Graphite Brick in Antique Carpenters Toolchest?

[Unmarked Bill]

A few years back I bought a cedar chest off a guy. It was an old carpenters chest from probably around the turn of the century, Stanley planes from 1880s-1930s etc. Lots of great treasure, not that I’m switching to bit braces but a ton of super cool stuff.

In the chest is what seems like a graphite brick with a makers mark I can’t place. Can’t guess quite what it would be, best I’ve come up with is to lubricate plane soles and saw sides instead of beeswax, but since it leaves a pencil mark I wonder?

Any info or even guesses would be cool!
TIA

 

[lis2323]

Most likely a carborundum block for honing the edges of the planes.

I have a few. They used to come in a wooden case with a lid.

 

[Unmarked Bill]

No, I have a half dozen whetstones and it isn’t that. It’s super slick and light, not porous at all. If it isn’t actually graphite it’s something almost identical.

 

[rlitman]

No, I have a half dozen whetstones and it isn’t that. It’s super slick and light, not porous at all. If it isn’t actually graphite it’s something almost identical.

I have several graphite blocks. They’re anything but light.

 

[WWheeler]

No idea. Perhaps the name on the side is a clue. Can't quite make it out though.

 

[SRSemenza]

Maybe try a rubbing, trace , or fill the letters to make them more legible ?


Seth

 

[fasteddie]

Possibly for finding high spots when planing down wood.

 

[03.]

Possibly for finding high spots when planing down wood.

This makes a lot of sense

 

[3baygarage]

Los Angeles seems pretty clear. Maybe a better shot of that logo would help.

Could it say PEERLESS down the side?

 

[Unmarked Bill]

Sorry fellas, it does say Peerless. The makers mark is C K sss Los Angeles, Big K inside a big C with theee Little S’s in there.

That idea about using it to find high spots sounds cool but I can’t think how’d you’d do it?

 

[Unmarked Bill]

 

[Unmarked Bill]

I’ve never seen a chisel lubed but beeswax in liquid state is what I’ve seen on plane soles.

 

[Unmarked Bill]

That’s a really good thought about lubing screw threads with it. I’ve always been an Irish Spring guy for getting wood screws started.

 

[turbowoodworker]

If it is really graphite, the only use for a graphite brick is for shielding neutron source in a reactor (as mentioned in Fermi's nuclear pile). But trust me I know less about nuclear reactors than ... Well just about everything else.

 

[Handyfarmer]

possibility to rub on the bottom of the wood plane to help lubricate it?

 

[notlob]

I would guess it's a razor hone similar to this:

https://www.ebay.com/i/132336954325?chn=ps

 

[jimreed2160]

Mr Google says that graphite blocks are used in metal casting. No woodworking uses that I know of. But they do seem cool.

 

[rlitman]

If it is really graphite, the only use for a graphite brick is for shielding neutron source in a reactor (as mentioned in Fermi's nuclear pile). But trust me I know less about nuclear reactors than ... Well just about everything else.

Graphite bricks were commercially available for Fermi's pile, so clearly they existed before that. And purity of the graphite on the market up to that time was insufficient for use in a reactor, as it contained too many contaminants that captured neutrons, so they had to have their blocks specially made to higher specifications. In a reactor core, the carbon in graphite doesn't shield neutrons. Instead, it just slows them down (it is a "moderator", just as water is).

possibility to rub on the bottom of the wood plane to help lubricate it?

That would be quite messy, unless all your woodworking projects were in ebony. And ebony doesn't plane very easily.

I use my graphite blocks for torch work. They're amazingly resistant to heat, and I can easily melt things on top of them with an oxy-acetylene torch without damaging them.

Anyway, other than the fact that the block is black and rubs off black on things, it doesn't resemble any graphite block I've ever seen. It looks about as close to graphite as aluminum looks to stainless steel. Sure, some people can confuse them, but I really don't think that is graphite. Or, at least, if it is, it certainly isn't pure graphite.

 

[wrenchguy]

I would guess it's a razor hone similar to this:

https://www.ebay.com/i/132336954325?chn=ps

this? for chisels and woodworking knives?

 

[^&right]

I had a good friend give me a bock of graphite a few weeks ago. Retired millwright/tool and die maker. One of those guys who could fix ANYTHING back in the day. I asked him what it was for and he just said 'lubrication'. Mine is probably 6x8x1, no markings I could see. Very heavy.


Definitely graphite. Next time I see him I'll ask for more detail. Every time I go to visit he gives me a tool to take home, which makes me feel edgy. Won't let me pay for them or anything. Guys got tools I've never heard of.

 

[WNYflyer]

Probably from the Peerless Hone Co. 397 Whitney Ave., Los Angeles Ca.
Marketed to Barbers.......at least that what I get from the interwebs.

 

[nicholasbailey1993]

If it is really graphite, the only use for a graphite brick is for shielding neutron source in a reactor (as mentioned in Fermi's nuclear pile). But trust me I know less about nuclear reactors than ... Well just about everything else.

Graphite brick are actually fairly common in tool and die work for using in sinker EDM machines, you machine the graphite electrode to the opposite profile of the metal part you are making and then the EDM machine slowly arcs away the metal to leave the desired shape. This has nothing to do with the OP's block as it looks to be from a time long before EDM machines.

Sent from my A577VL using Tapatalk

 

[GrantCee]

Blocks like that were often used by jewelers to hold pieces while they were being welded. (I grew up in the jewelry business and saw them used frequently; every jeweler's bench had at least one.) Peerless was a common term for jewelry tools; I still have Peerless tweezers, and I've seen Peerless screwdrivers, pliers, and dapping dies.

 

[SRSemenza]

Suggestion on this from another forum (even if maybe really for use by a jeweler) is that maybe it was used in place of chalk on a "chalkline". Any string or twine in that chest?

Seth

 

[larry_g]

Is it possible that it is an old elevator brush? A friend who was an elevator mechanic had a pile of old electrical contact carbons that were from the sliding contacts in the elevator shaft.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Unmarked Bill]

So many great ideas, what makes the most sense so far is using it on wood screw threads, but I’m going to ask a jeweler friend what he knows, since that seems promising too. Nuclear reactor probably less likely but ya never know!

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

If thats an ® at the end of the C, it should be post 1946

 

[VinceG]

Its used to pre-lube muffler bearings before installation. It also lubes the screws on your turn-signal lens during turn-signal fluid change. works well on the screw part of your left handed pipe wrench also DO NOT USE on right handed pie wrench though it will damage them.

 

[Unmarked Bill]

The coin finally dropped, its an Arkansas stone. Seems so obvious but I had never held one before.

 

[MarvinBerry]

Looks like a sharpening stone, used for chisels & such in pre electric grinder days. Are the two sides different grits?

Can't think of a reason to have a graphite block for any sort of carpentry. Stones? Very common. I have at least 2 or 3 floating around.

 

[ZRX61]

I have a graphite block that's 5x5x2in. It came out of Lockheed.