Kirk and assembled Galooterati:
Maybe I should apologize for my inept cell phone photographs!
The tool is/was for sale at a local flea. The vendor is an elderly Hungarian
immigrant who's retiring from the flea market. He said this Saturday will be his
last session. I've identified a number of Old Tools for him, so it seemed
natural that he'd ask me what this mystery tool might be.
So, I just snapped a couple of pictures in the bright sunlight right at the Flea
table.
I'm impressed with the volume of thoughtful replies!
I looked at the archive.org catalogs until ran out of time, without finding
anything even vaguely like it. The business end looks more like it would make a
pair of very thin grooves rather than a single flat-bottom groove.
It might very well be a stitching groover with a sort of "hop over" feature to
clear some obstruction. Leather is used for so many items that it may be
impossible to identify what items this was intended for. ( Military
accoutrements, harness, saddles / saddle bags, etc, just to name a few. )
I'm sure I'll never see another one! Maybe I should buy it.
John Ruth
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