i have a odd tool that was sold by the Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. It has the OVB marking, OUR VERY BEST. Tool if that is what it really is made of steel and wood. The top can pivot by loosening a round section below the head. Very well made, but i have been unable to find out what it is. I have looked at some catalog pictures from H.S.B. & Co. but have found nothing like it.

EvilDr235

It kind of looks like it may be a scraper of some kind, although the blade is obviously missing.

Starrett had one similar to yours but not as complex.  That is a nice piece.

Mike

Hello, I have a similar tool, adjustable cabinet, furniture scraper. This one is stamped The Dikeman Mfg. Co. Norwalk Conn. I am not sure who had the patent on the mechanism.

From the Old Tools Archive;
The Dikeman Mfg. Co., Norwalk, Conn. was founded in 1906 in Norwalk by two
bothers, Charles and Joseph, after both had worked in Torrington, Conn at a
bicycle factory.  Dikeman Mfg made mechanics tools and metal goods.  They
produced a butt gage that caused the company history to be summarized in
Milton Bacheller's new book, "American Marking Gages"-the source of this
information. 

I had one of those; let it go into the wild because I wound up with a better one (at least, I think I did; it could be hiding back in a cubbyhole somewhere).  I believe it's a floor scraper more than furniture scraper.  Hardwood floors used to be scraped to a finish, before power sanders.  It's my impression that the varnishes used on floors a century and more ago required for frequent renewal than current finishes, so floor scraping would have happened not infrequently.

Sure looks like a Dikeman.  See link below for patent.  Dikeman also made an all metal, hollow handle, tool handle much like the wooden ones we're used to seeing.

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US1041979.pdf

Mike

Thank you for your replies and solving the mystery. I don't plan on scraping anything in the near future. What should i do with it ? My first thought was reuse the nifty wooden handle for another tool. Chisel, file, screwdriver or hole saw handle ? Maybe i will sell or trade it off ?

EvilDr235

I think just a furniture scraper. Stanley did make a plane for smoothing floors but it's very heavy and was used from the standing position with a long handle like a shovel. Furniture predates sand paper all together, not just power sanders! After hand planing the scraper would remove the last of the tool marks and you were done, no sanding. Scrapers originally were just hand held blades, similar to the blade only, that should be in your tool. I don't know if tools like yours were a real improvement, or just a marketing tactic designed to sell more expensive tools to unskilled operators?

As others said, a Dykeman (Dikeman?) cabinet scraper. It's listed in the 1915 HSB catalogue with
the OVB brand, and I've seen it also listed by at least one other hardware wholesaler with house
brands on it. Here's an example that came through the local Kiwanis thrift sale last year:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pfs/fun/Kiwanis/pix/dykeman.jpg

They seem to go for $30-$60 on eBay in good condition, though someone in the UK
was asking for a couple of hundred.

pfs

Mine is missing the blade. I may go ahead and list in the for sale area. I would be happy to get $10.00 plus shipping for it. If anybody wants it i will list it and if not i need to make a replacement fixed handle for my Miller Falls breast drill.

EvilDr235

FWIW, the following appear to be listings for the Dikeman scraper in (respectively) the Hibbard, Spencer, & Bartlett catalogue no. 61 (c1915?) and the Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue no. 600 (c1926?), both labelled as house brands (OVB and HS). I now see, however, that HSB described it as having a "rubberoid" handle, whereas all the examples I have seen had wooden handles, and usually nice ones.

HSB no.61 (1915?):
  http://www.umich.edu/~pfs/fun/Kiwanis/pix/dykeman_HSB.jpg

HS no. 600 (1926?):
  http://www.umich.edu/~pfs/fun/Kiwanis/pix/dykeman_HS.jpg

pfs