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Miscellaneous Tools

MI111218 Masterpiece Machinist's Tool Box Safe This piece defies description. It is a tool chest made in the form of a safe. It was made by Ray E. Hollis, who has made a cast iron plaque with his name on it for chest. There is also a cast plaque that says, "Made in 1940". There must be hundreds if not thousands of hours in this chest. I have never seen anything like it. It is a musem quality piece. Ray Hollis was born in 1906 and went on to found the Hollis Machine Company in Scottsdale, PA. He was clearly a man of extraordinary talent. A copy of his obituary will be included. When you remove the door, he has put pins on the back to hold the door. This is a heavy piece. It measures 23 1/2" by 13 1/2" by 11 1/2". He has also built a clock into the face of the central door that is usually used to hold a reference book. The drawer faces are oak. You could not reproduce this today for $50K. I do not have the combination but it is open. I am told that the combination would be easy to reset with it open. There are some tools in this chest, but that much. The value is really in the chest. Fine On my suggestion, or consignor has dramatically reduced the price. You couldn't replace it today for 10 times the price. Now: Sold

MI1110122 S. Symes, Barrington This is one of the most exciting tools that I have found in some time, this is a rare early Glove Donkey. I quote from www.goleathergloves.com/history-of-gloves.htm: "All gloves were sewn by hand and sewing evenly was a problem such that getting consistent results was problematic. It took an invention by James Winter of Stoke Sub Hamden, South Somerset, England in 1807, called a Gloving Donkey, that revolutionised the process. The Gloving Donkey consisted of a clamp with evenly spaced brass teeth which held the glove and enabled the sewer to sew evenly and more quickly. It was an important invention that brought consistency and a degree of quality in stitching gloves and remained in use until the invention of the sewing machine." It is built like a harnessmakers vice, with a foot operated release, but it is so small that it would have had to be for women & children. It is signed on both sides of the brass jaws, which are 3 1/2 inches wide and have evenly spaced serration for regulating the stitch width. The central column is beautifully turned, and seems to be some kind of fruitwood. One foot has been cracked and glued back on, but the whole piece has a very untouched look about it. It is about 27 inches high. An online search revealed a marriage license being issued in 1812, in Barrington, to an S. Symes. Barrington is not far from Woodstock, once the capital of English glovemaking. This is truly a museum quality piece. G+ $495

MI110657 Holtzapfel & Co.64 Charing Cross London A complete original Holtzapfel tool roll with the handle and 15 separate tools. The hammer handle doubles as a burnisher. Most of the tools are marked Holtzapfle. A few things are not marked, such as the hammer head, but since the handle is marked, this makes perfect sense to me. I am pretty sure that all of the tools are original to the roll. The roll is marked in three places, and is marked in gold letters with the owner's initials, FEW. This was an expensive roll, probably a gift to some wealthy person, and thus marked with the initials at the store as part of the gift process. Some of the tools have some very light powder surface rust. The set is untouched and every tool needs to be waxed with museum grade wax. The roll is good except for one hole that happens to be right over the mark, but thankfully it is marked in two spots. These rolls in this complete condition are very rare. Should clean to better than G+ $1195

MI1103311 Spit Engine An 18th Century English spit engine in remarkable condition. A spit engine is a clock work mechanism that was used to rotate a joint of meat on a spit before the fire. Early spit engines of this form are by no means common, and the ones that I have seen are invariably heavily pitted and unsympathetically cleaned. This one has a lovely patina and no serious rust issues. The wooden pulley in the rear may be replaced. I can't tell for sure but it is so crisp that it makes me unsure. This piece is in truly remarkable condition. It has been in my collection for some time and before that it was in the personal collection of John Hansord of Hansord Antiques, Lincoln. I don't think that a better example of the form could be found. For the true connoisseur. G++ $4650

MI100244 G. Rohrbach An important Pennsylvania goosewing axe. Rohrbach axes are considered by most collectors to the most interesting Pennsylvania axes, with very distinctive decorative features. This is the best Rohrbach axe that I have seen in 25 years of doing this. It has it all. The condition is as good as it gets, with great original surface and an old and probably original handle. It has a very pronouced hook in the crook of the blade and a pronounced ogee at the end. These are trademark Rohrbach features, but they are not always as well defined as on this example. The mark is cleanly struck, three times of course, that was standard. If you are a connoisseur collector, and only want one really great American axe, this is the one to get. I have seen collections of Pennsylvania axes, and none of them had a Rohrbach example as nice as this one. G+ $2595

MI80157 Goosewing Ax This is one of the nicest European goosewing axes that I have seen. I had it up next to a Pennsylvania ax by Stahler that I will be listing soon and it is amazing how similar the lines are, but I am pretty sure that this one is European, probably Austrian, but could be Swiss or German as well. The surface on this ax is untouched with as good a patina as you ever find on axes. It is double marked with a touchmark, but I am not aware of a reference with which to identify these. The blade is also nicely decorated. It shows use but not abuse, with wear to the center of the blade. The handle looks old, but I question if it is original to the ax only because at both ends it shows evidence of having been recently trimmed. This is subtle and it certainly looks original until you study it. If you want just one great example of this classic form, I recommend this one. G+ $595

31033 W.H. Pond, New Haven Pond was a major manufacturer of coachmaker's tools. I don't know what this tool was for, nor do any of the people I have showed it to. I did discover that at least one other is known and that the other one was found in a kit of coachmaker's tools. The tool has two separate slitters, adjustable on vertical pieces in the stock of the tool. All I know for sure is that this is a neat looking and very rare signed American tool. There is a hole in the stock where a screw was used to lock what was designed as a friction fit. A customer has sent in this information: "I grew up here in central Ohio in the small village of Plain City. During the 1960's there was a harness shop owned and operated there by two sisters. They served the horse-and-buggy Amish in the area, and later, the local harness racing community. I used to stop in their shop on occasion just to watch and be amazed. On occasion I remember seeing one of the ladies slicing strips from cow or horse hides for the reigns, traces and other straps on the harnesses with a tool that looked very much like this one. It had opposing knives (very sharp) and was adjustable for the width they needed. The notch in the "top" of the cutter way acted as a guide for the hide as it was being cut. they could cut pairs of strips very evenly and rather quickly. The hide, as I remember, was held at one end in a vice or with a clamp and stretched by hand to keep it taut as it was cut. I won't say that their tool was exactly the same one, but it looked very similar." G+ $135