About a year ago at my local
PAST tool collectors meeting, I had a winning raffle ticket. My prize was this scraper by The Dikeman Mfg. Co.
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The mongo scraper
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THE DIKEMAN MFG. CO.
NORWALK, CONN |
The handle has a neat mechanism that allows it to swivel and tighten in any direction. Just turn the handle counter-clockwise, move the handle to the position you want and tighten it up again.
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The swivel mechanism
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On the swivel cup: PATD. AUG 9, 1910
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The iron is just shy of 3" wide and fairly beefy at 1/16" thick. The method of securing the iron in the tool is a cam mechanism. A bar that squeezes the two plates together to hold the iron is held on each side by a screw. The two screw thread into the ends of the bar off-center and when the bar is turned (using the bent rod attached to it), the plates are forced together.
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(Iron not present) Arrow points to one of the two screws of the cam bar
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Arrows point to the contact locations of the cam bar
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Another view: can see the off-center screw at left
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In use, the forward U-shaped handhold really helps apply some downward pressure.
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Cutting action is drawing the scraper back towards me
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I would have liked to take the whole thing apart to clean it up. To do that, one just needs to remove the two screws that hold the cam bar. But both appeared to have the screwdriver slot peened so that you can't unscrew them. Either that or many decades of rattling around in a toolbox resulted in the same effect.
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Dental tool pointing to the peened screwdriver slot
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To be honest, I really didn't know what I would do with it, if I ever used it at all. But when I needed to remove the finish from a large blanket chest that I salvaged, it really came in handy. At first I just used it in as-found condition and it worked fine. But later I took the time to sharpen the iron and SWEET FANCY MOSES!! This thing cut like a beast!
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One of the boards
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Pretty gnarly - lots of junk stuck to the finish
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After a few swipes with the mongo Dikeman scraper
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I was truly shocked at how well this tool worked. I thought it was basically a large paint scraper, but I was getting shavings like a Stanley #80 cabinet scraper when I used it on bare wood.
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Shavings from the bare wood
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Some references I saw on the 'net called this a paint scraper and a floor scraper. My guess is that it's one of those more than a cabinet scraper, but when properly sharpened and carefully used it can be put into service to smooth boards.
Here's a little info I found about the Dikeman Mfg. Co. or Norwalk, Conn.
In a post on
Swingleydev.com, Sandy Moss referenced a book entitled "American Marking Gages", by Milton Bacheller, which indicated that the company was founded in 1906. They produced mechanics tools and metal goods, but fell on hard times during the depression and finally went out of business in 1939.
On a 1922 list of Connecticut manufacturers, Dikeman is listed as making "screw machine products and machinists' tools".
Yes, its a floor scraper. And like any scarper, sharpen properly it can pull nice shavings as you found out :-)
ReplyDeleteI would just cut new slots in the screw heads with a file if you want to take it apart.
Bob
Bob, if anybody knew something about this scraper, I figured it would be you. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteIf you ever lay a new wood floor you have hit the jackpot :-). I know most of us have too many tools but sometime it is good to make space for that odd one that will do jobs you do not often do.
ken
Ha! No new wood floors in my immediate future, but you never know. But I knew this one was a keeper when I used it on the finish of the salvaged blanket chest. What a beast!
DeleteQuote: I know most of us have too many tools Unquote from Ken.
ReplyDeleteHey, I do not resemble that remark :-)
OK, I may have or two too many, but that`s it
Says Bob with a straight face and all his fingers cross in his back :-)
In comparison to a cabinet scraper this scraper leaves it in the dust. That board came up beautifully. You got yourself more than a winner.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this tool is pretty cool. And the red alder is a beautiful wood that works fairly nicely
DeleteYou might try a hacksaw instead of trying to file the slot open.
ReplyDeleteI am a old retired mechanic and have done that hundreds of times, try it first . Also before you try to turn it ,put the screwdriver in the slot and give it a sharp hit, that tends to dislodge rust and release the threads
OK, thanks for that. When you give it a rap with a hammer to release the threads, does the other end need to be on a metal vise or some hard backer?
Delete