# Does anyone know what this object is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397 "2010-06-08T06:10:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/1 "2010-06-08T06:10:44Z")
[http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2006-11/what-is-this-1.jpg](http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2006-11/what-is-this-1.jpg) (it’s nothing NSFW. Just some type of tool or piece of an old machine or something) ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/2 "2010-06-08T06:14:21Z")
[Is it one of these?](http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&q=back+massager&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2) ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/3 "2010-06-08T06:39:18Z")
Can you give us a scale? Is that things a hundred yards across, or 1/10th of an inch? ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/4 "2010-06-08T07:20:45Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Can you give us a scale? Is that things a hundred yards across, or 1/10th of an inch? That would help, wouldn’t it. I have no idea though. It appears to be some sort of wooden handle on the 4 points. So made for a human hand to grip. So i’m guessing 12-18" across? This post isn’t some kind of trick question. I came across this pic at another message board where they came across this pic and were asking what it is. They don’t know the scale either. ---
**Author:** ![JoeH2O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@JoeH2O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeH2O)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/5 "2010-06-08T08:58:58Z")
It looks like some sort of shoe tree. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/6 "2010-06-08T09:58:15Z")
My WAGs: It’s designed to be held by two people standing opposite each other, holding one handle in each hand. The slot is significant. Whatever it is, is designed to fit over something thin, and the users slide the object onto that something. Possibly they slam it onto the something, to tamp it down. It looks like the bottom-right handle (in this orientation) is slightly bent away from the camera too. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/7 "2010-06-08T10:04:25Z")
The slot down the middle makes me think it’s part of a portable, collapsable table or work bench. The bottom two knobs contact the floor and the top two support the table surface. This piece and a corresponding identical piece are held together by some sort of slotted beam that connects them. When the components are taken apart they can store flat in, say, a pickup truck or the back of a closet. Just my WAG. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/8 "2010-06-08T10:14:23Z")
My WAG is a toaster stand. It appears to me that it is built to sit flat on a surface with the wooden knobs protecting the surface from burning. The slot in the middle is for attaching to whatever appliance it came with. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/9 "2010-06-08T10:41:40Z")
Hey you kids! Get away from that thing! Don’t put yer lips on it! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/10 "2010-06-08T10:52:32Z")
Is it a saggar-maker’s bottom-knocker? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/11 "2010-06-08T13:56:09Z")
After you take the tip covers off, you grab one point between your thumb and bent forefinger and in an overhand motion throw it at your opponent. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/12 "2010-06-08T14:09:47Z")
It looks like the base for a chair or table. I bet if it were turned upside down it would have holes of weld-nuts for mounting something. It looks very hefty. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/13 "2010-06-08T14:17:39Z")
Maybe something to wind yarn on, or fishing line. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/14 "2010-06-08T15:33:57Z")
The first thing to come to my mind is “cord winder” – the thing slides onto a fitting on a mill engine or something like that, and either rotates to take up the cord (or rope, or yarn, or whatever), or acts as a guide for the reel. I have no idea how to search for that. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/15 "2010-06-08T15:35:27Z")
It looks like it is one part of a pair. You would slide the two slots together (one facing up, the other facing down). You would end up with four knobs on top and four knobs on the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/16 "2010-06-08T15:53:31Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > It looks like it is one part of a pair. You would slide the two slots together (one facing up, the other facing down). You would end up with four knobs on top and four knobs on the bottom. If that were the case, I’d think that the slot would most likely only go halfway down. This slot clearly goes farther than that. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/17 "2010-06-08T15:58:01Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > You would end up with four knobs on top and four knobs on the bottom. _That_ is my kind of night. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/18 "2010-06-08T16:03:51Z")
I suspect another view would clarify its use and/or purpose. Something makes me believe we’re given the worst possible vantage point to make a decision from. Perspective eye-fooling photography perhaps. Imagine looking at a pool cue from the end. That sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/19 "2010-06-08T16:09:03Z")
An early conception of the Glaive? With wooden covers? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397/20 "2010-06-08T16:16:25Z")
> [@JoeH2O](#): > > It looks like some sort of shoe tree. Close. I believe that it’s a tool used for making and repairing shoes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-what-this-object-is/542397.md?page=2)