Featured Antique Valve Key?

Discussion in 'Tools' started by The Katz Pajamas, Jan 28, 2019.

  1. The Katz Pajamas

    The Katz Pajamas New Member

    This key has a finial that unscrews - revealing a long sharply pointed tool. How was it used and am I right in identifying it as a valve key?

    Thanks, in advance, for your help. [​IMG]
     
  2. antidiem

    antidiem Well-Known Member

    Would likely open a water valve.
     
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  3. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    the awl is interesting.....maybe to chip away at ice on an outdoor valve...
     
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  4. all_fakes

    all_fakes Well-Known Member

    Looks a lot like a scriber, but I've never seen one on a valve key...there's a common carpenter square that has a similar scriber:
    il_340x270_1263163113_hytf.jpg
     
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  5. sabre123

    sabre123 Well-Known Member

    Those types of scribes were used a lot by machinists and metal workers for scratching lines into metal. Could be a T-handle wrench for a welding torch. It would be helpful to get the measurements of the piece, and the square opening.
     
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  6. The Katz Pajamas

    The Katz Pajamas New Member

    A welding torch had never crossed my mind. Overall length is 3.25 inches. The socket size is 3/8 of an inch.
     
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  7. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    "revealing a long sharply pointed tool"
    so then i guess that Awl......not so much an awl....if it's so damn small...

    Yes...give us the measurements 1st.......the photo makes the key look 9 inches long !!!

    grrrrrr...
     
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  8. The Katz Pajamas

    The Katz Pajamas New Member

    If my prior post wasn't clear, the overall length of the KEY is 3.25 inches and what you're describing as an awl is only 1-5/8 inches long. The opening at the end would fit over a shaft that's just 3/8 of an inch. I was hoping that somebody on this board would immediately recognize the key's purpose - but since that isn't the case so far. Is it possible that the barrel of the key served as a reservoir and the tip of the pointy tool was used to apply oil to a moving part? Alternatively, how about for cleaning an orifice that, when clogged, would obstruct the flow of natural gas or some other fuel?
     
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  9. springfld.arsenal

    springfld.arsenal Store: http://www.springfieldarsenal.net/

  10. Aquitaine

    Aquitaine Is What It IS! But NEVER BORED!

    I cannot speak for the sharp pointy thing you have lying next to the main item in question, but it sure looks like a plain old antique bed wrench, to me..........
     
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  11. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

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  12. The Katz Pajamas

    The Katz Pajamas New Member

     
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  13. The Katz Pajamas

    The Katz Pajamas New Member

    I'm getting a real education here. Have never heard of bed wrench previously - but out here in California, my house which was built in 1910 is considered very old and the same applies to technologies such as this.
     
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  14. all_fakes

    all_fakes Well-Known Member

    Too flimsy for an ice pick. That is a scriber if I've ever seen one. Maybe you could scratch stuff on a pipe after turning the valve, I guess, as Sabre suggested.
     
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  15. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    Flimsy.....??
    whatever it is...or used for.....both pieces look solid and well crafted....

    maybe ....you mean.... tiny...or slender...?
     
  16. all_fakes

    all_fakes Well-Known Member

    All is relative. Too slender for an ice pick, but sturdy for a scriber. Too small for an awl. This is exactly the kind of well-made scriber one finds screwed into a carpenter's combination square.
     
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  17. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    hey, I said awl...when I thought it was 4 inches long.....not 1 1/2....:(
     
  18. all_fakes

    all_fakes Well-Known Member

    Awl is relative. :angelic:
     
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  19. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    ha ha ha !!!!!
     
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