Tools we can't figure

[mxyplqx]

We have 4 tools we can’t figure. A tool forum couldn't either. Can you? Here is the first.

It can be closed either way. The inside of the handle is roughed up for a good grip on something. The blade does not move as the handles rotate. Sorry about the art work - I couldn’t get the Irfanview Paint function to work my way today.

Looks to me like you might insert the prongs into a slot in a small gizmo then grip it with the handles. It evidently takes 2 sizes; 1/4 and 1/2 inch.

[mxyplqx]

Here's another pic. I couldn't get both into the same post.

[cogar]

Post pictures of the other 3 tools.

One or more of the other 3 tools might give a "clue" of what they were used for.

And when you said "blade" .... did you mean a sharpened blade like a wood chisel's blade?

[mart]

I couldn`t see a blade either !!  Handles look like some tools I have seen from old blacksmith collections but the use,, have no clue !!  Maybe holding, bending, curling flat iron ??

[mxyplqx]

Hi-
The other tools are unrelated. 2 have been identified. Only clue is a stretch but there was a lot of early Ford Model T stuff also as well as old farm tools.  I spect this is about 100 years old.

Here is what I called the ’blade’ for want of a better description or lack of imagination. The whole thing is only 6 inch long and is all steel. I can’t think a blacksmith would hold anything hot in this. That ‘blade’ makes it look like a specialized tool.

[KC]

My first thought was a primitive gaping tool....but couldn't find anything like it.  I even looked to see if it was an unusual nut cracker (with the gripping insides)  Looking.....

[mart]

These are for early Ford T`s !!  See if any of this jogs your memory ??  It didn`t mine !!  If its for a car I don`t think it was a T or an A !!

Never mind,, I forgot to paste the link before going to town !!

[KC]

I guess others think that this is a nut cracker...and it "resembles" the tool!


and another

[KC]

And more nut crackers!  (Also saw 2 places referred to as a Lobster cracker.) So far I have found over 10 and they are all located in the United Kingdom and most are referred to as from Victorian to early 1900's.  This has been referred to as a "Reversible hinge" or "double jointed" nut cracker.  Can be used either way you flip the handles and the end/hinge piece helps hold the larger or smaller nut!  The protruding gaped & tall one is also used to help pry the shells apart!




A collection of nutcrackers of Michael Finlay that states "A pair of Victorian steel nutcrackers with double-jointed hinge, reversible to accommodate different sizes of nut and a wooden home-made pair of similar design"
http://www.michaelfinlay.com/MF_WEBSITE_TRIAL/___NUTCRACKERS.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANTIQUE-NUTCRACKERS-X-3-VICTORIAN-/182082046376?hash=item2a64ef89a8:g:KEMAAOSwEK9T1WR0

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Victorian-Nutcrackers-with-DIAMOND-MARK-For-1848-/141954339473?hash=item210d235291:g:n~kAAOSwjMJXCTtG

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANTIQUE-CAST-IRON-GEORGIAN-NUTCRACKER-REVERSIBLE-HINGE-Very-Collectable-/322060400946?hash=item4afc4bb932:g:288AAOSwT5tWQPD-

[KC]

The central hinge has this description as well "Antique cast iron nutcracker tool / late Georgian to early Victorian period - reversible/hinged with animal head central plate c. mid C19th"  Hmmmm.

[mart]

Well Duh !!! I thought the thing was about 10 inches long from the pic !!  Makes much more sense at 6 inches !!  I sure didn`t look for the obvious and the description given was a bit foggy !!  Excellent KC !!  Brownie point for you !!

[mxyplqx]

Thank you!!! I sure came to the right place. You all know your stuff.

Unbelievable. Ironically the first suggestion on the tool forum was nutcracker. I thot it was just a facetious remark and  probly everybody else did too. Well what could you expect from a bunch of old shade tree mechanics?

The handles have a very nice curve and fit to them. It belongs to a friend who is about 88. His sister is 108 and for years she’d go to farm yard sales etc and just acquire stuff like this then toss it in the barn.

When we get together he brings some along so we can try to figure them out. When I give it back that’s where it will go - back into the pile. Hope it’s not super valuable.
 

[mart]

I think when you said tool,,we started looking in the direction of cars, wagons ect !!  And the fact that it was in a barn !!  If you had said a kitchen tool,, we might have been speedier !! 

[KC]

So, you thought the first person who made that suggeston on the tool forum was a little "nuts"!  😜

Well, I know there are quite a bunch of us that would love to go foraging through that barn and help figure out the "what is its"!   

Please don't be a stranger and help us to keep our brain cells active!  List more!

[mart]

Ready for a road trip KC ??  Maybe we wouldn`t be shot for B&E !!  I can see the two of us sitting in the barn with a pile of rusty junk and our computers !!  Mmmm,, whats this one ??