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What is it.... the game! Post unknown objects to ID... and to stump others!

 
gardener
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Reminds me of a saw part. back of blade runs in groove and between the two dogs up front. Yep found a pic of a reciprocating meat saw. The link is a better match but the photo gives you some idea.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/efa-110888111-electric-reciprocating-saw-115v/917110888111.html?ma_campaign_id=506171831&ma_adgroup_id=1271037091423850&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Equipment%20%7C%20Shopping%20MP%20%7C%20Cost%20Per%20Sale%20%7C%20Non%20Purchaser&utm_term=4583039403496920&utm_content=All%20Equipment%20Products
Butcher-saw-DSC_0170-Copy-1536x1021.jpg
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I'm not sure if I'm doing this correctly .. but I was wondering if Pearl Sutton ever figured out what those hanger things were?
 
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Cyndle Bradley wrote:I'm not sure if I'm doing this correctly .. but I was wondering if Pearl Sutton ever figured out what those hanger things were?


Hi, welcome to Permies! If you keep reading the thread (I think we are at 40 pages in at this point!) most things have been identified farther along.
I have put at least two racks in here, one of which turned out to be for wineglasses  


And one of which ended up getting it's own thread here where it was identified:
This rack needs it's own thread

If neither of those is what you meant, PM me and I'll look harder.
:D
 
gardener
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I had this thing turn up in a box lot and am scratching my head.
Considering where it came from, it could be woodworking related but there are no sharp blades on any part.
Any ideas?
20251110_133339.jpg
mystery one side
mystery one side
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mystery other side
mystery other side
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mystery tip
mystery tip
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mystery handle stamp
mystery handle stamp
 
steward and tree herder
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Ooh what a fun thing!
Does that say "K 5" on the handle?

Looks like the 'blade' is detatchable? If this is #5 maybe it comes in other sizes?
 
Dian Green
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I think it says either "HA" 5 or "KA" 5 on the handle. The long part can be removed from the handle and double layer metal section. The diamond shape seems to be how it locks into position.
 
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Total WAG (wild assed guess) - I wonder if it's a special tool in the upholstery industry?  Before furniture was all foam and plastic.
 
Dian Green
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With the shape and dull blades, we thought something for loom weaving but upholstery could also be possible. I'm fairly familiar with the basics so I know it's not entry level if it is for that.
 
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I feel the tool is from a set with interchangeable blades.

I feel it is for making grooves. An antique grooving plane.

If you had the set it might be for tongue and groove.

 
Pearl Sutton
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I'm in the upholstery tool camp, and in the interchangeable tips camp.

Reminds me of stuff  I saw long ago (mid 1970s) when my uncle had an upholstery shop. I was too young to understand what the tools were for, and I may be wrong, he had things for packing stuffing into things and pulling the strings that were used to contain packing in layers. I'm guessing (and it's ONLY A GUESS!) that it's something in that genera.

If someone has time to research it from that point of view they might find it.
 
pioneer
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Well, an industrially knowledgeable friend suggests: incomplete hand-held tufting tool.
13c5b07791fc1b82b19fd0db46ff7447.jpeg
Hand-held tufting too
Hand-held tufting tool
 
Ac Baker
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Is there any branding on it?
For example: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Ellison_Tufting_Machinery
 
Dian Green
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It does look like a good possibility. There are no other marks than the ones on the handle that I already posted.
 
Nancy Reading
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So there ought to be another part with a hook or needle on that actually went back and forth through the material. I'm interested in this since making wool rugs was a hobby of my great grandfather, and we had a rug in the playroom as small children with a teddy bear design he had made....
I couldn't find a tool that looked identical, but there is a fascinating talk about the history of tools for hand-tufting by Michale Heilman here. Some had hand cranks and some went back and forth with a sliding motion. But it could date from anywhere from 1900 to 1970s.

This stylised image may show something similar in use:

source
 
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I found this at a 2nd hand shop and thought "how cool is that!!" with no idea what it is. It is bowl-shaped, but it is HEAVY and solid metal.  Could be very old. But a curiosity to me regardless!  Any thoughts?  Thanks!  --Tess

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IMG_20260116_112456185.jpg
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gardener
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Do you know what metal it is? Looks a bit like bronze...
 
Anne Miller
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I hope someone can ID that for you.

My guess is that it might be a cast iron wheel stop.

It looks to me like something that was cut away from its original location.

My second guess it that is something custom made to fill a need.
 
Tess Misch
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Eino Kenttä wrote:Do you know what metal it is? Looks a bit like bronze...



I am not completely sure. It appears to be that to me as well.  I can't seem to find it through google lens. Not that it is a great help in every search.  I think it is pretty cool.  If I find it is worth millions one day, I will buy up land, save as much of Mother Earth as I can and live the rest of my days in perfect peace among trees & mountains.  LOL
 
Tess Misch
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Anne Miller wrote:I hope someone can ID that for you.

My guess is that it might be a cast iron wheel stop.

It looks to me like something that was cut away from its original location.

My second guess it that is something custom made to fill a need.



Thanks Anne!  I can't imagine it being an actual bowl, just b/c of the weight alone, but your thoughts do make sense.  I might try to do a search with those parameters.  --Tess
 
Nancy Reading
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I'm inclined to think that this is an object that was made just because someone had an interesting bit of metal....It looks to me like the depressions are what formed it into a bowl shape, they aren't regular enough to have a specific purpose, but it has been cut into a round. Maybe an offcut hole from a larger object that someone wondered what they could do with, although I can't think what the larger object was. The surface makes me think that it was cast, so it could just have been someone playing with casting metals, made a nice round ingot, and then a nice bowl.
 
pollinator
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It looks like the world’s most unsuccessful attempt at sinking a steelpan (the musical instrument commonly referred to as a “steel drum”).


My intuition inclines me to say it’s a piece from a large machine, maybe something that went on the end of an piston, and that the dimples were attachment points. But that doesn’t really make sense.

Edit to add later: comment below suggests bottom of a cylinder; yep, that seems likely to me as well.
 
pollinator
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Tess Misch wrote:I found this at a 2nd hand shop and thought "how cool is that!!" with no idea what it is. It is bowl-shaped, but it is HEAVY and solid metal.  Could be very old. But a curiosity to me regardless!  Any thoughts?  Thanks!  --Tess



My guess: bottom of a gas cylinder such as oxygen or other high pressure gas. Correct shape, approximately the right thickness, etc. Has been flame cut from a larger object. Not sure what the round dimples are, but in the fourth picture they look like weld beads so may have been added later.  
 
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Art
 
pollinator
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William Bagwell wrote:

Tess Misch wrote:I found this at a 2nd hand shop and thought "how cool is that!!" with no idea what it is. It is bowl-shaped, but it is HEAVY and solid metal.  Could be very old. But a curiosity to me regardless!  Any thoughts?  Thanks!  --Tess



My guess: bottom of a gas cylinder such as oxygen or other high pressure gas. Correct shape, approximately the right thickness, etc. Has been flame cut from a larger object. Not sure what the round dimples are, but in the fourth picture they look like weld beads so may have been added later.  



I will second the end out of a pressure tank guess.  Likely the left over scrap from someone building an oil burning stove.
 
William Bagwell
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C. Letellier wrote:
I will second the end out of a pressure tank guess.  Likely the left over scrap from someone building an oil burning stove.



Or a bell. Seems to be a popular use for old cylinders. Tried searching for pictures of the bottoms, not many out there. Thinner tanks such as propane are convex and use a collar to stand upright. Thicker high pressure are sometimes concave for the same reason. Seems odd but still has the strength of a dome shape.
 
Robert Ray
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reminds me of my pitch bowl.
pitch-bowl.jpg
[Thumbnail for pitch-bowl.jpg]
 
Anne Miller
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I liked the guess for the gas cylinder so I looked for a bell from a old gas cylinder:



https://www.instructables.com/Compressed-Gas-Cylinder-Temple-Bell/

That certainly gets my vote!
 
Pearl Sutton
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A friend of mine is cleaning out Grandma's house, and there are a lot of odd things coming out there. This one we can't identify... Any ideas?









 
Jay Angler
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My first guess would be a walnut cracker - the plastic sleeve would stop the bits from flinging everywhere.
 
Ned Harr
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Jay Angler wrote:My first guess would be a walnut cracker - the plastic sleeve would stop the bits from flinging everywhere.


Seems like overkill for cracking nuts (conventional nut crackers are much smaller and simpler), but who knows. Maybe an ergonomic alternative for people who can't use conventional nutcrackers due to arthritis or something?

Some sort of twist-the-handle-to-squeeze-the-thing-inside-the-plastic-sleeve device anyway.

The overall design indicates great force multiplication and sturdiness required--so whatever is being squeezed must be pretty hard to squeeze otherwise--and the design of the sleeve indicates that the squeezed thing is dry, that it fits completely inside, and that the user wants the squeezed bits all retained.

I wonder, is it designed to mount on the wall, or lay flat on a surface? A pic of the underside of the base might give us a clue on that particular.
 
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There are no manufacturer marks to be found on it? Not under the base or anything?

I don't see holes to assist in mounting from the top view but I'm in agreeance with everything that Ned has already stated.

I love a good mystery!
 
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I want to say I've seen a contraption like this for shelling some very hard nut on a youtube channel from someone in the ozarks.... maybe hickory nuts?? they seem to be notoriously difficult to open.
 
Pearl Sutton
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I jut texted her, asked for a bottom picture.
I went through a lot of images of nut crackers, I'm inclined to agree, but I'm not seeing a matching item. I'll post underside pic when she gives me one :D
Nut cracker is making the most sense.
 
Jay Angler
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Yes, I used the word "walnut" because of the approximate size.

Yes, there are wimpy people in the world with small hands who struggle even using vice grips on tougher nuts (I've heard mesquite is unbelievably hard) and I'm one of them, so if I don't want nut bits flung all over the living room, this tool might do the job even if that's not the intent.  Unfortunately, Pearl isn't in possession, so she can't test the theory, but do we know what ecosystem this tool is located in?
 
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