What is it

[John2189 405]

any body know what this is?  It’s steel don’t know anything else about it 

[John2189 405]

another pic 

[SylvanLakeWH 24,105]

 

Husband “Teacher”? Looks like our wives could use it to persuade us of the error of our ways with a few knocks on our noggins… 

[ebinmaine 63,071]

I got nothin'  but I'm looking forward to hearing what it is

[Handy Don 10,585]

[ri702bill 7,312]

Wild guess - animal hoof cleaner / scraper ??

[Pullstart 59,635]

Pineapple corer/juicer?

[Pullstart 59,635]

Drainbob?

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

Some sort of a 'pestle' ?

 

[The Freightliner Guy 1,326]

@formariz what do you think this is 

[The Freightliner Guy 1,326]

I think you might be right jeff

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

Some sorta 'star drill' ?

 

 

Does it appear to ever have been 'struck' on the knob end?

 

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

2 hours ago, John2189 said:

It’s steel

 

Not cast iron?

 

[John2189 405]

8 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Not cast iron?

 

Don’t know I don’t have it

[John2189 405]

19 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

Some sort of a 'pestle' ?

 

That is my guess. Some sort of crusher. But I don’t know. 

[formariz 11,849]

I am a bit confused by third photo. Is it same item?

it certainly looks like an old garden dibber used to dig a shallow hole to plant something like a bulb or a bare root plant. They are usually pointed. On that one a slight twist once inserted will loosen soil rather than just piercing a cone shaped hole as usual. 

[John2189 405]

4 minutes ago, formariz said:

I am a bit confused by third photo. Is it same item?

it certainly looks like an old garden dibber used to dig a shallow hole to plant something like a bulb or a bare root plant. They are usually pointed. On that one a slight twist once inserted will loosen soil rather than just piercing a cone shaped hole as usual. 

Yes same item 

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

4 minutes ago, formariz said:

a bit confused by third photo

 

I was too until I realized it was a bottom view showing the three radial 'arms'.

That's what made me think 'star drill'.

 

 

[formariz 11,849]

1 minute ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

I was too until I realized it was a bottom view showing the three radial 'arms'.

That's what made me think 'star drill'.

 

 

I see now. It is definitely designed to pierce through a loose or soft substance such as dirt, sand or grain. It allows easy penetration and the gullets allow material to move upwards away from tip. 

[Handy Don 10,585]

Still, clearly intended to be wielded by hand with one's arm position mostly horizontal--like a Native American corn pestle. The "pointiness" of the business end leads me to think more of something breaking and grinding something with shells like small nuts--maybe acorns?

Edited September 13, 2022 by Handy Don

[formariz 11,849]

5 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

The "pointiness" of the business end leads me to think more of something breaking and grinding something with shells like small nuts--maybe acorns?

Wouldn’t that shape defeat it for that purpose? It would push it away rather that keep

it underneath for crushing. The gullets all the way to top look very intentional.

Edited September 13, 2022 by formariz

[Handy Don 10,585]

Just now, formariz said:

Wouldn’t that shape defeat it for that purpose? It would push it away rather that keep

it underneath for crushing. 

Yes, it'd be only to get the shells cracked. Then remove the shells and resume with a more conventional round-end pestle. BUT I could still be totally "out to lunch" on this! 

 

Putting it into soil of sand seems unlikely to. me since it'd have too much friction going in and the stuff would stick when the tool was retracted collapsing the sides of the hole (unless the consistency was perfect).

[lynnmor 6,764]

21 minutes ago, formariz said:

 

it certainly looks like an old garden dibber used to dig a shallow hole to plant something like a bulb or a bare root plant. They are usually pointed. On that one a slight twist once inserted will loosen soil rather than just piercing a cone shaped hole as usual. 

 

That was my thought as well, also I thought it might be used to make or clean out holes in wet concrete.

[8ntruck 6,363]

This would be a good test case for the new 'search by what it looks like' feature of a major search engine.

[Handy Don 10,585]

40 minutes ago, 8ntruck said:

This would be a good test case for the new 'search by what it looks like' feature of a major search engine.

It was, and it didn't yield anything useful.