What Is It? for 11/19/12

Leather-ferkling equipment?

Although some of these pieces are also used in leather stitching, the set is used for something more specific

Hmmnmn... Okay. How about a suture kit for a Yeti?

No, Lo_Volt lives in USA, so maybe Bigfoot instead of a Yeti?

I am afraid to speculate the function of the little wrench.

The little wrench is to loosen and tighten the nut on the end that closes the collet to grip the needle. Otherwise the leather will grab the needle and pull it loose when you try to pull the needle out of the leather. The tool is a leather hand-stitching awl, but it can also be used on canvas and other heavy fabrics.

The mind boggles....

The mind boggles

What: you mean some kind of trepanning kit?

Circle scribe?

Thanks, I'd seen a similar star wheel before but didn't know what it was used for.

Marking the stitch position! It's blindingly obvious now.

Damn you all got it soo quick.

I found an ancient cheapo plastic one amongst my Father in Laws stuff when we cleared his garage after he died (ages ago), still got it somewhere.
He was a great guy, he still had some old specially modified ring spanners with a section cut out of the ring for getting to some difficult nut on a Rolls Royce Merlin engine on the Spitfires.
You guys would have liked him... he used to make my kids laugh by telling them of the day when a German figher straffed the airbase and shot up his breakfast sausages
Del

Ya mean the Kraut actually had the audacity to blow his bangers to smithereens?

Indeed... it's not cricket old chap.
One's breakfast is hardly a legitimate target.
Del

Ah, but Del, remember that the Germans do not play cricket ..... their loss!

I suppose he bought the awl to repair the damaged bangers?

Since he won't take leather awl. The tool was made to be used to repair of a lot of hard materials. Because of the lanyard on the kit that holds it and it's accessories. May guess is to repair canvas. Something a sailor would use.

Maybe sewing the uppers to the sole in leather shoes....

Sadlery maybe?

Drawing marker and transfer tool for large drawings. A paper or other material is put behind the drawing, and needle and rolling star put holes thru, transferring the design. Colored dust slightly rubbed into the paper makes the design visible on textile or leather for stitching.

An old-time sailor usually has one of these awls, I do, and have used it various times on the sailboat for various tasks. I'll explain later. The marker wheel is not always used to set the stitch spots, but on leather it works fairly well. Sometimes you want closer stitches, then do the roll and say, do three stitches for every two marks.

The awl can speed up sewing AND be used for making several types of stitches. If you push a loop through the material you can then , using a different needle, drop a therad through the loop. Then withdraw the awl and tighten the backing thread, and so on. Alternatively you can push through a loop, catch and hold it open as you pull back the awl, THEN on the next stitch, push it through the prior loop. Tightening, pulling like this you are making a lock stitch. NOT shown is a lump of beeswax, a necessary addition to a well found ditty bag. Used to lubricate the heavy threads sometimes used. It also helps keep thread from unravelling as you work, also "tames" the thread by making it stiffer and MUCH easier to work with.

Sailors also use a PALM, which is a leather loop you put your hand thru . In the palm area is a wood or steel socket , used to push a needle thru thick material. Both of these tools are used to make bindings on the ends of 3 part rope, to repair canvas tears, place rubbing patches on canvas, to sew "leathers" around dock lines to protect them where they go thru a chock, and so forth. Sometimes I also use a pair of pliers if the material is particularly thick or stickey. Recently I used my Awl to stitch up the buckle of a favorite leather belt.

Various pie making tools, as found in an engineer's house. There's the little wheel for doing the crust edges (when your fingers are too dirty to squeeze in the ruffles), dibbers for making holes in crusts, a template for cut-outs and a string driven drill for getting through the crusts that have ben over-baked...

The submitter stated that this is a sail maker's tool. It has two needles and the thread on the little spool feeds through the chuck and along the needle. I don't know what the little spinner is but the last item at the bottom of the page is a wrench for the chuck.

As stated in #2, the "...little spinner..." is an overstitch tool. Whenever possible I'll lay stitches inside a groove, this groove cut with a tool with the unusual name of "stitching groover".

Works on moistened leather to mark even spaces for stitching. Not sure what use it might be on sailcloth... would it leave visible marks on dry or moist cloth?

I'll have to admit ignorance. I had asked an old and wiser tech I used to work with and he said sails. Given the preponderance of evidence (esp. Solar Eagle's Sears Catalog excerpt), it looks like he was wrong. It is for leather work.

I was curious as to what the wheel was for. Interesting to know. The tool was found in my old barn. I continue to find interesting items like this as I have yet to finish cleaning it out.

Oh, I don't think he was wrong.

These are a handy tool to have in your tool kit for stitching any heavy fabric... sails, a canvas cot, leather, a coat or sleeping bag. It works fine for any of those sorts of purposes.

These are still available for a few dollars.

Instruments of torture!

Is the very substantial "case" shown at the back of the picture anything more than a case?

It's the missing control rod from the KrisDel time machine

Del

Here is another image, maybe showing a little more clearly the disassembled handle.

The top cap removes, revealing a storage space for needles and the wrench. This storage space inside the handle is more clearly shown in the blog subject image.

With the sausage straffing reference, I thought it might be a kit for stitching up the canvas control surfaces like those used on the DC3/C47. I have seen the actual kits stored onboard a C47 but never taken it apart to see it's component parts. But that sure looks like it could be used for that.

We sometimes have to replace conveyor belts that make 90 degree turns. Once the lacings are installed the outer radius needs to be stitched with one of these tools to keep the guide from seperating and tearing the belts.