What is this Tool?

veneer cutter or marking gauge

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Looks like a leather tool for making belts or srtaps.

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

I think you nailed it TopamaxSurvivor. Its a C.S. Osborne “leather draw gauge strap cutter.”

There are several of them on ebay.

Thanks!

-- Happy woodworking! http://www.blakeweber.us

I wonder if C.D. was related to this family

C.S. Osborne & Co. (Incorporated) New Jersey, USA, Manufacturers of Saddlers’, Harness Makers’, Leather Workers’ and Leathercraft Tools, Catalogue reprint, publisher information unknown.

Well I see i’m a little late.

-- Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from poor judgement.

Hey, Blake, I’ve got a couple of those!! The new Palo Alto wooden ones are a lot better.

-- Thos. Angle, Jordan Valley, Oregon

veneer strip cutter ,
maybe for leather too ?

-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle

LEATHER

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

Cool looking tool, are they valuable? Cool collectible anyway….......

-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.

Another mystery solved.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

yes its a leather strap guage used them many times growing up. My grandfather was a saddle maker in oklahoma. He had a shop at the tulsa stockyards. The shop has moved now but is run by his grand sons.

-- Dan, Sterling Alaska, Before you criticise some one, walk a mile in their shoes...then you will be a mile away and you have their shoes!

My father worked in a old fashion sawmill in northern Cal. and the equiptment was run from a central shaft with leather belts of various widths and this tool was used to cut leather belts. cool tool Ford Mike

I never saw a tool like that before.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

The C. S. Osborne Co. is very much alive and well. They manufacture all types of leather tools. This draw gauge may well be worth something more because it probably pre-dates C.S. Osborne. The U. S. Cavalry owned tons of these which were used by company saddlers. You can see a large collection of these in Sheridan, Wyoming at the Don King Museum at King’s Saddlery on Main street. There are also large collections of other leather working tools and saddles. If you happen to be in our area, don’t pass it up. It’s great and it’s free.

-- Thos. Angle, Jordan Valley, Oregon

I just picked one of these up at a garage sale for $2 not knowing what it was.

It says C.S. OSBORNE & co. NEWARK, N.J. From what I’ve read it is indeed a leather cutter, aka draw gauge (http://www.csosborne.com/no51.5.htm).

Mine has black japaning on the handle and the blade says C.S. OSBORNE & CO HARRISON N.J. The blade must have been a replacement.

On the opposite side of the measurements is it stamped MADE IN U.S.A., it’s stamped again U.S.A. in smaller letters, and then someone felt obligated to etch U.S.A. in it again…

It also measures out to 5”, most listed online only go to 4”.

What I understand is that the company moved from Newark to Harrison in 1906 and the first patent that they had on these tools was 1876 I believe. So with both of our tools they are at least 106 years old today. Most likely older. They seem to be averaging about $50 online regardless of the condition (obviously a bit more for better shape).

I think that your’s is probably older than mine. And your’s is just way more cool because it is wood and brass. I also am not exactly sure how this was used because as you can see in the link that I posted it as appears as both of our blades are in the wrong way.

Anyways, I am going to keep mine. I actually was using it as a type of marking gauge until I looked into what it supposed to be used for. I still might use it as a marking gauge, need to sharpen the blade up some. It works best as a marking gauge if you flip the bar upside down and keep the blade pointed down, then you have a square edge to ride along the edge of the wood. (As shown below)

Also, I believe mine is missing the gibs that go between the bar and blade and the thumb screws.
Great finds anyways, cool conversation pieces!

-- Grant - S/N Dakota