Hello from Hazard!
George H. Wimer, Tidioute, Pennsylvania, writes Item No. 1146 is a swage tool used to make lead pipe joints from lengths of lead pipe in the 1800s and 1900s. There were no couplings for lead pipe and therefore the end of one piece of pipe would be expanded to accept the next piece of pipe. The expansion was done with this tool and the next pipe was placed into the expanded portion. The next step was to heat up the joint with a soldering iron and quickly wipe it with a flat curved piece of iron to seal and form the completed joint. These were known as wiped joints.
While living in New England and working construction, George removed many of these lead jointed pipes from old homes.
Monroe Harbage says the item is a bulb planter, used to form and widen the hole for planting bulbs.
Item No. 1146 was submitted by Shirley Cooper, of Fombell, Pennsylvania. Cooper says they are lead pipe pliers with a patent of May 5, 1896. She picked them up at a flea market for $1.
Randy Winland, of Prospect, Ohio, submitted Item No. 1147.
Know what it is or how it was used? Email us at editorial@farmanddairy.com; or by mail to: Hazard a Guess, c/o Farm and Dairy, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460.
