Mystery Tool- What is it and what is it used for?

jeff76 · Jan 24, 2021

A friend of mine recently gave me a bucket full of misc. tools, most of which were his grandpa's. This item was among the stuff. Wondering if anyone can tell me what it is and what it would be used for? The head is a ball swivel that can be locked down in any position. Was made by Starrett. I have never seen anything like it before.

Thanks,
Jeff

Illinoyance · Jan 24, 2021

It is a scraper for putting a fine finish on wood.

L Vanice · Jan 24, 2021

Starrett No. 194 Universal Scraper, price $1.00 in 1914 Catalog No.20. It is meant for scraping wood and is missing a turned wood "guard" that was for gripping one edge of the blade to apply more force than could be done with the long handle. Replacement blades and guards cost 15 cents each.

Larry

jeff76 · Jan 24, 2021

Thank you Illinoyance and Larry. I figured I'd get an answer here.

Jeff

jeff76 · Jan 24, 2021

L Vanice said:
Starrett No. 194 Universal Scraper, price $1.00 in 1914 Catalog No.20. It is meant for scraping wood and is missing a turned wood "guard" that was for gripping one edge of the blade to apply more force than could be done with the long handle. Replacement blades and guards cost 15 cents each.

Larry

Sure wish we could still order from that catalog-lol! I like the prices.

Jim Christie · Jan 24, 2021

Similar ones can still be had here but no longer a dollar although I would imagine a dollar was nearly a days pay in 1914 if not more.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/scrapers/45784-veritas-ball-joint-scrapers

Metalurgent · Jan 24, 2021

I have a similar one with a heavy cast handle/guard above the blade. I always thought they were box scrapers for removing markings from crates before the crates were restencilled. I suppose they could be used to pull surface goop from almost anything. I'm certain I wouldn't use them to scrape glue off in any kind of decent cabinetmaking shop.
It's a lot easier to just work cleaner.

Tony Quiring · Jan 24, 2021

Scrapers were for finishing the wood, sandpaper not common back then.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

L Vanice · Jan 24, 2021

Stanley made a tool that was called a no. 70 box scraper. It does not look like the Starrett tool, and has a curved blade and sole. I think I read many years ago that box scrapers were used to remove labels from wood shipping boxes and barrels. That was before corrugated paper boxes became common. Shipping labels could be painted or inked directly on the wood. One common type of label was paper with ink writing, glued to the wood with waterglass. Tough stuff, but it could be scraped off. Around 1957, I bought a can of waterglass from the drugstore and made some paper cartridges for my Civil War Remington .44 revolver, a cartridge construction possibly originated by Colt's. More on waterglass here:

Sodium silicate - Wikipedia

Larry

Metalurgent · Jan 25, 2021

More on waterglass here:

Sodium silicate - Wikipedia

Larry,

The Chemical Garden was a staple in our high school chemistry class. There was a row of beakers behind the window of the lab with copper sulphate etc. crystals growing up through the clear silicate..We could walk by the lab and see how the "crop" was doing...

Georgineer · Jan 25, 2021

Tony Quiring said:
Scrapers were for finishing the wood, sandpaper not common back then.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

They still are, because (when used properly) they leave the grain open and no loose fibres attached to the surface. Sandpaper fills the grain with dust and leaves loose fibres.

George B.

JohnMartin · Jan 25, 2021

L Vanice said:
Stanley made a tool that was called a no. 70 box scraper. It does not look like the Starrett tool, and has a curved blade and sole. I think I read many years ago that box scrapers were used to remove labels from wood shipping boxes and barrels. That was before corrugated paper boxes became common. Shipping labels could be painted or inked directly on the wood. One common type of label was paper with ink writing, glued to the wood with waterglass. Tough stuff, but it could be scraped off.

Larry

The Stanley box scraper was actually a cutting tool, not a scraping tool. More like a plane. Designed to be pulled rather than pushed.

With the convex sole it would leave a corrugated surface, not a smooth flat surface as a scraper would. But it cut a lot deeper and faster, and the blade edge lasted longer than a scraper would.

L Vanice · Jan 25, 2021

JohnMartin said:
The Stanley box scraper was actually a cutting tool, not a scraping tool. More like a plane. Designed to be pulled rather than pushed.

With the convex sole it would leave a corrugated surface, not a smooth flat surface as a scraper would. But it cut a lot deeper and faster, and the blade edge lasted longer than a scraper would.

I think I recall that the No. 70 head swivels so that it works either by pushing or pulling. Perhaps Stanley chose to call it a scraper because it was meant to be a superior replacement for the scrapers traditionally used to remove box labels.

Larry

JohnMartin · Jan 27, 2021

L Vanice said:
I think I recall that the No. 70 head swivels so that it works either by pushing or pulling. Perhaps Stanley chose to call it a scraper because it was meant to be a superior replacement for the scrapers traditionally used to remove box labels.

Larry

The head does swivel, but that’s so it can follow the work. You can’t really push it. The handle fork is bent so that you can pull it with the handle at a low angle to the work. You could flip the cutterhead over and turn the handle over to push it, but the bend in the fork would require you to hold the handle at a high angle - not great for pushing.

The fork is a single casting, so not easy to open it to turn the head around.

Not too many of us, I think, know of these. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the need to remove a stencil or a label from a shipping crate.

L Vanice · Jan 27, 2021

JohnMartin said:
The head does swivel, but that’s so it can follow the work. You can’t really push it. The handle fork is bent so that you can pull it with the handle at a low angle to the work. You could flip the cutterhead over and turn the handle over to push it, but the bend in the fork would require you to hold the handle at a high angle - not great for pushing.

The fork is a single casting, so not easy to open it to turn the head around.

Not too many of us, I think, know of these. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the need to remove a stencil or a label from a shipping crate.

I found a video about one person's experience with a Stanley 70, which he thought was a plane. So he tried to use it as a plane. At 3' 30", he demonstrates using it to round a corner of a board by pulling and a few seconds later demonstrates the same job by pushing. He seems happy with the performance in either direction. Ignorance is bliss, as they say. At the end of the video, he added that he just found out that the tool is not meant to be a plane and talked about scraping boxes.

Stanley No. 70 Box Scraper Hand Plane. Is It Useful? - YouTube

Larry

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