What is it and why the copper sleeve

[NJ Marty]

Was looking through a bunch of taps dies and other items and this caught my eye, its about 6" long. What could this be and why the copper sleeve on the bottom?

 

[Kevin54]

It may have been used for lapping something. Copper is used quite a bit as lapping compound will embed itself into it. A lot of times a part for a die will be lapped to size instead of being ground on a surface grinder, but this one has been made for someones personal tools

 

[gungatim]

old style newsprinting or typesetting block? looks like something I picked up at an antique shop when I was a kid, wood block with a copper sleeve on the bottom. mine was a reverse chevrolet bowtie, maybe yours is just a filler piece or hasn't been engraved?

just a WAG...

 

[rlitman]

Am I the only one hearing the music from 2001?
It's a monolith!

 

[rlitman]

Another theory: a copper printing plate (blank).

 

[Kevin54]

Another theory: a copper printing plate (blank).

that could very well be. I never thought of that.

 

[404]

Am I the only one hearing the music from 2001?
It's a monolith!

I think the apes bang these together.. could be wrong.. Great movie.

link for the young ones.

 

[4xdog]

old style newsprinting or typesetting block? looks like something I picked up at an antique shop when I was a kid, wood block with a copper sleeve on the bottom. mine was a reverse chevrolet bowtie, maybe yours is just a filler piece or hasn't been engraved?

just a WAG...

That's my vote. I have several of these for vintage fountain pen ads -- one of them almost exactly that size.

 

[NJ Marty]

old style newsprinting or typesetting block? looks like something I picked up at an antique shop when I was a kid, wood block with a copper sleeve on the bottom. mine was a reverse chevrolet bowtie, maybe yours is just a filler piece or hasn't been engraved?

just a WAG...

Yes you could right on this. Although this one does not have a wood block it seems to be stainless steel.

 

[2oolhound]

The only thing I don't like about the printing plate blank idea is the weight. A whole page worth of those things would be very heavy so the whole machine would have to be more robust than one that ran wood blocks.

 

[4xdog]

Yes you could right on this. Although this one does not have a wood block it seems to be stainless steel.

All of my printing blocks, and the others I've seen, are backed by wood. Steel does point to a different origin...

 

[rlitman]

All of my printing blocks, and the others I've seen, are backed by wood. Steel does point to a different origin...

Agreed. In the picture, it was not clear to me that it was metal. It could have been a bad picture of wood, but the OP cleared that up.

 

[CNGsaves]

Yes you could right on this. Although this one does not have a wood block it seems to be stainless steel.

Let's see stainless steel . . . with skin of copper on one edge ??

Maybe welding backer bar for knee repair on Lee Majors . . . .
. . . . . the Six Million Dollar Man !!!