I didn't need these , but they are interesting. Says PATD  1879 .
I'm pretty sure they are hog ring pliers, but the extra piece looks like it's used to open them before
you put it in the jaws? I thought they were good condition for the age.
The vender had them in her truck , and laid them in front of me while I was looking at something else.
Big smile on her face when I picked them up.
This is the third item she saved for me.
Don't know if they would have been there at 7 AM though.

Roy,
Apparently you are correct...but with a definite twist.  See patent no. 217,082.

There were only 3 patents issued during 1879(according to DATAMP), the other two being 213,618 and 216,468.

Definitely unusual!

Mike

http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=217082&typeCode=0

Thanks Mike . I'm going to spend time this winter and learn how to search that Datamp.
A lot of info there.
Definitely a twist as you said. Seems you would need another tool ( hammer) to bend the nail.
I'll bet they were low production. It says not known to have been produced.
Canton , Ohio is not far from the women I bought them from. I'll have to ask if she got them from an estate
sale or auction.

As the DATAMP steward who did the entry for  that pliers -- I'll revise the entry noting your known example.
Horse shoe nails are thin and flat so this pliers would form them into a ring without any other tool needed.

Err...  Why would anyone want to bend a horseshoe nail in a circle?  Only "off-topic" use for a horseshoe nail I know of is as a push-in holder for the end of a logger's tape measure.

Well he got his idea patented. He had them made and sold some. 135 years later people are still talking about him and his idea. Sounds reason enough to sell somebody on an idea.

Blacksmiths would bend  horse shoe nails into a circle, and give them away as good luck rings.   Have curled a few myself, but over the horn of the anvil.   Never thought there would be a tool for it. 

Quote from: bear_man on August 29, 2014, 02:07:34 AM
Err...  Why would anyone want to bend a horseshoe nail in a circle?  Only "off-topic" use for a horseshoe nail I know of is as a push-in holder for the end of a logger's tape measure.

Using horseshoe nails to ring hogs' snouts would mean using something you possibly already had on hand rather than having to buy "hog rings."  The nail had a nice sharp slender point which would make it easy to pierce the hog's snout & the nail head would make an extra prominent knob which would jiggle the resulting ring to cause the porcine discomfort that discouraged rooting.
[digression] Whenever I see contemporary "piercings" I think about hog rings & wonder.  [/digression]

I have a few hog ring pliers somewhere in my lost cave, but I know that I had never
seen one like that.  very interesting, yes, we are never too old to learn something if
we pay attention

Look- Listen - Learn,       the good old 3 L's

Frank

Quote from: mvwcnews on August 29, 2014, 09:42:12 AM
Whenever I see contemporary "piercings" I think about hog rings & wonder.  [/digression]

Keeps 'em from rooting for grubs...