Hello from Hazard!
Longtime Hazard reader Joseph Betz of Library, Pa., is the only one to weigh in with the correct response on Item No. 846 — it is an adjustable boiler tube cleaner, or brush, used to descale the fire tubes of a boiler.
“This is just the working end,” Betz advises. “Usually, it will have a pole about 7 feet long attached.”
He’s used one of these on the traction engines at the Tri-State Historical Steam Engine Association shows.
Our thanks to Joe, and to another longtime reader, Gailey Henderson of Williamstown, W.Va., for submitting Item No. 846.
For our new Hazard item, we turn to a photo shared by Edward Wanchock of Sewickley, Pa., who provides a good description of the tool.
It’s cast iron, about 8 1/2 inches long, with 2 1/4 inch hammer head “jaw-like” pliers. It’s grooved across the jaws. The back of the jaw adjusts to grasp an object approximately one-half inch in diameter. The curved jaw has a little V groove in the end.
Do you know how it was used? Give it your best shot and send your response to: Hazard a Guess, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460; or via e-mail to: editorial@farmanddairy.com.
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