Is this some kind of beading tool? *LINK*

Not a spokeshave

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>unless it's for REALLY little spokes. It looks more like a purfling cutter, slitter of some kind, or what the seller says it is, although I don't know enough about clock faces to know why they need grooving.

Quirk Router?

Scott Burr Ben Lomond,CA

>Kinda looks like one to me...need to see the blade.

You are correct...

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>Quirk router it is.

Re: You are correct...

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>How can you tell without seeing the blade? There are several tools that look like this. In fact, this blade looks a bit thin for a QR.

Pam

Re: Is this some kind of beading tool?

paul womack

>From memory (don't have Salaman at work) that's a coachmaker's quirk router.

Quote ironic; I turned a nice one down at 10 GBP on Sunday on the grounds I'd never use it.

I assume coachmakers cut a lot of quirks, since these tools are always large, strongly built, and plated to resist wear.

BugBear

Re: Imore info

paul womack

>Buck & Hickman, 1935 calls it a "London pattern fence router", in their list of coachmaker's tools.

(107K image from catalog)

BugBear

If it isn't one, I would be highly surprised.

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>The blade seems to be running fore and aft. Certainly from the the front view it is very narrow.

Re: Another quirk router

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>Here is a photo of a different quirk router, this one made by Preston, IIRC. Also shown are three blades, in different widths, from the side.

Like a Dado plane, which we discussed last night, a quirk router needs to be able to cut a narrow groove, across the grain. Unlike a dado, however, it is designed to cut that groove parallel to the curved side of the workpiece, and abutting or very close to the edge. These grooves are for installing purfling or narrow string inlay. Because it has to follow the curve, the blades can't be too long, and the nickers can't be too far in front of the cutter. This is accomplished by a very special cutterhead, with a concave edge cut in the front, to form two nickers, a mouth for clearance of shvings in the middle, and a cutter for cleaning the bottom of the dado or groove at the back. This one comes with three replacable fences, two of them curved.

Unlike a dado or plough plane, it does not need a depth stop, as the bottom of the router performs this function, and the depth of the cut is determined by the blade extension.

Re: Another quirk router

Mark Harrison -- in Sydney, Australia

>That's what I'm talking about and that does look like a Preston, though I've only ever seen one.

I really like the mini brass router as well.

Re: Another quirk router

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>The brass router is a kit from St. James Bay Tool Co. Almost "instant gratification" for metal plane builder wanabees.

Re: Another quirk router

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Sir William just likes to toss the picture of that router plane in to gloat a little. It IS a cute little critter.