Mystery Knife Guessing Game.

Cambertree said:
Excellent choice, my friend.

I can see we're going to have fun here!

That one's very interesting. Is that steel blade attached to the cast handle in a fixed position, or does it pivot?
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Thanks Cambertree, but I seemed to have jumped the gun a little in posting this before finishing with your two intriguing examples.
There have been some good suggestions offered on this bladed tool (which does have a fixed steel blade by the way) but nothing correct yet.
Sorry for coming out a bit to soon and I hope everyone can focus on a solution for your mystery blades first.
I'm also in the camp that believes hot water or steam was injected through those tubes in the handle of the second knife to warm the blade???
 
LostViking said:
This is very true.

I had a red fox stop by yesterday afternoon for about 1/2 an hour. He sat and watched me plow for a bit then bounced back into the woods. All social engagements should go so well.

Clay modelers tool makes some sense.
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Awesome shared moment you had with brother fox there, Lost Viking. :thumbup:

They're fascinating and very smart animals, that I have a lot of respect for. I've seen quite a bit of unusual fox activity here over the years. They're very fine looking in their winter suits, too.

Unfortunately because of their success as a predator of native birds and marsupials and lambs and poultry, we have to hunt them pretty intensively here.

I 'met' an Echidna, and a Superb Lyrebird (nature's great mimics) while walking through the forest this afternoon, so I've been enjoying some similar social events!
 
herder said:
Thanks Cambertree, but I seemed to have jumped the gun a little in posting this before finishing with your two intriguing examples.
There have been some good suggestions offered on this bladed tool (which does have a fixed steel blade by the way) but nothing correct yet.
Sorry for coming out a bit to soon and I hope everyone can focus on a solution for your mystery blades first.
I'm also in the camp that believes hot water or steam was injected through those tubes in the handle of the second knife to warm the blade???
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No worries at all Herder.

I think we look like we're almost ready to focus on this one now.

(Of course anyone's still welcome to add their theories and comments about Knife 1, if they wish.)

Ok, this ones giving me that feeling like that word or song on the tip of your tongue that you can't quite place.

I know I've seen one of these before somewhere, but can't think in what context.



I'm just going to throw a guess out there.

Is it for closing or opening or punching holes in the lids of large storage drums - like 44-gallon drums?

(Oh, and yes, you're right about Knife No. 2, the apiarists Uncapping Knife - a steam hose was attached to the nozzles to warm the 'blade' enough that it could slice off the top of the waxy cell caps on the honeycomb.)
 
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I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread, although I don't have the experience or the imagination to contribute much.

Cambertree said:
...
I'm just going to throw a guess out there.

Is it for closing or opening or punching holes in the lids of large storage drums - like 44-gallon drums?
...
Click to expand...

Arathol said:
Its an old can opener I think. I have seen designs similar to this that were for opening those old school tin cans.
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I really like these conjectures, except I can't figure out how the little hook part of the tool would latch onto the rim of the drum/can as the user "ratcheted" the blade up and down with the handle. It seems like the hook is on the wrong side and would position the blade outside the circumference of the lid. But, as I mentioned, I'm not the most experienced (or practical or mechanical) guy in the world. :o

- GT
 
Cambertree said:
I'm just going to throw a guess out there.

Is it for closing or opening or punching holes in the lids of large storage drums - like 44-gallon drums?
Click to expand...


Arathol said:
Its an old can opener I think. I have seen designs similar to this that were for opening those old school tin cans.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking you may be on the right track, although I haven't found an image online of one that looks exactly like this one.

Google images has a reverse image search that identifies it as "tool." Thanks, that's helpful. :rolleyes:
After your suggestions, I entered "vintage big can opener."



Apparently folks must have thought that they kind of looked like bulls, since I see a number of them fashioned to look like bull's heads. I don't know if this is helpful, but I thought I'd share. :)
 
Cambertree said:
No worries at all Herder.

I think we look like we're almost ready to focus on this one now.

(Of course anyone's still welcome to add their theories and comments about Knife 1, if they wish.)

Ok, this ones giving me that feeling like that word or song on the tip of your tongue that you can't quite place.

I know I've seen one of these before somewhere, but can't think in what context.



I'm just going to throw a guess out there.

Is it for closing or opening or punching holes in the lids of large storage drums - like 44-gallon drums?

(Oh, and yes, you're right about Knife No. 2, the apiarists Uncapping Knife - a steam hose was attached to the nozzles to warm the 'blade' enough that it could slice off the top of the waxy cell caps on the honeycomb.)
Click to expand...


Thanks Cambertree and your answer is close but Arathol and r8shell are spot on. It is an old can opener and the blade was driven down into the top edge of the can with the curved hook on the opener then catching the outer edge of the can lip. It was then worked back and forth along the lid to cut the top off.

I agree 5k Qs that these puzzles are fun, and thanks Will Power for your shot at it.
 
So, with one solved and Cambertree's models still up for debates, here is another one.
What is the purpose of the fold out blade tool on this pre WWII J. A. Henckels multi blade folder. The tool actually has three different uses.

 
screwdriver and bottle opener for sure ... 3rd use pry lids off paint/varnish cans?
 
5K Qs said:
I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread, although I don't have the experience or the imagination to contribute much.
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Glad you're enjoying it GT. Hey, sometimes 'fresh eyes' are the ones best able to 'reverse engineer' the concept and intent of a mystery tool. And you surely have no shortage of deductive logic, my friend. :):thumbup:
 
Cambertree said:
No worries Jack. :thumbup:

Decembers can be a whirlwind of social activity. You enjoy it, mate. :thumbup:
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Thanks pal, it seems more hectic than ever this year - or maybe it's because I'm another year older! :D
 
I think I see at least 3 uses for that tool. The obvious screwdriver, what may be a cap lifter and shot shell extractor, and that little hole.....
That little hole may be for something totally obsolete today. Pin fired metallic cartridges were popular in Europe in the latter part of the 19th century. This type of cartridge continued well into the 20th century for handgun use until modern cartridge designs that actually worked well came along. That little hole is for pulling the pinfired shells out of the chamber.
 
Arathol said:
I think I see at least 3 uses for that tool. The obvious screwdriver, what may be a cap lifter and shot shell extractor, and that little hole.....
That little hole may be for something totally obsolete today. Pin fired metallic cartridges were popular in Europe in the latter part of the 19th century. This type of cartridge continued well into the 20th century for handgun use until modern cartridge designs that actually worked well came along. That little hole is for pulling the pinfired shells out of the chamber.
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Forgot about the pin fires. I must be are getting old :(
 
Well, that didn't take long. :)
Thanks for all the answers and everyone seemed to be on the right path, but Arathol gave the correct answer to all three functions (except the "cap lifter" possibility). the "hook" was strictly meant for extracting stuck shells in a gun barrel. I had thought that the "hole" in the blade would the trickier bit to know as pin fire cartridges were not very common in the United States. Enclosed is a pin fire shell, and the hole in the blade tool was meant to go over the pin and pull it from a gun barrel after firing.
I guess I'm going to have to dig deeper to stay ahead of this group... :)

 
I know the conversation is moving on from that first knife, but I really think it is fun to wonder about.

I know it is a little silly sounding, but I wasnt to suggest that it is a butter shaping knife. Shaping butter used to be a much more common thing, and the shape of that tool where it meets the handle reminds me a lot of old Sheffield butter knives, but it also looks like a cheese knife. Plus, the irregularities of the shape remind me of a cross between the painter's five-blade and clay-working tools:
il_fullxfull.857934262_85fm.jpg

There is obviously probably not a way to confirm whether this would be a butter shaping tool, but butter shaping could certainly call for a fairly stout tool, particularly if the butter were cold. And it seems like an explanation for why you would want such a complicated profile on a single tool. If you are shaping something repetitive daily it would probably be handy to have a single tool for the job, rather than a set of molding tools.

This is all just based on my gut response to the appearance of the knife, but I wanted to share.

Edited to Add: Just a fun link to an article on Butter Sculpture :)
 
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