November 4, 2007

In august of this year I received an email and a jpeg image from someone asking me to identify a C. DREW tool that he owned. I identified it as follows:

". . . It appears from the photo that this might be a bung cutter that would be used by coopers for making holes in the sides of wooden barrels. These holes would be used for pouring out liquids from the barrels: cider. molasses, etc.

"Bung cutters weren't offered in any of the C. DREW trade catalogues that I've seen over the years, but I know that they were produced by the company in the 19th-century; I once owned some postcards that were mailed to C. DREW by a client firm in the 1870s wherein bung cutters were ordered (presumably from a catalogue or pricelist published by C. DREW)."

It appears that C. DREW produced bung cutters in two formats, i.e. with and without a starter screw at the tip of the tool (probably like the starter screw at the tip of an auger). The jpeg that was sent to me by the owner of the bung cutter is presented below.