Stumped

[dave61]

yard sale find. Block of wood is 5" long, 2.5" wide & 1.5" thick. Has a handle on top. Metal piece on front(?) moves freely both ways & is 5" long. No markings. Any help is appreciated, i.e. how to use, how common were they, age, etc.

[Texasbadger]

Looks to me like you would put a piece of sandpaper on the bottom flat surface of the block, then swing the arms over to hold the sides of the paper tight to the edges, then you are good to go!

[dave61]

the arm goes past the ends of the block when swung back & it doesn't 'latch'. Gotta be a reason the arm has the zigzag shape also?

[KC]

I there any "spring" action on the metal arm?  Like it is tight and would swing back into place?
Can you take a pic of the underside?  Any wear on the bottom or bottom sides?

[talesofthesevenseas]

The metal part reminds me of a potato masher. But without anything to hold it in place... Hmm. Do the metal wires on the handles work as stops to keep the other piece in place? Could they have functioned this way once if they are worn down now?

[dave61]

no spring action, no wear on the bottom. The wire part swings freely but you have to force it over the 2 side pieces to rotate it fully. They don't appear to be stops. Got it posted on 3 sites, so if I get an answer, I'll let everyone know.

[regularjoe2]

Looks like the block & handle for a sheeps-wool (fleece) buffer , to me .

Welcome to the forum , dave61.

[cogar]

I'm curious, do the wires on the sides of the block "pull out" or not?

I was trying to figure out what their purpose was for and the only thing I came up with was "guides" or depth "stops" when using it.

[dave61]

no, they don't pull out.