Well it isn`t a cutting tool !! Did you put that handle in ?? It is not that old !! I am betting this is a miners tool !! Serrated edge wouldn`t cut but it would crush !! As in what the miners need to extract gold !! Did see a catalogue from 1953 on ebay from Iron City !! Don`t know if it was a current auction or old one though !!
Well, it's not mine, but the owner did put a new handle on it (I don't think it had one when he found it) AND (I cringed when they told me) they buffed it up. I will look more into miner's tools, didn't think along that angle because we are in the middle of west Texas and there isn't much (as in practically none) mining around here. Mostly farming and ranching (although some land around here is pretty rocky). I didn't think too much of it when I saw it, thought some the old timers around here might know what it was used for, but none of them could tell us. Of course, around here, what it was meant to be used for and what it was actually used for as are two seperate things! Rural innovation!
The reason I think it is could be an antique is the Iron City logo stamped on it. It's the only markings on it, or the only ones that are still visible, so it could be 40 years old or over 1oo years old, but it would seem if it was the younger, you could find more on the internet about it or something very similar and I am coming up blanks.
But for real, as referred to in the topic subject, someone here really said that it was a meat tenderizer and I had to laugh. I said you be just as effective tenderizing with a sharp flint rock and you don't have to buy rocks!
Anyway, thanks for the input, you've given me some fresh ideas on where to look next. I will also check into the Ebay catalogue you mentioned. Also thanks Bigwull and Rauville, will definitely check your links out in more detail. I will post here again if I find anything more. I do feel like I'm a lot closer to finding an answer.
Thanks again.