I was cleaning out a drawer in one of my leather working tool boxes and found this thing. Every few years I run across it and think about getting rid of it but just can't toss a classic old tool.
Years ago I had found it in a box of old stuff in my father's shop and grabbed it to maybe use for leather working. It's been taking up drawer space ever since. Never found a use for it. The tines are somewhat equally spaced but they are not the same (some thinner, some at different angles) so it wouldn't make any kind of decorative impressions. Maybe it was used for book binding or printing in centuries past.
Many times I've considered getting an embossing wheel to make a border on a holster but just didn't want to spend the money for one. So I ordered just the wheel from ebay figuring it could be made to fit in it. I could have also bought the handle for it but it wasn't worth the additional $40 Tandy wants for the thing. I rummaged around in my new & used maybe-someday-wanted aircraft hardware.
The search turned up an AN3 button head machine screw the right length, an AN close tolerance nut and two brass washers.
To remove the wheel, I ground off the ends of the pivot shaft and removed it. Then I ground the end down to be smaller so it wouldn't drag on the leather when rolling the wheel. A little Birchwood Casey Super Blue and the ends looked as old as the rest of it.
It makes a crude-looking but usable tool. So did I save any money? Not really but I turned an unused tool into a usable one. I suppose I'll have to think of something to use it on so the the $10 and the half hour's time was worth it.
