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Antique Questions Forum / What is this thing?
« on: November 24, 2005, 11:03:34 am »
Hi there,
Can some one help? My English composition professor had this tool of some sort that she brought to show us. She has no idea what it is, or what it is used for. And if I find out what it is, I'll get extra credit to help towards my engineering degree.
So this is it:
Taken with my camera phone, sorry. Basically that's a side view, the lower bar has teeth on the left extreme.
Here's an edit view to show how it moves and where it pivots:
Now, to me, the angle of the nail suggests a direction in which the tool should be used. But the the handle and the way it tapers suggests the hand should be pointing left. The two "bars" are the things positioned horizontally in the picture. The top bar can pivot about 270 degrees. The bottom one only goes 180 degrees.
The point at the end of the top "bar" hasn't been sharpened, but is cut to a point as is visible in the picture. And of course the nail is slightly sharp still.
My teacher has NO idea about it AT ALL. She doesn't know when it's from, what it's for, or anything. She bought it at an antique store, even though they didn't know what it was. She was expecting to take it to another antique store and they'd tell her what it is. Ever since then, she's asked everyone she knows, and a few she doesn't, and no one has a clue what it is. She paid $25 for it.
Thanks for your help
Can some one help? My English composition professor had this tool of some sort that she brought to show us. She has no idea what it is, or what it is used for. And if I find out what it is, I'll get extra credit to help towards my engineering degree.
So this is it:
Taken with my camera phone, sorry. Basically that's a side view, the lower bar has teeth on the left extreme.
Here's an edit view to show how it moves and where it pivots:
Now, to me, the angle of the nail suggests a direction in which the tool should be used. But the the handle and the way it tapers suggests the hand should be pointing left. The two "bars" are the things positioned horizontally in the picture. The top bar can pivot about 270 degrees. The bottom one only goes 180 degrees.
The point at the end of the top "bar" hasn't been sharpened, but is cut to a point as is visible in the picture. And of course the nail is slightly sharp still.
My teacher has NO idea about it AT ALL. She doesn't know when it's from, what it's for, or anything. She bought it at an antique store, even though they didn't know what it was. She was expecting to take it to another antique store and they'd tell her what it is. Ever since then, she's asked everyone she knows, and a few she doesn't, and no one has a clue what it is. She paid $25 for it.
Thanks for your help