what does this doodad doo?

The handle is screwed in too far.

It's a furniture repairman's melting iron for sticks of very hard wax used to fill divots in wood furniture.  The stick of wax is fed via the groove in front of the handle and the iron is pulled slowly over the divot.

A proficient operator can lay a patch in so no sanding or dressing of the patch is necessary.  One of the biggest tricks is learning to heat the iron properly.

KOOL...

Thanks Aunt Phil, I wouldn't have gotten it.
I had figured that it was designed for applying heat for some purpose. It looks similar to the tools used to heat the glue under a guitar bridge so that it can be removed but the business end is too thick for that. This tool does just the opposite then. Would a furniture repair person have had a set of these in different sizes and shapes or does this one do it all?
This one came to me with my dad's other tools a few years ago. He never did that kind of work that I know of, though my mom may have. It doesn't look like it's had much use. He would have thought it was too cool to throw away though, just like I do.
I'll see if I can back the handle off a bit. Thanks again. kr

Quote from: Aunt Phil on July 01, 2011, 12:59:43 AM
One of the biggest tricks is learning to heat the iron properly.

Aunt Phil: I searched for this tool for a while before you solved it. It does kinda look like the old vinyl car seat repair irons of the 60's, but without a heating element. So, my question is how is the tool brought up to temperature?, and do you know of a site, or keyword to use to see it in action? I always love to see a tool I have never seen before!

Thanks,

Wayne

In 5o years I've seen probably 100 of those tools hanging on pegboard and in drawers, and exactly 2 people who could use them and produce the desired result.

The one was an old fellow who now resides in a wood box himself and ain't saying a word on how it's done so he's no help.  I watched him a couple times, and he used an alcohol lamp and overgrown coathanger wire stand.  I asked how he knew when the iron was hot, and he just looked at me and said ya know. 

The other was a kid abouot 19 years old who worked as a delivery flunkey for a piano store.  He taught himself when the owner of the store told him to clean all that crap out of the corner and throw it in the dumpster.  He thought dumpster meant his car trunk and hauled the irons and wax home to play with.  He got pretty good at it.  When he tried marketing his services to other stores he learned the wax he had used learning would cost more to replace than he could make.

It's probably a pretty close to lost craft in today's world of skinned chipboard best I can tell.

Agreed, it's probably a lost art in this day. This one shows no sign of ever having been heated. One question though, even if it is only designed to be heated to a low temp to melt wax, why should it be chrome plated? Wouldn't that deteriorate with intended use? Or is the temp low enough to prevent that? Heating with a flame of any kind would burn the chrome wouldn't it? Just what did they heat it with besides an alcohol torch? Damn, that's 5 questions!

Quote from: Aunt Phil on July 01, 2011, 12:41:16 PM
In 5o years I've seen probably 100 of those tools hanging on pegboard and in drawers, and exactly 2 people who could use them and produce the desired result.

Man you got that right!
I have a couple different kinds. Just got a new/old cool one with rosewood handles and cast in place pewter bolsters.
And I can, and have, used them many time (well not the new one yet).
But blending the laq sticks for perfect color, and quickly wiping over a defect without a trace?
Yeah I still have a way to go on that score.
 
In my defense I can usually scrape pretty clean after, and not mar the surface, so at least there's that. 
  yours Scott

I'm going to have to go against the general consensus and ID this tool as a pad and paper counter. It is missing the adjustable piece that would be used to gauge the quantity of paper you want to pull from a stack.

Take a look here:

http://www.printfinishing.com/supplies/binding-supplies/pad-and-paper-counter-5.html

Lynn

By George, you may be right!!

Quote from: Papaw on July 04, 2011, 06:31:11 PM
By George, you may be right!!

I think that Lynn is right on the money for this particular tool. I wondered why my searches kept saying this company dealt in the printing Industry. However, I can see how it could smooth out laquer stick, wax, etc., if need be. If I needed to use it for that application, I would adapt the head of it to an electric soldering iron though. I have since found several different makers of this same tool for the same purpose of measuring stacks of paper. I have posted a cheaper version of the same tool below.

Wayne

well now I am curious about how that actual wax iron tool looks like if this isn't one.

The paper stacking tool would certainly explain why there are no signs of any heat damage. The chrome is pristine. Now I gotta find that other part. How will I ever be able to measure my paper stacks without the rest of the damn tool? Good eye, dowdstools!

Quote from: Frank on July 05, 2011, 11:46:50 AM
well now I am curious about how that actual wax iron tool looks like if this isn't one.

I have used filler wax  for years and never used it hot. Liberon makes the stuff I use. I can't find their US pages right off but this page describes the basic usage. http://www.liberon.co.uk/retouch-and-revive/wax-filler-sticks,434,464.html?&args=Y29tcF9pZD0zMDQmYWN0aW9uPWZpY2hlUHJvZHVpdCZpZD0xNzEmfA%3D%3D

Well, I use one quite often, and its not an iron at all, what you have there is missing a part, there is a steel rod that is bent at a 90 degree angle that fits though that rectangular slot, that ends in a wedge, what its used for is counting paper

what you do is slide that metal bit until its tight against your stack of paper, say, 100 sheets, then you tighten the handle, now you just slide it though a larger stack of paper and it will separate out 100 sheets.

Very useful tool