"Leon Fisk" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:57:35 -0700, "Bill Noble"
wrote:

big snip
Sorry to disagree, but I am quite positive that the thing Iggy shows is
NOT
the nutcracker - for one, an elderly friend of mine has one lying around,
and it's been lying around since long before 2004 - this item has some
other
application and whatever it is, no one has identified it yet - if I had to
guess, I'd say it's for pressing bearings into something, possibly a U
joint, but I'm not sure either

This is an old nut cracker style. Here is a patent to a
similar one from 1935:

http://www.google.com/patents/about?...BAJ&dq=2080478

If I can remember, I'll take a look in my old catalogs for
something similar.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

I am 100% positive this is not intended for use inside a house - and it is
certainly not a nutcracker:
1. the receptacle in the base is acurately machined with three diameters,
such as would be needed in a bearing press or maybe some kind of gun thing
(shotgun?) - a nutcracker would be more rounded

2. there is no ornamentation of any kind

3. it is made of steel, not brass, not pot metal.

4. the top (movable) part of the press is flat, not curved so it would tend
to eject a nut rather than retaining it.

the fact that Iggy has one and on the left coast my friend has the exact
same and identical item says that it was probably not a shop made tool but
was a production item for a specific purpose that made sense in both cold
and warmer climates. It could be related to coining something, it could be
a button press (maybe, but I don't think so), the one I can inspect is not
greasy, which suggests it is not automotive related -- could it be related
to a farm - for example a pill press for horses or something?