Can anyone guess what these are?

[Kenny Jacobson]

I turned the first one a few weeks ago and finished the second one today. They are red oak, about 26" high x 5.25" at the widest. Hint: if you are Persian and think you know what they are, you are probably right.

I don't do much spindle turning, and this is my first attempt at duplicating something, so they are not as much twins as I'd like them to be, but I don't think they are too bad for a first try....right? :(

So any guesses?

[Jim Burr]

That's gotta be a rug beater Kenny...if not, my kids act up from time to time and I like to tenderize beef here and there.

[ray hampton]

garlic press ?

[russell dietrich]

Looks like an exercise club, although larger than the ones I used.

[Kenny Jacobson]

So, Jim and Ray, I like the idea of the rug beater and garlic press, and though I keep an extra one under my bed in case of intruders, I have to give it to Russell. These are (supposed to be) a set of Persian exercise clubs called "meels".

Here's the story: a couple months ago, I took my car in to get repaired and I saw a pair of what I could tell were turned objects in my mechanic's office. Always curious about all fruits of the lathe, I asked if they were butter churns. My mechanic, Mohammed, laughed and said, no, they were for exercise. He explained how these meels dated back to the 13th century and were used to train soldiers. I lifted his up and they were over 20 lbs each. He showed me pictures of when he was younger and would train with them. He said now that he's older, they are too heavy to train with. That's when I offered to turn a lighter set for him. I brought the first one in a couple weeks ago to see if I was on the right track and he said they were great, but maybe a little too small, that's when his friend (another Persian) stepped up and said "turn another just like that, an I'll buy the set from you". So this is his friends set, and I'll start turning the set for my mechanic next week. I'll eventually turn myself my own set to work out with.

Here is a picture of his original with my puny copy next to it...

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[Jim Burr]

Ha!!!! Having never beat a rug, I'd wager it would be excersize with one of those. To easy to mash garlic with a monster like that!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Well - that's a first for me! Always fun to learn something new! Congrats on the commissions!