Mysterious Object

Another piece from PlbMak's junk collection!

It's obviously a Cat flap trainer...

With Alicante's reputation for granite and sculptures, it could have been anything from a sample display to a demo kitchen. Any idea what sort of exhibition it was.

Or it could be just a fold-away bed - one push on the bottom of the hanging granite and away it goes!

it could have been anything from a sample display to a demo kitchen

From the wear to the "work surface" it had obviously been used quite a lot.

Any idea what sort of exhibition it was.

None at all. The thing looked very old but I guess the use of springs would make it a lot more recent (I'm not sure what the earliest date could be).

one push on the bottom of the hanging granite and away it goes!

That's a good point: I guess the way I've drawn it it would be a bit unstable. Maybe the "back legs" were a bit further "back".

Maybe it was Art

I don't think so. My crummy drawing skills appear to have made it look far more aesthetically pleasing than it was. In any case it had clearly been extensively "used".

So the stone could be bounced up and down on the bench top...?

maybe it was used for crushing or cutting something on the bench?

If the stone weighed as much as you suggest, could it have been used for stamping metal parts? or did it look more for food use??

Not stamping metal parts (far too crude).

Food seems a much more likely possibility. I've wondered about getting marrow out of bones (although I'm sure there would be simpler ways).

It looks like it could have been used to crush the stems of flax or hemp for textiles. Someone sitting on the bench feeding the material, while another bounced the springs. Prior to rollers or a hammer mill, it would have been a very sweaty job indeed.

That sounds like a possibility: it's close to the way I'd envisaged it being used, but I hadn't thought of textiles. How woody is flax of hemp?

Having some intimate knowledge of hemp in my early years, it's pretty woody. I have a stem that I kept to use as a fish bat! Milkweed is about the softest stem for useable fibers as such.

I doubt it, flax stems that were made into linen were soaked in water, the husk or meat of the stem rots away leaving the fibers more manageable. I think the same or similar processes were used for hemp stems to make rope. Binder twine was made from thistles. (Scotland's national flower) I think.

I also am not sure what this could be but an actual picture would be so much more helpful.

Thanks for the information. Sorry no chance of a real picture unless (until?) someone tells me what it is.

Hammer mill!

Good one.

Witch squisher?

and the deluxe version had a sharp scalpel-like knife edge embedded in the lower granite edge- "The pain in Spain falls mainly on the lower edge"

Looks a little like a gong as in oriental ceremonies where they would have a bronze bell in lieu of the stone, and presumably the groove was worn by the action of the log being hefted towards the gong. Alternatively it could be a Peruvian skull reducer.

Thai, i mean Spanish Massage table

Semi automatic shove ha'penny board?

Nut cracker!

Coconut cracker?

Possibilities. The trouble with all these type of suggestions is that there always seems to be a much simpler way of achieving the goal.

How big was it? Could you stand at it? How long? Did it have bindings of any sort, say to secure something such as a prisoner to be tortured or material to be processed?

It's a long time ago, but, I'd guess that the bench top was between 2½ feet and 4 feet (¾m to 1¼m) off the ground. You could have stood on it easily, but, I don't think any one would except maybe for maintenance.

The very top would have been between six and ten feet (2 to 3 m) high.

I don't remember any bindings.

Was there an emblem either mounted or etched into the bottom of the stone. This thing looks like a machine for stamping an emblem into metal or wood objects.

No emblem there, and, no may of mounting one that I can remember. The whole thing was a bit courser/cruder than I think you're imagining.

Ancient meat chopper for hamburgers? I'm hungry already.

It could be a stone dresser's work table. A rough hewn stone would be laid flat on the work surface, trimmed to fit, polished if needed, maybe also have artistic engraving done. Then the stone is hung up at the end for washing away the dust and debris from the stone and the bench. The stone is left hanging to dry.

Or it could be a pedestal for a medieval go-go dancer.

I'm pretty sure the stone was part of the "tool" rather than the object being worked on. Any way I can't imagine a use for such a piece of stone; except of course in this thing whatever it is.

Well, if some maiden came to me with her apron full of hickory nuts and asked if I would help her I think that "ye old nut cruncher" would be where we would head. Was the bench long enough to lie down on afterward?

There is a possibility of it being used by a Blacksmith who made body armor. The point may have allowed him to curve or round the plate steel for helmets, shoulders and so on.

Or perhaps the cobbler for softening up tough old leather for shoes or even bindings for horses / saddles etc.

Perhaps some research down this avenue will get some answers.

Josh

Worth looking into: thanks. I'm a bit unsure on dates here: steel only became readily available around the middle of the 19th century: spring steel (used to hold up the stone) was probably later; I'd have thought that traditional (knight type) armour went out of use long before that.

OK, well then how about the cook? Bone marrow is full of flavor and very hard to get out, perhaps it was a "Bone Crusher" to assist the cook preparing meals?

I thought I'd said that: maybe just to colleagues. It seems like a possibility but I'm sure there would be easier ways.

EDIT:-

see post #11

http://cr4.globalspec.com/comment/384058/Re-Mysterious-object-warning-I-haven-t-a-clue

I guess that means we've both though of the same thing: which may be some kind of pointer.

maybe for making wooden pipe? how wide was the stone arch on the bottom? I think if you had a half-log, and 2 men feeding the wood into the stone pendulum, and 2 men with ropes making the pendulum swing, then the stone could cut wood from the middle of a tree trunk. ?? that would explain the wear also on the 'bench', plus the stone having attachments near the tip (for swinging it with ropes)

just an idea.

Chris

It's certainly possible that the stone could have been swung in the "along the bench" direction, but, I think that the wear under the stone was too localised for this suggestion.

I know what that is. It is an early square. Large stones were put on the table (which was level) the sides of the stone were chipped away with hammers and chisels, until the stone being worked on fit flat against the hanging stone. The result was a 90* angle on the stone.

I have three of them in my old workshop.

No the stone was too convex in all directions from about 1 to 1½ feet from the bottom.

But, then: you were joking weren't you?

A day bed. I recall hearing that the Victorians slept sitting up.

I seem to recall a show that I saw years back and something like this was in it. It was a butchers table with a hanging piece of granite much like the picture you have drawn.

If memory serves I believe the stone was use for putting an edge on the cleaver an the table for the various carving of meats.

This piece of stone was about 3 or 4 feet by maybe 2 feet by about 3 inches. How big was the one in the programme you saw?

i don't know what this object is.. : my guess: some sort of device used in obtaining a confession from some sinner....