So my guess was right (and if I'd been paying attention, I would have seen the French and translated it but I've had a cold for a couple days). It's a tool for drawing wire. Wire is made by hammering a piece of metal into thinner and thinner (and longer) pieces. The final wire is formed by drawing it through a gauge with pre-formed holes (we're talking about wire-making by hand). I wasn't sure about it because most of the wire-drawing tools I've seen had handles that enabled you to clamp them to a work bench because you want the gauge to be fairly stable so that you can draw the wire through with a pair of pliers. If the metal were very soft, I guess you could use a hand-held wire-drawer like this.
Here's an article explaining the process: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_drawing Most wire-making is done by machine these days but there are jewelers who do wire-drawing by hand. Arlene Fisch describes the process and tools in her book, "Textile Techniques in Metal." (Great book. Pity it appears to be out of print at the moment.) Avital On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 12:00 AM, Susan Reishus <elationrelat...@yahoo.com> wrote: > The online translation is for the ebay item is: > > "Draw wire Handle in oak Very beautiful general presentation" > > So must be something for wire to place while working with it. Conceptually > reminds me of a French knitter so one can work in a tube. The openings seem > disturbingly harsh for threads, imho. I agree that often listers can > unknowingly misrepresent items. > > Best, > Susan - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
