I am moving my shop. From one end of the house to the other into a dedicated space. My own sink, business entrance, a/c. I am going through boxes of my Dad’s old gear from decades ago and I came across these tweezers. I can’t find them in any catalogs I currently use and wonder of their purpose. If not jewelry, I am guessing medical.
Any clues?
Don Meixner
Maybe Orthodontic Forceps?
Orrrrrr eyelash removers? LOL - just kidding I dont think these existed back in those days rofl
if those are copper, they are for pulling things out of your pickle.
@AlyssaKay, they could be an eyelash application tool because false eyelashes have been in use for 100 years.
Are they rusted iron, or copper? And are the ends elongated hollowed out matching kidney shapes which close to form a tiny hollow kidney-shaped vessel?
They are a perfect design to pic up small or flat things from the pickle pot. If not made of copper-Maybe he used them for ferrous metals.
Thanks!
Hi Don, me thinks that they were for holding shanks for soldering. Looking at them reminds me of someone using a town gas mouth torch, which is fixed to the bench. That leaves the other hand free to apply the borax flux and when it settles down add the solder. Back in time, the gold bands were very thin. Only a little pressure would have been required to bring the hot ring joint together. There was probably no cross over tweezers as we know them today, only round wire ones.
That’s the rub John. They are simple tweezers. Not cross overs. They have no means to self-close.
They are ferrous metal. So as a picking tool I am thinking not. The arcs are matching and indented on the meeting surfaces. If the arcs are too mate with a specific circumference they must be for a pretty specific use.
I actually considered the cosmetics possibilities but I see no evidence of them having any padfing on the jaws for grabbing the odd eyelash.
D
@DonMeixner, if they were designed for holding false eyelashes during the first half of the 20th century, there would not be any padding. And anyway, I doubt padding would be needed to apply false eyelashes.
You’re probably thinking of modern eyelash curlers which are padded, although those made in the early 20th century did not have padding.
Pickle tweezers if copper. I have had a set for forty years. I like the ones I made years ago from Kydex with silver tips riveted on. Its easy to form and has durable spring like quality. AKA Easy-to-Form PVC/Acrylic cheap too.
Don…Dad came by a lot of used or surplus dental tools. I have a few and I keep trying to talk my dentist out of some. I think that they were for pushing packing in and around gums when a dentist was doing a procedure. Just my guess…Rob
I believe you are correct Rob. It was in one of the endless supply of long H & S shipping boxes filled with worn out files, broken pliers, and burnt out over locking tweezers.
D
Speaking of the dental stuff for a time I had one of their air drills. Worked great but not in a public setting. For me anyways, EVERYONE knows that sound. Many including myself for a time had a fear of that noise. But once I got over that they made awesome flex shaft type tools just that noise lol.
