4 wooden handled tools

[oldgoaly]

 4 wooden handled tools, the wood is short sections of tree branches. handle rod is more oval than round, heads or faces are hard and seem to have been polished at one time.  3 have different radius faces, one is sorta pointed but not sharp.  I have a pretty good idea what they are for but  the " what is it " is a fun forum!

[oldgoaly]

couple of more pics

[Papaw]

Maybe for working with lead. The wood insulates the handle when the tool is heated with a torch.

[wvtools]

They look like they might be metal spinning tools.

[oldgoaly]

Well the last ones I had I thought could be lead tools were for cauterizing a horse's knee OUCH!
Don't think they are metal spinning tools I attached a couple of pretty bad pics of my spinning tools, I haven't spun yet still working on  the lathes, I do think I have over come the fear of the metal  flying out of the lathe like a saw blade! a proper tailstock live center!!!

[Billman49]

These look like more veterinary searing irons.... Could also be debudding (disbudding) irons, but never seen these in a set of different sizes ...

[leg17]

Look too "spindly" for metal spinning.

[oldgoaly]

searing irons, the ones that came up on a search had  hollow back sides(bad description) so not sure? size of a horn on a bull, or goat or a sheep ram think they would be bigger in diameter.
Now what I have been thinking they are are for texturing  metal in a blacksmith's shop thus 3 different radii, the wedge would do veining in leaves

[Aunt Phil]

Recalling a TV program from years back on the subject of "firing" as a cure for horse injury and disease I ran a search and came up with this.
http://chestofbooks.com/animals/horses/Health-Disease-Treatment-3/Firing-Or-The-Actual-Cautery.html

You may have some firingirons.

[oldgoaly]

about a month ago I posted this http://www.papawswrench.com/vboard/index.php?topic=9222.0
they are for working on a horse's knee joints.
differences these 4 are heavier, solid, look like blacksmith made, but don't rule them out!

[Billman49]

Bad reply on my part previously - by searing irons, I meant firing irons, but agree that technically the usage is slightly different..

Searing irons were often used in castration of bull calfs, with the offending testicles held in a serrated clamp, and burnt off with a red hot iron, often knife shaped or hatchet shaped.

Firing irons as mentioned already, were usually used on horses:

Pinfiring and blistering. These two painful "counterirritation" procedures were once done routinely on horses with chronic bone and soft-tissue conditions, since it was believed that such chronic inflammations could slowly generate performance-hindering scar tissue. To deliberately turn the chronic condition into an acute one, veterinarians used either caustic substances painted onto the skin over an injury and then bandaged, or a firing iron whose round point was used to create a pattern of burns. The goal was to generate a strong reaction that would heal the chronic underlying condition

link: http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/illnesses_injuries/eqdisease3114/

see also: http://www.veterinaryhistorysociety.org.uk/VetInstruments.pdf  & http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horse-care/vet-advice/the-pros-and-cons-of-firing/

Debudding irons usually are even heavier, and often have a hollow in the end - mine, used on dairy cattle in the UK, are just over 1" diameter x about 5" long, on a handle about 3/8" x 10" - the end is tapered to about 5/8" diameter with a recess about 7/16" diameter x 1/8" deep.