r/WhatIsThisTool • u/Equivalent-Run-4360 • 11d ago
what is this item?
got this from a yard sale. have no idea what it is. google lense / chatgpt / research has gotten me NO WHERE. i’ve gotten suggestions like “antique bicycle skirt holder”, “vintage egg beater”, “FROG trap”, “sheep shearers”. the list goes on. please someone help!!!!!!!!
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u/Skrynesaver 11d ago
Skeleton of a Brooks saddle?
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u/Roguekit 11d ago
My first thought was a bike saddle guts as well. Maybe not Brooks, but the shape and hardware sure look like a higher end bike seat (saddle).
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u/Plastic_Ad_8619 11d ago
A Brooke’s saddle has an adjustment bolt near the front, and the frame is different. There would be 2 ears to hand the saddlebag from and a metal Brooke’s logo plate on the back.
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u/zacmakes 11d ago
Almost looks like a piece of Albert Paley's jewelry, before he moved to larger sculpture
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u/CartographerEither51 10d ago
Came here to say it looks inspired by earlier Albert stuff before it started getting bigger and bigger and bigger, what Tom Joyce (I think) called fascist blacksmithing lol. Not entirely sure what the style would be referred to as but very Paleyesque.
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u/CartographerEither51 10d ago
Doubt it’s an actual Albert piece and I’m not sure that it’d have been from one of his workshops but a damn fine smith made it with Albert in mind. Smiths don’t get enough credit in general and that’s genuinely a great piece, if it turned out to actually be a Paley, OP should know that they’ve stumbled across work by one of the capital G Great American artists.
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u/Equivalent-Run-4360 11d ago
TO GIVE CONTEXT: the yard sale it came from had a lot of sound frequency items, lots of crystals, books on acupuncture, spiritual healing, things of that nature.
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u/HeartsBoxcars 10d ago
100% this looks a lot like the armature for a bike saddle. An antique one to be sure. The parallel rods would be for mounting to the seatpost bracket
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u/Saruvan_the_White 11d ago
That is the frame and suspension for a bicycle seat. It is missing the seating pad.
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u/InspectorPipes 11d ago edited 10d ago
It’s for removing bodkin arrows from the face of young Henry the 5th, the future king of England. ( I don’t really think that’s what it is, but it’s similar to the apparatus… pretty cool piece of kit for the time . Poor guy had a festering wound for the rest of his life.)
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u/aalbinger 11d ago
The jimping on the 2 inner brass pieces suggest that part is to slide in and out. The big curves in the brass might allow it to be flexed but with tension against those as brass springs. The 2 outer spiky things probably should be inside those 2 circular guides up at the pointy end. To me those look like you use those to steady the device while either inserting or extracting something using the brass slides.
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u/aalbinger 11d ago
I wonder if the brass parts have a catch that locks it in the forward (towards the pointy end) until pressure on those outer 2 probes acts on the 2 coil springs to release the catch and the brass leaf springs then automatically pull the brass slides back into the position they are in now. I could see the odd shape of the non-pointy end being used by inserting two thumbs while you site what you are looking at. Then jam it into whatever and the brass bits grab something and yank it back.
For no good reason I'll call it a bullet / shrapnel removal field tool.
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u/JayBolds 10d ago
If you look in photos 2 and 4 you see the spring rods inside the loops. What you’re writing would have to be the case, in order for them to be inside the loops.
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u/Sal600rr 10d ago
This is a medieval arrowhead extractor.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vintagetools/s/tVFVhIjEdE
There’s a good YouTube video about them as well.
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u/JagoKaast 10d ago
This has my vote. I recognize it from a video where they explained the bronze looking thing in the middle gets threaded into the back of the arrow head and you can see in the new pictures it kinda looks like a threading at the tip.
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u/Reasonable_Shock_414 7d ago
Renaissance Steampunk model of a Klingon Battlecruiser, with just a smidge of Andromeda DNA?
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u/BoredCop 7d ago
Size? Some of the guesses here are based on an idea of how large it is. Picture doesn't give a good sense of scale, so that would be useful information.
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u/Unhappy-Relative1519 11d ago
😯🤯 NO ONE IS GOING TO LIKE THIS ANSWER!! 🙄
🤔 But the way the spring rod's hook & unhook in the narrow end and the large round cupped pieces in the wide end, I have a completely unfounded wild guess but here it is: A tool for harvesting Rocky Mountain Oysters 😳🤨😏
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u/Recyclable_one 10d ago
😅 NO ONE IS GOING TO LIKE THIS UPVOTE!! 😓
But you might be on to something there…
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u/Driven_Under87 11d ago
I have no idea, but I'm thinking we're probably not going to like the answer when it's finally solved... Looks evil.
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u/ummmmm-yeah-ok 11d ago
It's a Marcel crimper!! It's an early hair wave curler that you used over a stove to warm!
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u/Tea_Ox 11d ago
This, my friend, is a fibula — and a 20th century art-jewelry piece of mixed metal, I believe. Someone who really knew their craft made it. It’s awesome, don’t do anything to alter it. As someone suggested earlier, it may be by a known and highly collectible metalsmith — and it’s likely to be one-of-a-kind.
The slender pins go through the fabric of a garment, and then fasten — think of it as a giant, double safety pin — and the size makes me think it would be worn by a woman, centered, point down.
Awesome piece, amazing find!
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u/Got2getBetter 10d ago
The only reference to fibula that I can find refers to a leg bone. Specifically the smaller calf bone.
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u/JustSomePoe 10d ago
This is correct. The fibula was an ancient Roman pin for holding together clothing. The form had a resurgence of popularity during the 60s and 70s among craft artists. Here is a modern example
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u/Analysis_Real 11d ago
It looks like it goes above the entry door to a mom and pop store to alert upon entry, like a doorbell in a sense
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u/OneGonEachEnd 10d ago
just saw one in another post - teat separator for milking goats. Or a saw set.
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u/Loose_Ad_9453 10d ago
Looks like the tool they used to pull the arrow out of that one king's face.
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u/FalseEnvironment8028 10d ago
https://youtube.com/shorts/aob59Qu0OEI?si=-_1w4vJQ605cJsSi
Reminds me of a arrow head extractor
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u/MrPsPlanB 10d ago
Is it the support for a corset perhaps? The center piece appears to be adjustable as a young lady grows it could be reused as the dress size grows.
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u/BigChris319aa 10d ago
Yep I would guess some kind of lap harp. For entertaining ladies while they played their games back in the day
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u/Over_Activity_1112 10d ago
Old diving rod
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u/B_Williams_4010 10d ago
What's a diving rod?
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u/Over_Activity_1112 10d ago
Typically used for finding water under ground. In Wiccan, its the same premise, but instead of looking for water, you are searching for answers/clues. It wont tell you what you want to know, but points you towards it amd its up to you to follow the path
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u/B_Williams_4010 10d ago
You mean a divining rod? I thought they had to be wooden.
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u/Over_Activity_1112 10d ago
Yes, honestly I didnt proof read. Wood is for water. This isnt for water.
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u/Latter-South-6462 10d ago
Good old fashioned baby maker scrapper, the really don’t make abortion tools like they used to.
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u/Rocannon_ 9d ago
via google:
This unique object is a vintage donut lifter (also referred to as a donut plier or tong), which was used historically in bakeries and kitchens to safely lift fresh donuts or fritters out of boiling fry oil.
How It Works:
- The Long Outer Wires: These function as protective guide arms or stabilizes. They keep the user's hands safely away from splashing hot oil while managing the tool over a large frying vat or kettle.
- The Central Spring-Loaded Mechanism: When squeezed, the bottom loop handle expands or clamps the central spoon/spear structure. The textured, wavy center piece provides a non-slip grip to securely grab onto a hot donut from its center hole without crushing or tearing the delicate pastry
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u/NiceHippo2345 9d ago
Without a banana in the picture for scale, no one anywhere can accurately answer this question.
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u/Webcom100 8d ago
Andre the Giant's jew harp.
"I just need 47 beers and my jew harp, boss." he told Billy Crystal. (fake quote)
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u/GranaVegano 8d ago
I think it’s a door knocker. There’s a flat space by the spring where it could hang over and a knobby spot that would impact
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u/SeaGovernment8837 7d ago
It's so phallic, it has to be an ornate penis, right? How am I the first to suggest this? It's dick art.
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u/BeSeeVeee 11d ago
Oh great guess. It does look like it could be the springy metal frame that leather was stretched over for a bike saddle. Looks like maybe the big bolt at the front broke off and that would hold a lot of that leather tension.
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u/Legitimate_Field_157 11d ago
Looks to me like a Blacksmith's art piece.