# What’s this kitchen gadget? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931 "2008-04-04T15:45:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/1 "2008-04-04T15:45:35Z")
Some pics [here](http://www.flickr.com/photos/24165035@N06/?saved=1). This was found during one of those “I thought this was _yours?!_” cleaning moments. It’s been in the back of a kitchen draw for years, but since no one in the Dvl household remembers putting it there, neither of us gave it any mind. Isn’t this how innumerable sci-fi/horror plots start out? :eek: I believe it’s a kitchen thingamajig, as it’s stamped with the Ekco logo (but nothing else). The handle may be bent from a few years of shoving to the back of the draw, or it may have been manufactured that way. In case the photos aren’t clear, the business end looks like a couple sets of washers, but neither of us know what to do with them. Crimp pasta? Make lines in cookies? Open cans? De-bega a ruta? Anyone? Thanks, Rhythm ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/2 "2008-04-04T15:48:45Z")
It’s a tin can opener, and not a very good one. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/3 "2008-04-04T15:54:56Z")
Opening cans crossed our minds, but we can’t figure out how it’s supposed to be used (other than banging the crap out of the tin). Any guidance? Not that we’re dying of starvation–we have access to other can openers–but that we rarely get stumped like this. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/4 "2008-04-04T15:54:56Z")
No, It’s a knife sharpener. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/5 "2008-04-04T16:00:19Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] It’s a knife sharpener. [/QUOTE] We have a winner! [Amazon sale - with drawing](http://www.amazon.com/Knife-Sharpener/dp/B0014CVEMG/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1207324740&sr=8-8) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/6 "2008-04-04T16:05:46Z")
[QUOTE=irishgirl] It’s a tin can opener, and not a very good one. [/QUOTE] If you are trying to open tins with this, I can see why you might think it doesn’t work very well! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/7 "2008-04-04T16:07:53Z")
_I_ am Spartacus! No, wait… I’m a tin can sharpener. No, wait, I’m a crappy, four dollar knife sharpener. I’m not taking this to my Henckels, let alone the dull utility scissors. Thanks for solving the mystery!!! Rhythm ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/8 "2008-04-04T18:27:03Z")
Also, it’s a drawer. Draw is a form of artistic expression, something a pistolero seeks to be the best at if he wishes to not leak, the action of removing from another container, as in drawing blood, the act of making tight or stretching, but not a typically rectangular open topped storage container arranged on linear supports. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/9 "2008-04-04T19:02:01Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] No, It’s a knife sharpener. [/QUOTE] Yes, but a very poor excuse for a knife sharpener. It will take off rough edges on a knife, but does not sharpen well. I used to have one of these many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/10 "2008-04-04T19:09:06Z")
[QUOTE=robcaro] Yes, but a very poor excuse for a knife sharpener. It will take off rough edges on a knife, but does not sharpen well. I used to have one of these many years ago. [/QUOTE] Any more talk like that, and I’ll have to report you to the Ekco corporation! :eek: ---
**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:** [April 4, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-this-kitchen-gadget/443931/11 "2008-04-04T22:59:33Z")
Actually, I think you’d have to call it a “honer” – a replacement for a honing steel. Those things won’t actually sharpen a blade, but they will straighten the edge and remove burrs.