Drawshave, Cooper's

Object Name:

Drawshave, Cooper's

Object ID:

1953.001.10

Date:

1875-1900

Description:

Cooper's draw shave. Steel and wood. Consists of somewhat narrow, slightly concave, cutting edge with heavy metal handle on right side; wood handle on left side. Blade 5" wide, area 3.4" high. Blade tapers from sharp edge to about 0.5" near top. Blade curvature: 0.3" deep at center. Handle at right: 1.1" diameter, 5.9" long. Tapers from round section to thickness of blade at right side. On right side of blade, width of handle 1.1". At left side of blade, handle section starts out 1.9" high, then becomes narrower and curves upward. At its thickest section it turns downward into wooden handle. Handle cylindrical with flat, bulbous bottom end, 1.3" diameter. Medium-brown, fine-grain hardwood. Handle tang extends through handle, peened over across bottom end. At bottom, tang fairly small. Around top of handle is steel ring, 1.1" high that acts as reinforcing ferrule for heavy tang section that extends into handle. Deep, tapered bevel section on top edge of tool above cutting blade area. Front surface of blade has slightly depressed area near right so blade edge not straight from right to left. Almost all metal surfaces are filed or ground smooth. A few small spots of less well-finished surfaces on bottom edge of handles adjacent to cutting blade. Paper label on handle: "21153".

Material:

Metal
Wood
Steel

Dimensions:

H-9.9 W-14.9 D-2.1 inches

Provenance:

Found by the donor in the attic of the Stratton Company flour mill, Penacook, NH, in 1953, when the mill closed. The mill, eventually owned by the Stratton Company, was built in 1857. They also had a large barrel factory. By 1900, it was the largest flour mill in New England. The donor was vice-president of the company.

Credit Line:

Gift of Donald J. McFarland