TOOL: EDGE SHAVER, STRAIGHT, LIPFERT FAMILY

Slender curved steel shank with a groove or channel [chamfer] on its upper side, forming a fence on each side of a narrow straight chisel-shaped cutting edge. It is set into a copper collar and mounted on a bulbous wooden handle decorated with six horizontal striations. These are edge trimming tools, used for running along the edges of straps and other leather articles to take off or level the sharp edge. The handle of [.1] is varnished a darker shade of brown than that of [.2]. It has a wider groove than [.2], its shank is stamped with the number '6' and 'J. Dixon'. [.2] Has '4' stamped on its shank which has a correspondingly narrower channel than [.1] and the manufacturer's mark 'T. Dixon and Son'. Presumably belonged to Otto Lipfert, who practised leatherworking as a hobby. Found at 270 York Street, Subiaco, the Lipfert home for most of this century.