We’ve had a very interesting old rag rug making tool extremely kindly sent to us by Angela Jones in Kentucky USA. She bought it in a local sale but it was made, quite some time ago, in the UK. It has a UK provisional patent number which we haven’t been able to trace. It looks experimental and doesn’t really do the job, though it certainly does seem to be meant for rag rug making . The teeth rip thick cloth; the hole under the teeth makes thin cloth fall out of it. We’ve been trying to find out more about it but have drawn a blank. If anyone knows anything about it we’d love to hear from them. And, of course, we’re hugely grateful to Angela!

Thank you very much to Yvonne from Stockport. Yvonne has identified it as a ‘Law’s Rugmaking Machine’. It was patented on 1948 and made at Offerton, near Stockport where Yvonne lives. Yvonne has a tool like it and intends to donate it to a local museum. Nice one, Yvonne!

Thanks, too, to everyone who sent information about this tool including the site visitor in Tasmania who still uses one for wool rug making. Truly an international tool!

Here’s some pics: