Let's play "Identify the Mystery Object!"

April 5, 2015 4:49 PM

My father recently acquired this item at a second-hand store in Maryland. He's trying to identify it. Can anyone shed some light on the situation?

There are theories, but rather than bias things by discussing them, I'm just going to ask if anyone knows what this is and how it was originally used.

posted by Alterscape to Grab Bag (28 answers total)

Rolling pin?
posted by KMoney at 4:56 PM on April 5, 2015

I think it's a belaying pin. This is Maryland. Lots of nautical stuff in second-hand stores.
posted by Rob Rockets at 4:57 PM on April 5, 2015

I agree with Rob Rockets especially with the wear more on one side than the other. Note, I know nothing about boats.
posted by tilde at 4:59 PM on April 5, 2015

While this is the first time I've heard of a belaying pin, after looking at lots of images of them for the past minute wouldn't it need some sort of shoulder of a wider diameter to prevent it from slipping through the hole?
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 5:21 PM on April 5, 2015

Except that a belaying pin would not have two handles. Maybe it's two pins that have been stuck together?

If it is all one solid piece, I'd think it's a pair of tool handles that were taken off the lathe but not cut in half for whatever reason.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:22 PM on April 5, 2015

I have a marble rolling pin for confections and it has a handle that runs through it's core like this, albeit about twice as long.
posted by nickggully at 5:31 PM on April 5, 2015

I think robocop may have it. There's a groove at the centerline for the next step in making a tool handle.

It's awkward as a rolling pin for dough. That groove would leave a raised line, and the sharp transition between cylinder section and turned section would also score the dough.

The handles are as wide as the cylinder, making it impossible to roll on a flat surface with closed fingers.

I think it is more likely a part of something, rather than tool.
posted by werkzeuger at 5:37 PM on April 5, 2015

I don't really know what they do but it looks like one of these.
posted by poffin boffin at 5:56 PM on April 5, 2015

Bodhran tippers are used to play a bodhran, which is a drum used in Irish traditional music. I really doubt that's what it is, although I suppose it's possible.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:08 PM on April 5, 2015

The pin would be inside a marble cylinder, or perhaps something for cutting a repeating shape out of the dough.
posted by nickggully at 6:24 PM on April 5, 2015

It looks like a wooden lawnmower handle.
posted by Zedcaster at 6:29 PM on April 5, 2015

Does it smell like anything? Yeast? Lubricant?
posted by FallowKing at 7:04 PM on April 5, 2015

As a pirate musician, I am familiar with both belaying pins and bodhran tippers, and I am confident in saying that this object is neither.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:26 PM on April 5, 2015

I think its a handle for some sort of boring tool - an auger of some kind; the scale makes me think a post hole digger maybe? The business ends of such tools are sometimes fastened through the handle and sometimes around; the groove makes sense if it helped align and tighten a band securing a bit.
posted by peachfuzz at 7:35 PM on April 5, 2015

My grandfather had a lathe in his shop and he left all kinds of gewgaws that looked like this sitting around. It may well be the case that this was just someone fooling around with his lathe trying to make something smooth and symmetrical, no more, no less.
posted by town of cats at 7:54 PM on April 5, 2015

amazon

tiny rolling pin for ravioli press? I have one of the same size in my kitchen drawer right now.
posted by right_then at 7:57 PM on April 5, 2015

Could be an antique spool for yarn or twine, maybe? Looks like some sort of spinning/weaving accoutrement to me.
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 8:04 PM on April 5, 2015

Or a fishing net doodad?
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 8:09 PM on April 5, 2015

Handle for a twist cultivator?
posted by Beti at 8:58 PM on April 5, 2015

First thing that pops in my mind is a mini-rolling pin.
posted by starpoint at 9:20 PM on April 5, 2015

Unlikely, but maybe a toiler paper holder.
posted by Green With You at 9:36 PM on April 5, 2015

The groove looks to me like it could hold wire or a line. Could it be one end an old commercial-sized clay-cutting tool?
posted by Thella at 9:48 PM on April 5, 2015

Oh Oh Oh - I bet it's for kite string. Tie the string around the groove in the middle, tightly, then wind the rest of the string on the stick and attach the other end to the kite -

and go have fun!
posted by aryma at 10:34 PM on April 5, 2015

Possibly a nostepinne, for winding balls of yarn? (Disclaimer: I wind my center pull yarn balls with a ball winder and have never used a nostepinne.)
posted by kiripin at 11:54 PM on April 5, 2015

These are some surprisingly off-the-mark guesses. My two cents: post instead to reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/new/.
posted by kmennie at 2:55 AM on April 6, 2015

It looks one solid piece if the wood grain has anything to tell us.

Of all the guesses here above, the Lawnmower handle (or a handle for any other kind of similar machinery; if there are no fastening marks, likely to be stuck through a hole in another wooden part) seems most likely.

This thing is not really wide enough for a pasta/pastry rolling pin and its turned centerline also seems impractical in that context; and as others stated, it's not a belaying pin, which would have a handle on one side, not both, or any kind of drumstick, which likely would be more elegantly made.
posted by Namlit at 4:25 AM on April 6, 2015

It could be the handle for an old push/pull cart. (We call these 'bolderkar' or 'bolderwagen' in Dutch, I don't know the English word.)
posted by Too-Ticky at 4:53 AM on April 6, 2015

It doesn't appear symmetrical from the photo you posted- looks like one side is si inches long (from the line) and the other five and a half. I'm going to go with an unfinished woodworking project or test piece.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:47 AM on April 6, 2015