Posted 8 years ago
SteadyFred…
(2 items)
Who knows what this is?? Fairly heavy duty, 17 inches high, 10 inches across the handle. Purchased in New Braunfels, Texas.
Old Reaming (?) Tool | ||
| SteadyFreddie's items2 of 2 |  | |
Old Reaming (?) Tool | ||
| SteadyFreddie's items2 of 2 | | |
Posted 8 years ago
SteadyFred…
(2 items)
Who knows what this is?? Fairly heavy duty, 17 inches high, 10 inches across the handle. Purchased in New Braunfels, Texas.
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What you have here is a cooper's bung. Probably hand forged. They came in different designs. Some were tapered like a cone for reaming out bung holes in barrels and ones like this were used to clear clogs. From your dimensions I would guess this one was for vats as opposed to smaller barrels. I seriously doubt you will see many of them out there.
Thanks, fhrjr2. However, every image of bung tools that I've looked at has a boring function. I my search I did discover a similar tool described as a "Hay or cotton bale tester. Early hand-forged solid metal handle still darn sharp." (6204-104). Here's the link: https://www.finetooljournal.net/auction/auction-archives/13-archive/65-auction-6204. That's the only image like it. What do you think?
Some cooper tools did in fact bore. I have never seen one in this country (USA) but have seen many in Europe. As an example, the Great Heidelberg Tun holds 59,000 US gallons of wine. It is so huge there is a dance floor on top of it. Wine cellars often have vats/casks 6' in diameter. When I was in Europe the tools were displayed and explained and that is where I came up with my answer. I have a flexible tool like this that is for clearing a clogged sink drain and pulling hair etc. out of it. Your tool may indeed have been used for another function. Either way I like it.