Today's mystery item.

[MJP]

Bought during today's rust hunt.

8.5" long overall, six vanes, the face of which is slightly convex.

Any ideas?

Martin.

 

[Bm101]

I'll start the betting at 5 pounds with miscellaneous pastry item.

 

[Claymore]

is it for cutting shortcake into triangles? or maybe an Irish Shuttlecock?

 

[54Strat]

Poor man's kaleidoscope?

Or more practically, a herb chopper?

Paul

 

[Bob Graham]

Eric Bristow's practice dart.

 

[MJP]

Well, this proves that woodworkers aren't short of a sense of humour!

I've got a feeling that it's intended to divide something into six - whether it's shortcake or herbs, who knows?

It isn't hefty enough to be used for chopping herbs, more for dividing pastry or somesuch.

Maybe crushing something relatively frangible?

But I wonder?

Martin.

 

[Bm101]

Poor man's kaleidoscope?
Paul

Epic.

 

[BRYAN]

Cane splitter?

 

[MJP]

That's an interesting idea - but if you look at this You Tube video of cane splitting, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPt2QlqJyMQ I don't think my thingy is quite up to it!

Could be some kind of splitter though.

Martin.

 

[Rorschach]

Looks homemade, somekind of chopper?

 

[MJP]

Dunno - I don't think it's heavily enough made to chop anything, the "blades" are just thin sheet, I think it's more for dividing up or maybe breaking up something soft or fragile.

Martin.

 

[Distinterior]

......For squeezing the juice out of an Orange perhaps...??

 

[MJP]

Well, it might do it once - then it would be too buckled to do a second one!

Martin.

 

[RossJarvis]

rear end of a bomb stuck onto the rear end of a file?

 

[Robbo3]

Making Dairylea shaped cheeses.

 

[novocaine]

it reminded me think of this, which is a cutter/mincer

which lead to this

and I think we have a winner. food chopper.

 

[AndyT]

If we go back to when the blades were new and not weakened by rust, it might have been used as an apple slicer, like this one.

 

[morturn]

Bearing in mind it is now quite rusty and fragile, it looks like it could be part of a willow basket makers tool kit. I have seen a similar tool in use by some guys who make ‘salmon putchers’. A putcher is a type of conical basket fish trap, commonly used on the River Severn.

If you look at the tool he is using at 2:25 on this video, there is a three-sided wooden version in use.

https://youtu.be/R0YOP31pMa4

 

[morturn]

Ah ha the power of posting

 

[MJP]

Is this it?

Though I still wonder - the vanes of this item are just thin sheet - I would have thought that anything intended for splitting would have had thicker blades.

Martin.