more old pipe organ tools -"nicking tools"

Here's another assortment of the old organ tools I inherited from the storage locker -- there was a boxful of various 'wood handled' stuff too. ;-) :-)

These are various shapes/sizes of things called "nicking tools" -- used primarily during the original process of making and voicing organ pipes. The last pic shows the 'critical parts' of a couple typical junk pipes, tools like this are used to (hand) make the 'serrated' pattern (or something similar to it) seen on one part of each. (and the whys/wherefores of all that get complicated, and probably don't really matter here...) Each is essentially a little larger/smaller/different than the others, in order to be able to make different shapes/sizes of "nicks" in different kinds/sizes of pipes.

As can be seen, they have basically all been 'custom made' by their original user(s), by utilizing/re-grinding (for the most part) old iron files, along with whatever was handy to make a 'handle'. Also likely obviously, they weren't ever intended to be "pretty" -- just **something that WORKS**. :-) It truly isn't all that unusual (in our trade) for tools like this to be made 'as needed' (from whatever is otherwise laying around) if one doesn't already have one of the right shape/size.

It isn't really possible to attribute an exact date (not to mention maker?) to any of them, only to guess by their general appearance (and where I got 'em) that they're most likely from the earlier decades of the 1900's. ALSO FOR THE RECORD -- no matter their current appearance, they all remain *perfectly useful*...I've used more than one of these more than once, since I acquired the bunch. :-)