Monday, November 01, 2010

A handy little piece of equipment

Whilst at the Malvern Autumn Show in September, we spent some time wandering around the steam enthusiasts’ ‘village’. It’s quite something to see the dedication these men (and yes, they are almost exclusively men) have ot their machines. I suppose it’s technology on a scale to which we can relate. The machines might be large, but of you twiddle a knob, you can see what effect it will have. Open up a car engine nowadays and all you’ll see are plastic-encased boxes.


I was admiring a display of oil cans, as you do, when the chap on the stall challenged my father and I to identify the piece of equipment in the photo below. He’s been given the piece by a lady who knew he collected odd bits and pieces of machinery.

We failed the identification test, but do you know what it is?


IMG_7063



9 comments:

benjiboy said...

hummmm tricky...is it a flux capacitor?;)
We are loving your site. The autumnal pics are awesome.
Kind regards
Bem
www.higgledygarden.com

Nutty Gnome said...

Hmmm! No idea - think I'll ask Himslef when he gets home.....it's just the sort of thing he'd know!

easygardener said...

Mysterious. Looks like it would be used to stamp out crinkly lawn edging!

HappyMouffetard said...

Perhaps I should add that it is nothing to do with gardening.

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

I'm flummoxed, but it looks rather lovely. I'd probably use it as a piece of garden sculpture...

VP said...

Looks like a nutcracker, but I'm sure that's wrong too. I'm also sure NAH will know when he gets home and deride me mercilessly for not knowing immediately because it's so obvious to him!

Bea said...

It looks to me like the wonderful device we used many decades ago to roll and compress corks to make them fit in test tubes and flasks.

Anna said...

Completely bamboozled :)

HappyMouffetard said...

Bea, award yourself 10 out of 10, for that is exactly what it is - a cork shaper!

I've added a photo to show it in action.