These were given to me several years by a co-worker (since deceased) who got them from the estate of a relative who passed away in South Texas. Two of them were apparently made by grinding the teeth off triangular files. The sides are convex and the corners on these and the third are pretty sharp. The original owner was apparently a woodworker. Included with these tools were several planes – a 40, a 45, a 78, a 220, two wooden molding planes (matching cove and round), two wooden smoothing planes, and a very homemade plow plane. All were well used but in great condition. The two larger tools were in oil and grime impregnated cloth scabbards.
The original owner went to a lot of trouble to make these. Any idea what he used them for?
George
You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing. – Michael Pritchard <!—-><!—-> <!—->
| <!—-> <!—-> |
Replies
Looks like something the guards found under a matress at Folosum prison:>)
They must have some specific application for whoever made them. I do not have a clue as to whet they are for.
I once used a very similar tool to debure or create a slight bevel edge to the bearing surfaces after machining an engine block, in my case the engine case to an air cooled Volkswagen motor.
Vic
In all likelihood these are scrapers--typically known as bearing scrapers. Was the relative a pattern maker or machinist? Both would normally have these.
Take care, Mike
Mike,
That is a distinct possibility. I have no clue and no way of finding out what the relative's profession. But included in the items my friend got from the estate were several new rat-tailed files and a box of small triangular files still wrapped in brown paper.
GeorgeYou don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing. - Michael Pritchard<!----><!----><!---->
<!----><!---->
As Mike said, they were probably bearing scrapers. Bearings were made of a material called babbet (no, not the Babbot from the cartoons) and was soft enough to be scraped to the final clearance. Old files were used because the steel is very durable and was well suited for this alternate purpose.
They are in fact Babbit bearing scrapers, used to fit bearings after they were poured. Generally they have a hollowed out section on the flat section.
Some used to come curved.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
You folks who suggested trimmers for Babbit bearings are probably right on the money. In my original post I mentioned a home made plane. It has had significant exposure to heat around the throat. See the attached file. Could this have been somehow related to pouring bearings?
GeorgeYou don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing. - Michael Pritchard<!----><!----><!---->
<!----><!---->
these things are GREAT for forming the edge on cabinet scrapers ( burnishing)
Dusty George: Hi! I read your post and even before looking at the pictures, I had a pretty good idea what you were talking about. Those are bearing scrapers and they are used by machinists and millwrights to seat babbit bearings. There might be other uses, but none that I'm aware of.
Mighty Oak
PS No, they are not burnishers. The concave surface and sharp corners would prevent making a good "burnish". A burnisher is flat and has a small radius on the corners so it doesn't dig into the scraper. They have a similar appearance but totally different purpose.
Edited 4/30/2007 2:05 am ET by mighty oak
I confirm that they are indeed scrapers as used by tool makers ,engineers and mechanics, often for adjusting white metal bearings.
Triangular files can make good burnishers for woodworkers provided they are shaped properly.Philip Marcou
Those look like the bearing scrapers I used a few times when I was in the Navy to install babbeted bearings.
Babbeted bearings have a steel shell with a soft metal lining (the babbet). I don't remember the composition of the babbet, but I think it included antimony.
You coated the shaft journal with Prussian Blue, installed the bearing, and rotated the shaft. Then you removed the bearing and used a scraper to remove the blue marks on the babbet (they showed the high spots). The idea was to fit the bearing to the shaft journal and have a few thousandths clearance for oil. It was delicate work and usually took several attempts to get just right. If you got too aggressive and scraped away too much babbet, you had to get another bearing and start over.
I did one on a turbine generator reduction gear while operating off of Viet Nam in 1970. No one from my division chief to the Chief Engineer had ever seen this done and they were worried that we may have to pull off-line if it couldn't be fixed. I had a revolving audience for the 3-4 hours it took to fit the new bearing and get the generator running again. Every time I rolled the bearing out and reached for a scraper, there was a collective inhale, and everyone held their breath while I scraped away the blue marks - lol.
Dave, My dad was a Marine Machinist during the war at the Brooklyn navy yard. He used the same tools shown in the photos. You were right using prussion blue.. My dad scraped the giant bearings and journals on quite a few carriers and battle wagons. I was only 14 or 15 when he brought me home a Navy khaki all weather jacket,he got in trade for some 200 proof alcohol(Torpedo Juice) Steinmetz.
he got in trade for some 200 proof alcohol(Torpedo Juice)
Holy Cow!! The only time I ever heard that term before is from my 88 year old uncle, who was in WWII in the Navy. He stated that some moonshine a friend of mine makes that tastes EXACTLY like apple pie, (I'm not kidding) also 199 proof (due to the cinnamon) would have made "great torpedo juice" during his days at sea. It freaked me out when I read your post.
Jeff
Jeff, I'm 76 and had a friend in the submarine corpHe used to 'top off' the alcohol fuel in the torpedos. Of course some of it evaporates or spills in a hot and vibrating enviroment... But you knew that. Never tasted torpedo juice, but my dad used to make his own 'Juice' with it. I watched him make a 'batch'. : To a quart of the alcohol,add plum flavoring. That's it! I asked him ,"Are you gonna drink it now? "Nooo," he said slowly....It has to age"
After about a minute ,he glanced at his watch....and said,"Ooo Kay, time's up!" Being just 15 at the time,I hadn't drunk anything stronger than
sasaparella. BUT, at 16,I used to gargle with Jamesons Irish Whiskey whenever I came down with a cold. I feel a a bit under the weather
right now....aaaaah choo! Slante! Up Mayo! Steinmetz.
Edited 4/30/2007 11:34 pm ET by Steinmetz
Kind of look like some sort of burnishers.
They are machinist's scrapers, not bearing scrapers.
Machinst's scrapers are to that trade what a block plane or sandpaper are to woodworking, a tool to quickly clean up an edge. The most common ones were made from worn triangular files and were more or less straight edged. Commercially made ones could be had with curved shafts and half round cross sections and various specialty shapes.
Bearing scrapers were the same basic triangular cross section but had short 2" to 3" long sharpened tip with curved edges, sort of like a spoon, and usually had a long necked down shaft between the sharpened tip and the handle. The curved edges were needed so that the scraping action could be focused on just a small area of the wider bearing surface.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled