OldTools Archive
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277096 | Paul Belanger <pbelanger307@g...> | 2023‑03‑12 | Mystery Bell System "Mallet" |
Good morning fellow galoots, Came up with a new mystery tool at an antique mall yesterday. My first thought was that it is a commander, but that is unlikely due to the shape of the head. This monster is 36” high with a 10” head that’s 6” in diameter. The head is a massive piece of lignum vitae cone shaped at the end. The handle is marked “Bell System” and “6” (I assume for the diameter of the head). The price tag referred to it being a “mold” (possibly for making a mold?). See photo below (hopefully!). Any insights appreciated as Google yielded nothing close. Many thanks, Paul Belanger pbelanger307@g... Also check out my blog on dividers at allencompassingdividers.blogspot.com https://groups.io/g/oldtools/photo/281028/3588352? Sent from Mail ( https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986 ) for Windows |
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277098 | Chris Wolf <hframe79001@g...> | 2023‑03‑12 | Re: Mystery Bell System "Mallet" |
This won't help a lot, but I would suggest that the price tag could be confusing "mold" for "maul", which seems like a much more appropriate word for it. How much does that thing weigh? --Chris Check out H-frame, the site for vintage Black & Decker Workmates https://h-frame.weebly.com/ |
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277099 | Chris Wolf <hframe79001@g...> | 2023‑03‑12 | Re: Mystery Bell System "Mallet" |
A further thought\u2014it looks like a huge pestle, although I can't imagine why the Bell System would be grinding stuff that way. Is it possible the handle was from a different tool, with the head added later? --Chris Check out H-frame, the site for vintage Black & Decker Workmates https://h-frame.weebly.com/ |
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277100 | John Ruth <johnrruth@h...> | 2023‑03‑12 | Re: Mystery Bell System "Mallet" |
Paul, My SWAG: It's for forming the "bell end" on the lead ( Pb ) jacket of an old- fashioned lead-covered cable. The jackets are joined by "lead burning", sort of like welding lead with a lower melt point solder. John Ruth > On Mar 12, 2023, at 10:46 AM, Paul Belanger |
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277101 | Claudio DeLorenzi <claudio@d...> | 2023‑03‑12 | Re: Mystery Bell System "Mallet" |
Hey Paul, That sounds like an old plumber’s bossing mallet? Giggle search for “Lignum bossing mallet antique tool” or some variation of that and Bell System Tools and see if your thingy corresponds. Cheers from a snowy Waterloo, Ontario (where Spring might never come this year. Plus, the snow is so high this year that the rabbits were able to girdle over half of my orchard trees above the protective mesh that covers 24” of trunk. Years of work gone to wascally wabbits. All they left me were their little fertilizer pellets… I have to laugh so I don’t go ballistic, literally). Claudio On Sun, Mar 12, 2023 at 10:46 AM Paul Belanger |
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277103 | Paul Belanger <pbelanger307@g...> | 2023‑03‑13 | Re: Mystery Bell System "Mallet" |
Thanks to all for your thoughts. To answer Chris, because of the lignum head it's got to weigh close to 20 lbs., but I'm not great at estimating. The "maul" vs. "mold" on the tag is a possibility. But....I think I may have an answer to my own question. Actually, SWMBO came up with the fact on-line that a new telephone pole is supposed to have a 6" ring of compressed soil around the outside of the pole in the ground. If you plug "telephone lineman tamper" into Google, the first image you get is one of these suckers along with a junior example. The auction image is of a maple version of the tool. My lignum one has to be half again as heavy. Given the fact that lignum was probably always pretty expensive and uncommon I'm guessing it's a pretty early example of this tool. Pretty sure the current technique doesn't use these guys! Now....how to convince my long suffering wife that it should have a place of honor in the house? Thanks again, Paul |
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277104 | Tom Fink | 2023‑03‑13 | Re: Mystery Bell System "Mallet" |
I’ve found the best way to get tools in the house is to bring them through the garage into the basement workshop, and SWMBO never knows. Tom Fink |
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277105 | Kirk Eppler | 2023‑03‑13 | Re: [Sender Verification Fail] Re: Mystery Bell System "Mallet" |
Real question that might answer Chris' thought. Does it show signs of being used to bang on something, like one would a maul would, or if they used it as a mold, or ground tamp, the appropriate marks from usage? And on a separate but related note, I shared elsewhere a list of Bell system tools. These are from various generations, so may not be old enough to have a LV tamper or maul or mold, but if someone has some time, you can kill an hour or three here. https://www.telecomarchive.com/docs/bsp-archive/074/074-269-123_I1.pdf On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 10:38 AM Chris Wolf |
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