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

Allison Jones wrote:saw this at the flea market today

the circle is a loosely latched lid about 1' in diameter.

This isn't a super old-school compost tumbler, is it? 😂

A drum for tanning leather.

All good possibilities so far. Something in my old geezer brain remembers seeing a device like this that shucked corn on grandpa's farm.  

Mike Barkley wrote:All good possibilities so far. Something in my old geezer brain remembers seeing a device like this that shucked corn on grandpa's farm.  

How would you shuck corn with it? Fill it with water and turn?

I used the wrong word. Not shucked ... de-husked.

Mike Barkley wrote:I used the wrong word. Not shucked ... de-husked.

What is the difference? I thought it was the same? I'm not up on corn growing though....

I went back and looked more closely, but unfortunately I couldn't find any label or even a price tag.  I got some more pictures, though.


Only one end has the circular profile; the end with the crank handle (previous pic) is left hexagonal

detail of the opening.  It actually slipped out of position when I turned the crank, so it's not a tight seal these days

looks like some water stains, so probably wasn't filled with water, because in that case the entire thing would be water stained, I think?

inside of one end; the points where the axle mounts to the ends.  The other side is basically identical.

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Mike Barkley wrote:I used the wrong word. Not shucked ... de-husked.

What is the difference? I thought it was the same? I'm not up on corn growing though....

I think it's a 'regional' thing and can be interchanged.

With a name like 'Pearl' perhaps it's pertinent to note: oysters are shucked.

...........

I agree with Daniel, looks like an early washing machine:

A. The round lid appears to have had a rubber gasket to stop it from leaking - perhaps it's loose now because the rubber has perished.
B. Water stains would typically only be where water laid for a period of time.
C. The inside screw marks look to be caused by moisture.
D. The horizontal slats inside would help agitate clothing.

??

possibly a huge butter churn?  I think there would be some sign of milk or cream fat residue on the inside though?

All of the images of wooden crank washing machines I found did not have a horizontal barrel like shown above and only a few of the butter churns did...some looked as large as the one you've posted maybe.
...and then, I'm not absolutely sure these two images are of butter churns even though that's where they were listed? sometimes google is mistaken

   Pearl Sutton wrote:

       Mike Barkley wrote:
       I used the wrong word. Not shucked ... de-husked.


   What is the difference? I thought it was the same? I'm not up on corn growing though....



I think it's a 'regional' thing and can be interchanged.  

Looked it up. Both words mean the same thing. I was cornfused.

Mike Barkley wrote: Looked it up. Both words mean the same thing. I was cornfused.

Ah ha! You had me totally cornfounded :D

As far as the turning thing:
I think it's way too big and uncleanable to be a butter churn, the door isn't good for getting butter out of it
Too water damageable to be a compost tumbler, it would rot as fast as the compost did
Washing machine is possible, how do you drain out the water though? Cycling water through really often is a major part of laundry
Leather tanning drum is really very possible, leather dyeing even more possible  How leather is made  about 3/4 of the way down that page it says

Drum dyeing is the process of immersing the leather in the dye and tumbling it in a rotating drum to ensure maximum penetration of the dye throughout the hide.

So cycling water through isn't done as often..

Interesting! I hope someone can answer this one authoritatively! For now, I'm awarding an apple to Allison Jones for stumping us!! Keep the ideas coming folks, I'm curious... :D

The lack of any real staining inside makes me think nothing to do with dyeing leather.  Maybe just a hand crank barrel to soften leather after it has been tanned...  but still no real staining.

The circular profile on the one end was put there on purpose... But what purpose ?  I can't believe it was to help hold it together or the other end would have it as well....

I guessing it might be for separating grain from chaff...  Still that round profile is baffling.

Good one Allison!

thomas rubino wrote:The lack of any real staining inside makes me think nothing to do with dyeing leather.  Maybe just a hand crank barrel to soften leather after it has been tanned...  but still no real staining.

The circular profile on the one end was put there on purpose... But what purpose ?  I can't believe it was to help hold it together or the other end would have it as well....

I guessing it might be for separating grain from chaff...  Still that round profile is baffling.

Good one Allison!

I'd put money on the circular end being for a flat belt drive, you'd only need one.

Kenneth Elwell wrote:

I'd put money on the circular end being for a flat belt drive, you'd only need one.

You beat me to it :) Belt or a wheel to stabilize it.
I'd join you in the putting money on it.

Thomas Rubino: I disagree with grain from chaff, you'd end up with a mess that was an utter PITA to get out of the barrel. I had a compost tumbler shaped something like that at one point, it was damn near impossible to unload anything from it. if someone was doing something like grain, I can't imagine they'd not make it easier to deal with.

Maybe?  I couldn't give up on a butter churn...many, many types out there and I think this is it...

I think Judith has found it !   I vote we give her an apple or 3

YAY! Apple for Judith!!  :D

I wonder how you are supposed to clean those... Looks like a toxin factory to me...

Pearl Sutton wrote:YAY! Apple for Judith!!  

I wonder how you are supposed to clean those... Looks like a toxin factory to me...

Thank you Pearl

I think the lid is big enough to reach in with hands and pull out the finished butter but I don't know how they are cleaned and what I read about the larger one is that it holds twenty gallons! that would be twenty gallons of cream, a lot of cows!

When my husband was coopering he made a traditional upright wooden churn, coopered so that it did not leak and it had the plunger type deal with cross pieces of wood.  They could be cleaned with hot cold water of course but being wood there would always be a certain amount of cream soaking into it that could not be removed I would think?  I've only done the shake in a jar method.

I should have checked with my guy...he says folks used cold water to clean the churn so the fats didn't coagulate and many times just kept the churn going all the time.  Most was soured cream butter...is that clabbored butter as opposed to sweet butter?

Yes, that's clabbered buttered, when it's starts with slightly soured cream.
and thinking on it, if you didn't clean it, you'd be reinoculating it with the right bacteria.

Sweet!!
I've learned three things today:
Why "sweet cream butter" is called that...
About clabber... what is clabber
and also why there's a leavening called "Clabber Girl"!

incidentally, we've always been a Rumford baking powder family, since Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) is a cousin of mine... ;-p

Kenneth Elwell wrote:Sweet!!
I've learned three things today:
Why "sweet cream butter" is called that...
About clabber... what is clabber
and also why there's a leavening called "Clabber Girl"!

incidentally, we've always been a Rumford baking powder family, since Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) is a cousin of mine... ;-p

YAY! Always learn more!! That's why I love this game, I learn SO much! It's a random walk down every subject known to the net :)
If I buy baking powder, honestly, I buy what's cheap :) Last I bought was a no-name restaurant pack, a pound or so. Never thought about brands of baking powder. I use baking soda and acid if I don't have any, doesn't bother me any at all.
Things I never thought of... Cool!
Keep them coming folks!! :D

kenneth wrote: incidentally, we've always been a Rumford baking powder family, since Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) is a cousin of mine... ;-p

..... a cousin who's a count! How fun!

Rumford is the only brand baking powder we use because it has no aluminum.  

Any idea what this is? I've asked a lot of people, so far, no one knows!

Looks like a cross between a center punch and a gear puller.

...any chance to see a picture of what the tip (the end with the prongs)  looks like?

....the difference between the first photo and the second indicates that the knob at the end is attached to the other end by a shaft and is retracted on the second photo allowing the prongs to close

It looks like an eyelet setter used in shoemaking.

The spring clips hold the grommet onto the tip while the grommet and tip are held against the location where the eyelet is to be placed.

As the whole thing is pressed against an anvil, the end opposite the spring clip is struck with a hammer, driving the eyelet thru the leather and crimping the eyelet against the anvil.

Here are some better photos. Man, that grommet thing - I didn't see that coming LOL

An apple for Leslie for an interesting thing to think on!
How big is that thing? I can't tell scale in any of your pictures, and no CLUE what the background surface is in the second set, bathroom rug? :) Tell me just to calm my curiosity :) I'm guessing the tool is 3-4 inches long, correct?

Gerry: That was my first thought, pretty much verbatim! :D

Mark: Interesting, I agree that whatever it is made to hold and put into place works like that, got any pictures of a eyelet setter like that? I didn't see any pics that looked like that on a quick search...  I agree that's how it works, just not sure that's what it sets.

The threads on the end make me think it goes on a drill press...

Pearl,

I have no idea if there is a picture of it. It seems highly likely that it would be used with a specialized press, instead of using a hammer and anvil. I would guess that the eyelet/grommet would be placed into the "armed" device and then the press would push it down thru the material and compressed against a fixed anvil which would be mounted on the press.

Alternatively, it could be used to press the primer cap as part of an ammo reloading device.

I'm pretty sure it is a device for holding something that is pressed into something else.

Mark Kissinger wrote:Pearl,

I have no idea if there is a picture of it. It seems highly likely that it would be used with a specialized press, instead of using a hammer and anvil. I would guess that the eyelet/grommet would be aced into the "armed device and then the press would push it down thru the material and compressed against a fixed anvil which would be mounted on the press.

Alternatively, it could be used to press the primer cap as part of an ammo reloading device.

I'm pretty sure it is a device for holding something that is pressed into something else.

I'm 100% with you on "a device for holding something that is pressed into something else" ... Primer cap is REALLY a good idea! And the threads make me say press rather than hammer...

Leslie came up with a good puzzle!! :D

Thank you for the apple!  It's a wicker tray lol!!!
It's almost 5" long and 7/8" wide at the claw part. The "nose" is 3/8" in diameter, so pretty big.
So maybe with claws open, the nose (I know ya'll will like that) gets inserted into a tube-something and then when you tighten the claws they squeeze the tube-something. Sigh.

Leslie Russell wrote:Thank you for the apple!  It's a wicker tray lol!!!
It's almost 5" long and 7/8" wide at the claw part. The "nose" is 3/8" in diameter, so pretty big.
So maybe with claws open, the nose (I know ya'll will like that) gets inserted into a tube-something and then when you tighten the claws they squeeze the tube-something. Sigh.

Ah, wicker makes sense :) It looked really alien! :D
In my world everything has a nose and a tail, and is stored in in it's nest :)

It's rare for claws like that to exert a lot of force when they close, they are generally just to hold things in place. I could be wrong on that, but odds are high it's something akin to an eyelet installer, or primer punch. I still think it goes on a machine, a press of some sort. It's big enough for tarp grommets... hmm...
I look forward to some more inputs!

There are devices called button wrappers that are used to cover a button with cloth or leather. Maybe it's one of those? The button would be placed in the grip of the claw, and then it would be pressed into the cloth and into an anvil to wrap the button.

The grommet presses I saw online all seemed to be a lot shorter and didn't have the claw parts.

Mark Kissinger wrote:There are devices called button wrappers that are used to cover a button with cloth or leather. Maybe it's one of those? The button would be placed in the grip of the claw, and then it would be pressed into the cloth and into an anvil to wrap the button.

The grommet presses I saw online all seemed to be a lot shorter and didn't have the claw parts.

My opinion, and it's only mine, until someone comes up with a definite matching picture, is a button wrapper wouldn't have the nose shaped like that, nor such good claws. A rounded nose like that would shatter a button if any force was applied, they'd need to have a flat nose. And only hold it until it was placed, which wouldn't take heavy duty claws. I tried to image search "button wrapper" and got weird sweaters and java programming :)

And I don't think it's a grommet press, they don't usually look like that, I was just thinking a 3/8 shaft is a good sized hole, big enough for a small grommet on a tent or something. My comment was more just, "huh, that's a good sized thing!"

What needs a rounded nose impact when it's held still and pressed or punched into place? That's an interesting thought... What ends up with a dished top? I'll think on that one. Eliminates most rivets, nails and staples... I'd still like a reloading person to chime in if it's an ammo tool....

Well I'm not a reloading person, but I have been around them enough to think that is not used for conventional reloading.
Its something else. It is very heavy duty looking. I'm still thinking on it.  (could take years...)

So Leslie;   Is there any back round story ?   Where did it come from? How long have you had it?

The knurled parts tell me it is changed by hand. Could it be there are different sizes for different jobs?

The jaws spread something as the punch comes down so it can be pressed.  HMMMM


Talking out loud here … don't mind me...  Thinking is hard...

I've been trying to avoid this thread but here I am this afternoon in spite of myself

the three prongs remind me of the opening in a drill for the bit so I'm wondering if it's something ( a drill bit?) that fits onto the round part and then the three prongs are tightened to hold  in place.

Did the part that moves on the other end close the prongs when pushed in or pulled out?

do the prongs close over the domed part?

So, with no proof what so ever I'm guessing that it's part of a set up for a drill as in drill press...(I think someone mentioned a part for a drill press already?)

The way the prongs/claws open and close is by screwing the other end. And I lied - they do close all the way over the pin/punch/cylinder thing. It's pretty heavy-duty for such a small tool, and it was in my Dad's tool box long since disassembled (with regret). He had a grommet kit in there too, but they don't seem related in that the kit is more or less complete. He's been dead for 25 years so I can't ask him nuthin' - dammit! I have so many questions...
Since the claws don't close over the end of the pin it's not meant to go beyond something, like it's supposed to press something but not too hard. He did a lot of fly fishing, but I'm sure it wasn't for tying flies or anything of that nature. It just doesn't make sense!

Leslie, your dad's fly fishing might be the best clue yet! i think you hit on it...this might not be the closest image out there but I think it's some kind of fly tying vice

Holy hellfire!! I'll bet you're on it - that looks like a modern version of this one. I remember him tying flies, and now I'll look for older fly-tying equipment from the 50's.

The ball on the tip shows a fair amount of spalling of the metal, probably not from holding something as lightweight as a fishing fly. I think it probably held a valve guide for placing it into an engine block. the rounded ball would keep it centered as a press drove it into position. I couldn't find an exact match, though. It could be for some discontinued machine. Did your Dad repair cars, or work in a factory?