[BCMA] Need Help Identifying an Artefact

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

I agree that it is a blacksmith's parting tool, with the head adjustable to secure and cut at an angle of choice.

I believe that at the Grist Mill it was accepted along with box with several blacksmith's tools for interpretive use or as props in the unregistered "Interpretation", "Teaching", or "Disposable Artefacts" collection since the Province was no longer accepting artefacts of this nature for its Collection.   It would have been listed in the site inventory of general tools and equipment, but not in the "Artefact Collection".

Cuyler Page
Site Manager
Craigflower Farmhouse & School
Victoria, BC
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv. 
  To: jim.pmmuseum at telus.net ; bcma at lists.vvv.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 2:40 PM
  Subject: Re: [BCMA] Need Help Identifying an Artefact


  Hi Jim.  To me it looks like a blacksmith's hot chisel, with the long handle used to keep the heat at arm's length.  The blade would be placed on the piece of red hot steel and then struck with the hammer to make the cut.  At least, that's what it looks like to me.   I have seen similar, though cruder, examples during my curating adventures.  The ratchet-like hole is a mystery to me, although it might be used to vary the blade's angle to the handle, which might be useful in close quarters or as a personal customization for comfort or ease of use.  In the closer view one can see that it might be possible to "lock" the blade in either position.A very nice example (if that is indeed what it is), I usually see them in the form of a chisel with a length of heavy gauge wire wrapped around it to act as a handle.

   

  Andrew R. Minigan

  Curator

  Heritage Park Museum

  (250) 635 4546

  heritageparkmuseum.com

   



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