Mysterious Press

Thanks, JohnDG. What would one do without friends?

Thanks Skeeter.....still scratching head.......

I'm convinced it hasn't aught to do with any food of any sort. I'm also less than convinced it has to do with fabric or leather, most of what I've seen there are lever presses, this one is rather light duty insofar as application of downward pressure. Unless there's several pieces missing; I'm doing a lot of head scratching too.

I'm still going for food. Gotta be something pretty soft - Skeeter's experiment with the tangerine (?memory) points to that (tho' clearly not for old oranges). There's no sign of any attachment point (fulcrum) for a lever, so all that could really be missing is a mushroom type actuator to make it gentler on the hands.

Also puzzled by the adjuster for the spring - a half decent spring wouldn't change its properties that much unless it got a hell of a lot of use - maybe a factory or commercial kitchen???

The wire adds even more to the mystery.

I still feel that it might be for some relatively soft fruit of veg (could be totally off base, I would not bet on this!) and the spring allows the stone/unwanted center stem to slide up inside and only to be ejected, when the plunger is released.......maybe?

Long shot?

The hole in the vertical spindle doesn't seem to have a purpose (?)

It appears that the hole in the lower end of the spindle doe have a purpose. Otherwise, there is no need for the hole and no need for the tiny wire device, which moves up and down in the hole to eject whatever material enters the hole when the spindle returns to its upright position.

I'm waiting for the person to tell me exactly what it is by offering proof of their assertion. I still don't have the answer.

Hi Skeeter,

Can you give any more detail on the wire bit (sorry if I missed it), and are you sure it's an integral part of the device ?

Hi, Kris,

I'll post a url to the photo of the wire at Flickr, so you can see what I'm talking about. Give me a couple of minutes.

Thanks Skeeter, much appreciated . Have to go now, but I'll be back for a look soon.

I would say there is a bottom piece that goes in the hole under the cutter.

No fruit I know of is short, wide and has a small pit or core.

It could be a folder or cut uncured rubber to make a round hole with flaps to be vulcanized afterwards. It does not look strong enough to cut cured rubber or leather for very long.

Could be some type of pastry maker but without the lower die it is hard to say.

Brad

Given the new picture I don't think there is a bottom piece that fits on the press.

It could be as mentioned a hand held that aligns in the V cut in the, for lack of a better word, anvil.

I'm going with some sort of pastry press.