What is this?

[Steve Rozmiarek]

My shop helper dug this out of the depths of the tool pile this evening, and asked "Dad, what's this do?" Luckily Mom got home before I had to admit defeat, but I'm going to need you guys' help to not loose her faith in my supreme knowledge of all things mechanical.

So, what the heck is it? I'm thinking something to do with rope.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EQb6rUt1Zq0/UvA47PflxyI/AAAAAAAADqI/wz60V9PN8tE/w983-h553-no/20140203_174729.jpg

[Jason White]

Nutcracker??


My shop helper dug this out of the depths of the tool pile this evening, and asked "Dad, what's this do?" Luckily Mom got home before I had to admit defeat, but I'm going to need you guys' help to not loose her faith in my supreme knowledge of all things mechanical.

So, what the heck is it? I'm thinking something to do with rope.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EQb6rUt1Zq0/UvA47PflxyI/AAAAAAAADqI/wz60V9PN8tE/w983-h553-no/20140203_174729.jpg

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I should have mentioned, that is a sharp blade attached to the bottom of the lever.

[ryan carlino]

Cigar Trimmer?

[Dan Hintz]

Is there enough leverage to cut barbed wire?

[Max Neu]

Tell her it's a nut cracker.:)

[HANK METZ]

Ohhh, you found a rare “finger trimmer”. Factories of old used those to pre- trim off employee fingers in a controlled, outdoors environment, thus saving the inevitable blood spurts all over expensive machinery and shop floor.


Obviously I have no idea what it is, next?

[Leigh Betsch]

Head de-chickener

[Steve Rozmiarek]

LMAO! I knew you guys would come through!

No, not enough leverage to cut wire. Would be very effective at finger trimming, or head de-chickening, but very awkward for both. Came from a farm sale in a bunch of woodworking tools, collected by a guy who knew what he was collecting.

[Mark Engel]

Dowel cutter?

[Peter Quinn]

Looks like a cable stripper of some kind. Or a medical device often used on boys in the first months of life.......I'm going with cable stripper.

[Steve Kohn]

What is the overall length? I'm guessing a rope cutter.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I'm thinking it's a dentist's tool. Ah, those were the days !

[Jim Neeley]

Looking at what appeared to be some level of "gouging" in the wood and with a sharp cutter I was wondering if it was a thread chaser? Meh.

[Jeff Duncan]

Hard to tell without seeing it in person, but I think Jim's closest…looks to me like a tool for cutting threads in wood. I'm probably completely wrong….but that's my answer and I'm sticking to it;)

JeffD

[Eric DeSilva]

Dowel cutter?

That's what I was thinking--or maybe some kind of pipe/tube cutter. Seems like if it was for threading, as some have postulated, the curved bit for the rod would be at an offset to the blade--pics seem like it is 90 degrees. Which is what makes me think of the copper tubing cutters.