Richartz (Unknown) Multi-Tool

LLRJ17

LLRJ17

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Jan 16, 2022
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I came across this multi-tool recently and am not sure of its design and intended use. I believe it could possibly be from the '40's. The only marking is "Germany" and the small logo stamped on the blade.

Wondering if it may be a leather working tool given the small rolling tool? There is an awl that I didn't want to force open as it is bent and applies pressure to the scale when trying to open.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance!
Lee

IMG_2571.jpgIMG_2572.jpgIMG_2573.jpgIMG_2574.jpg
 
LLRJ17 said:
I came across this multi-tool recently and am not sure of its design and intended use. I believe it could possibly be from the '40's. The only marking is "Germany" and the small logo stamped on the blade.

Wondering if it may be a leather working tool given the small rolling tool? There is an awl that I didn't want to force open as it is bent and applies pressure to the scale when trying to open.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance!
Lee

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I do believe the whale logo belongs to RICHARTZ. The small roller is a glass cutter, if I'm not mistaken. T-A
 
You might have better luck over in the traditional forum.

Either way it's a pretty cool find
 
Guy McVer said:
That was my first thought as well, but it looks too small to be a window screen roller. No clue what the notch is for either.
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I believe the notch is for nibbling off thin strips of glass if you're cutting close to an edge. Traditional glass cutters have different size notches for different glass thicknesses. So, a glazier's multitool? Cool.
 
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yeah, glaziers tool makes sense to me. Honesty wouldn't be shocked if it was an advertising knife that was very industry-specific, so it might have been either for salesmen, or as a swag gift at trade shows/sales visits. Looks like an otherwise common "utility knife" with a custom insert. The question would be, when did wheel style glass scoring tools become common?
 
A side-on photo to show the thickness of the roller might be helpful. With some focus on what is supposed to be the edge profile. If its a glass cutter then the photos make it look extremely worn down because it doesn't appear to be sharp at all. If it is supposed to look more like a pizza cutter, it has reached a stage where it looks more like an inline skate wheel instead. There's no apparent edge left. I wonder how it could have reached that stage of wear, because there is no way that it could still function as a glass cutter throughout the entire wear process. Again: a photo or two from a different angle might be helpful.

I also am curious how you would go about sharpening something like that.

Here is a picture I found by doing a search for similar looking glass cutter tools:

189615_50.jpg


You can see it has a tiny roller with notches. So the glass cutter suggestion seems like it is probably correct.
 
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Just out of curiosity, have you ever used a glass cutter? It doesn't need to be sharp, it just needs to concentrate pressure into an area small enough to to make tiny chips flake off. That creates a score line so the glass will break where you want it to...usually. The notch is for breaking off narrow strips and keeping your fingers away from the sharp edge.

Yes, I have done a bit of glass work over the years, mostly window repairs.
 
gadgetgeek said:
yeah, glaziers tool makes sense to me. Honesty wouldn't be shocked if it was an advertising knife that was very industry-specific, so it might have been either for salesmen, or as a swag gift at trade shows/sales visits. Looks like an otherwise common "utility knife" with a custom insert. The question would be, when did wheel style glass scoring tools become common?
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Invented in 1869, so sometime after that. Certainly way before that knife was made.
 
Yeah, that makes sense since the other form I've seen either diamond or carbide tip would be farther up the tech tree as it where. But considering how common custom glazing was back in those days, it makes a lot of sense that a very effective and cheap tool would also be that old.
G Guy McVer The wheel cutter style tools that I've seen/had either come with several blades on a central hub for moving a new one into use, or they are cheap enough to be disposable. You need a reasonably hard steel, which we know could be done back then, but even then there was no thought to sharpen. This was probably a salesman's tool for occasional use, and from the look of that rivet, someone skilled could replace that wheel with little trouble. I'd hazard a guess that it is from right on the cusp of "disposable for some/ repairable for others" If I had to throw down a dollar, sounds really close to the 1920's to me, obviously euro styling with the church key and cork-screw, I think the scales might hold some clues as the material specifics might at least give an "earliest possible" date. I doubt a working tool like that would be natural mother of pearl, but I'm well outside my expertise on that, just to day that straights from that time with pearl handles were very high dollar, the sets I've seen have been matched sets, sometimes monogrammed, but the celluloid ones after are not as high grade, although then you get into celluloid degradation, and I know tortoise is really bad, false ivory is better, but not sure how much false pearl ever was or still is, it may not have been that popular to begin with? The speculation is very deep at this point, and I'm honestly too lazy to go look stuff up.
 
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