Another find. Name on top is Troy. Botton is slightly rounded and not smooth(grated style?). Looks to be original handle.

Wild quess. An iron of some type.

Another wild guess - a metal shaping( shrinking) tool?

My guess is an early inner tube repair vulcanizer.   Get it hot on a stove, place over rubber patch, press down til it sizzles.  That would explain the waffle pattern on the working face.   Could also have been use to vulcanize boots inside tires? 

my first thought was bacon press. I switch to vulcanizer cause it makes more sense. I'm just in the mood for some bacon.

Handle seems too short for a meat searing tool, hmm....

Small irons like this were used for pressing the brims of felt hats (top hats, bowlers etc with a stiff brim)

Quote from: Billman49 on December 10, 2012, 11:50:13 AM
Small irons like this were used for pressing the brims of felt hats (top hats, bowlers etc with a stiff brim)

This is correct, I know someone who collects irons and has many small and wierd ones. They even made special irons to press pleats and collars. I'm guessing you have one of them.

I wiil bet by the time the iron gets hot the handle is hot too.  bob w/

Quote from: rusty on December 09, 2012, 08:54:30 PM
Handle seems too short for a meat searing tool, hmm....

Oh, I don't know; get it good and hot, grab that handle barehanded, and I imagine there'd be some meat seared...finger foods, as it were.

Many old irons for clothes had metal handles - it was common to hold them in a damp cloth to prevent the handle burning the hand.


see: http://www.patented-antiques.com/Backpages/Irons_Bkpg/hatter.htm or http://www.antiqbuyer.com/All_Archives/IRONS_ARCHIVE/HatIrons.html

Old lead soldering irons were heated to red hot (the lead was actually welded rather than soldered). They had a curved iron handle with a large egg shaped head - they too were held in a damp cloth, but being much hotter the water soon turned to steam. After years of work old-time plumbers often had deformed hands from holding the irons day after day....

Interesting.  That's very different from the soldering coppers used on sheet metal, which don't work well if they get too hot.