I was recently at a Barn Auction where I picked up a ton of old tools, from old Stanley Wooden Planes to intricate files and saws…in one of my bundles I picked up this old thing. I have no idea what it is, but I have a pretty good idea of what it isn’t. It’s not a chisle or counter-sync or hole punch. Here are some more pics of it up close and personal.
Anyone know what this is?
Except for the wooden handle, it’s metal - right? I’m going to guess it’s a soldering iron.
Soldering iron is what I figured too, although admittedly I’m not at all sure. I saw almost the exact same tool in an antique shop Saturday and was contemplating its use.
The tip comes off as seen by the flat screws in the shaft. If it is a solddering iron any idea on it’s age? And what was it used for? Was it used for flashing on roof’s and things like that?
That’s what Grampa called a tinnin’ arn,a tinning iron.
You note the copper tip can be removed/replaced with other shapes.
Used with a pot o’ lead.If you got it with barn type tools,they mighta used it to solder flashings and some standing seam roof styles.
I remember using a soldering iron just like that in my first metalwork lesson at school - there was a little gas-powered bench-top furnace for heating it up. it was very difficult to use.
I’m going to say that it’s an Electric Soldering Iron. Based on the hole in the handle where the cord used to be, as well as the fact that the tip is not massive enough to hold enough heat, The area behind the tip looks hollow. Either there’s an electric heating element in there or there used to be.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say soldering iron. I have a similar one myself, and I have no idea what to do with the damn thing, except mail it to a random Doper and say, “Here!”
Rub it on your body before tinning it!
You do know that blocks of Sal Ammoniac are/were used to clean the tip before tinning, right?
I doubt it was electric. It looks identical to my great grandpa’s old soldering iron I have in storage somewhere. His was turn of the century.
It’s a stick-it-in-the-fire soldering iron. I vaguely remember similar ones from my grandfather’s old books.
I don’t think it’s electric either, but it’s cool nonetheless.
Obligatory drive-by Cow Tool posting
It looks like my dad’s old electric soldering iron.
Back when I was eight years old, Dad was doing some wiring. I was hanging around the shop and picked up the electric screwdriver. I never made that mistake again.
I was just going to post the same thing. Does this mean we are both old?
Look on this page Soldering under Equipment.
See the difference in shape between the electric and non electric tools? The non electric is much more massive at the tip because it has to capture the heat of the fire and hold it long enough to transfer it to the object being soldered.
The irons made to be heated in a fire don’t have removable tips, and yours does because of the screw on the side. If you remove the tip you’ll find that the area behind it is hollow, or has the remains of the electric element. A hollow tube won’t retain much heat for the job.
Me three. We also had an asbestos pad to solder on.
A wireless soldering iron, how ultra-modern cool is that?
Sooo, what kind of saws did you pick up?
Vintage electric soldering irons definitely looked like that, wooden handle and all. Most telling would be to remove the tip and see if there’s any visible trace of electrical connections. Is it reasonable to do that, or are vintage tools inviolable that way?
