Picked up a pair of 8" nippers this am. Marked:
CRESCENT
B.F. CO N.Y.
Anyone have a guess as to the period?  What does the B.F. stand for?

There is a Bronx County and a Broome County in the state of New York. Bronx is in the Bronx and Broome is around Binghamton.

There is also a Franklin County that was named after Benjamin Franklin.

I just assumed that the CO stood for Company.  Crescent was located in Jamestown, Chautauqua Co., in SW New York.

If you have old MVWC Newsletters, on pg. 10 of the March 2000 newsletter there's a 1930 catalog illustration of the Crescent Rivet Extractor -- for belt splices made by the Crescent Belt Fastener Co. of New York City.  It is a nipper type tool.  "Length 8 inches. Weight 13 ounces."
( https://books.google.com/books?id=-SBHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1173&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U0sQKq4oZJ-XrvJ3Uf9N-CKBoHPyg&ci=25%2C12%2C947%2C1285&edge=0 ) is a Crescent Belt Fastener Co. page from 1921 Sweets Catalog.  It shows the fasteners  but not the rivet extractor.

So, B.F. = belt fastener.  Should havè known!
Seriously, though, you people are fantastic!

Quote from: Northwoods on October 29, 2015, 03:16:10 PM
So, B.F. = belt fastener. ...

Hearkens back to the days of line shafts & flat drive belts in machine shops, etc.  Not farm equipment belts.  Rough & Tumble at Kinzers, PA has a machinist shop of old machine tools all run off an overhead line shaft.  All restored & in working order.

"Northwoods" shared photos of the nippers; overall and closeup of the jaws.  1930 catalog listing for CRESCENT BELT FASTENER RIVET EXTRACTOR -- the rest of that catalog page shows the belt fasteners, the selection of special rivets, etc.