pulling the guts out once you cut the belly open?
Good question. I don't think the jaws would be well suited for hook removal - they are too big and wide. Perhaps they were just intended to be used for holding the slippery fish up, either by the tail or by the lower lip?
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JAWS 14 & 15 in figure 2 of Plyerman's pictures;
on page #3 of the patent, it states;
jaws 14 & 15 are used to grippingly engage the skin of fish so to be scaled.
* further down in the writeup;
jaws 14 & 15 may be closed upon the skin in order to apply a pulling motion
so as to remove the skin from the fish.
NOTE; if you go to DATAMP and enter the patent number at the top of the page, it will take you to the patent.
there are 3 pages to look at. (use the arrows to get to each page)
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on page #3 of the patent, it states;
jaws 14 & 15 are used to grippingly engage the skin of fish so to be scaled.
Send that lawyer back to English class. "...used to grip the skin..." would have worked just fine. The sentence as written sounds like a bad movie review.
I must say, the idea of having one tool for several functions involved in processing fish is attractive - less messiness to clean up.
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Bill, I have read many old patent write-ups, some are interesting, some are funny, yet, some leave me scratching my head
trying to figure out what they are trying to describe.
not to stick up for the lawyers, but some of them did not have the knowledge to understand what the patentee is trying to describe.
also, they did not have spell-check back then.
like in todays world, an engineer can design an engine, but can he repair that same engine ???
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Most engineers are pretty handy, at least the ones I know. I work with a bunch of kids, I can tel, the good ones. They are the ones who want some of the stuff we pull out.
Some don't even want a good sir compressor. They don't usually last.
Chilly
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Bill, I have read many old patent write-ups, some are interesting, some are funny, yet, some leave me scratching my head
trying to figure out what they are trying to describe.
not to stick up for the lawyers, but some of them did not have the knowledge to understand what the patentee is trying to describe.
Which is a great lead-in to one of the all-time best pieces of legal writing ever, at least for anyone who grew up with Wile E. Coyote: http://www.jamesfuqua.com/lawyers/jokes/coyote-acme.shtml (http://www.jamesfuqua.com/lawyers/jokes/coyote-acme.shtml)
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I am a fisherman (Sudsy stands for the edge of the surf not beer, lol) and I doubt that that is a fishing tool. The grip part would be for peeling back the skin of a catfish or eel but it's the spike that I don't see a use for. (assuming it's a rounded spike rather than a sharpened blade)
Could it be some kind of nail puller and the spike is for leverage as you roll it back ??
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And perhaps the spike is for setting a finishing nail ??
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Another possibility is that they are old wheel weight pliers ?
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front hub on a car
jaws pull the grease cap
pointy thing pulls the cotter pin
Skip
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When fully opened it's just oven an inch, too small for an automotive dust cap puller. And the spike is, for a better word... delicate. It's more of a small knife then a hook for prying, dull on the front and razor sharp on the rear. I'm still thinking it's some sort of food processing tool or leather hide puller/cutter.
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Is it a farriers tool? If so I would bet/guess that it has been modified by adding the spike.
Otherwise, if a fishing tool, does the spring loaded feature help?
Chilly
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Farriers tool is what I was thinking. For small hoofed animals. Sharp edge for shaving the hoof
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The spring load feature works just fine, as seen in the pics that is it's natural "open at rest" position. The small blade is razor sharp but thin and faced backward, so you would cut with it by pulling towards yourself. It just feels like a fish processing tool, it doesn't seem stout enough for sheep or goats.