Found this E.C. Stearns & Co. swivel adjustable scraper in amazingly good condition. (Who takes good care of a scraper?) The blade is still sharp and at least one of the 4 blade edges looks never used
The oldest reference I could find for this was in a 1912 advertisement. The 1924 and 1934 Stearns catalogs call this a No. 9 "Cabinet Or Floor Scraper". The only differences between the catalog illustrations and my scraper are that theirs had the company name and two ring grooves on the handle and it had a fancy thumbscrew rather than a wingnut like mine.
The 1934 catalog says: "This scraper is made with a ball and socket joint so that the handle may be adjusted and rigidly clamped at any angle by giving it a slight turn to the right. The blade is of special scraper steel properly hardened, and is firmly held between the jaws by the clamp screw on the front. This screw is entirely independent from the ball and socket so that the blade is not loosened in adjusting the handle."
The 1924 catalog says about the same thing only it mentions that the scraper was Japanned with a mahogany handle and a brass ferrule (the 1934 catalog mentions none of those specs). My ferrule is not brass and I believe my handle is red-stained instead of mahogany. The illustration in the catalogs must be accurate representations because e-bay has a photo of one version of this scraper that looks just like the illustration - the finish is smooth, not wrinkled, and the handle has the ring grooves.
The scraper is 9-inches overall length, and the blade is 2.9" square. The scraper is marked "E.C. Stearns & Co. Syracuse, N.Y." (in a depressed rectangle) and "Made In U.S.A.". It has a "6 E" on inside of the removable clamp plate, and a "3" on the inside of the handle side plate.
The oldest reference I could find for this was in a 1912 advertisement. The 1924 and 1934 Stearns catalogs call this a No. 9 "Cabinet Or Floor Scraper". The only differences between the catalog illustrations and my scraper are that theirs had the company name and two ring grooves on the handle and it had a fancy thumbscrew rather than a wingnut like mine.
The 1934 catalog says: "This scraper is made with a ball and socket joint so that the handle may be adjusted and rigidly clamped at any angle by giving it a slight turn to the right. The blade is of special scraper steel properly hardened, and is firmly held between the jaws by the clamp screw on the front. This screw is entirely independent from the ball and socket so that the blade is not loosened in adjusting the handle."
The 1924 catalog says about the same thing only it mentions that the scraper was Japanned with a mahogany handle and a brass ferrule (the 1934 catalog mentions none of those specs). My ferrule is not brass and I believe my handle is red-stained instead of mahogany. The illustration in the catalogs must be accurate representations because e-bay has a photo of one version of this scraper that looks just like the illustration - the finish is smooth, not wrinkled, and the handle has the ring grooves.
The scraper is 9-inches overall length, and the blade is 2.9" square. The scraper is marked "E.C. Stearns & Co. Syracuse, N.Y." (in a depressed rectangle) and "Made In U.S.A.". It has a "6 E" on inside of the removable clamp plate, and a "3" on the inside of the handle side plate.
