I'm curious, too. Though it looks like a butchering tool to me or perhaps a weeder.

Are you sure it's not a vet's tool?!!!

If it really is a kitchen tool: because of the way the blade is folded, the right side looks like it could function as a can opener. The shape of the blade on the left side looks familiar, but I cannot place it.*

* ah... the left blade reminds me of the painter's/scraper's tool I have! I never knew what the curves in the blade are used for with that either. :O)

This post was edited by party_music50 on Sat, Jan 31, 15 at 7:11

Is it a wine bottle opener? I won't call it a corkscrew as there isn't a screw on it, but the blade looks like the blade that peels off the cork label.

LindaC thinks it's an oyster/clam knife which was my thought, too, although it's difficult for me to tell from the picture if the blades are sharp. My other guess was a field dressing tool.

It reminds me of some leather working tools. Or maybe if it is a kitchen tool, a garnishing tool for veggies?

How do you know it IS a kitchen tool? It may be a tool for some sort of craft. It sure wouldn't make a very good bottle opener. & yes it does remind me of 1 of those painter's tools (the curved edge on those is scraping a paint roller, BTW), but w/ such a nice handle I seriously doubt that's what it's for....

I can't see using it for clams or oysters. The handle is too small and too slippery when wet.

I would use it for caulking or puttying window glass.

The hooked end for digging up old caulk, the curved end for applying new line of caulk/putty.

dcarch

This was in my friend's mother's kitchen drawer, but she never knew what it was used for. With the nice handle ..kitchen makes sense. Grapefruit has been one guess ... but perhaps garnishing tool makes sense too! Thanks everyone .. I will pass on your ideas!

FOAS, is LindaC there looking over your shoulder? I'm waving hi!

I like the Klingon idea.

Obviously, I have no idea what it is.

Sally

Hi Sally - No, I just remembered she's pretty good at the "what is this" threads so I figured I'd write and say hello!

Fascinating!

Right side for digging something out--like nut meat from a walnut hull?
Left side for scraping something out--like avocado meat from a half rind?
In the latter case, first use the right side to halve the fruit and pry out the seed.

The above hypothesis led me to google for "avocado tool".

Among a gazillion others, I found this one:

Here is a link that might be useful: Avocado tool

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Sun, Feb 1, 15 at 11:16

Kind of similar to this tool ?

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: putty tool

My first thought was for a lobster. I have no idea.
Mary

Maybe it's 1 of those multi-function 'inventions' that used to be so popular once upon a time - local Junior Jaycees would develop, manufacture & sell products like this for fundraisers. I still have 1 that was invented to peel, zest or section citrus. Or maybe some local small business person? I have a number of odd vintage tools like this that would defy anyone's imagination, if they hadn't been told & shown what it was for.

I don't think it's a putty knife because of the thickness and shape, though it could be a failed one, or of the variety that Carolb mentioned. I can see how it would work for an avocado, though, here, in avocadoland, we just use a knife or our fingers. :)

I used to be the whiz at identifying weird tableware and kitchen tools, until I started hanging out with you folks. :)

Yeah, she was good at that.

Sally

Here's the pic from the link I posted above (and reposted below). Look how much the blade on the upper right in this pic looks like the blade on the left in the OP's pic. This one has the option of closable "shark jaws" to grasp the avocado pit and pull it out.
{{gwi:2134458}}

Coincidence?

I do love the complicated toys we invent to do jobs a knife, fork, and spoon can do!

Somehow I am not tempted, but if you lived near me, I'd love to borrow it and give it a try!

Edited to add the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's a repost of the website that sells this avocado tool.

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 13:52

No clue, but you reminded me that I have a couple of "odd" tools that I got in an auction box and no one seems to have any idea what they are for.

I'll try to remember to take pictures tomorrow and maybe figure them out. I'm sure LindaC would help.

Annie

My first thought was the Spanish Inquisition but then it occurred to me that the left side is somehow reminiscent of a watch case opener knife, though of a more intricate shape.

My impression is that the left side is for opening something and the right side is for extracting things once whatever it is has been pried open.

Here is a link that might be useful: Watch Cast Opener Knife

Looking at the thickness of the tool, I would use it as a lathekin (fid) for stained glass work.

The thickness seems to be the same thickness as glass. Nothing you do in the kitchen requires metal that thick.

Fid
Also called a lathekin, the fid is used to open up and widen lead channels if they become closed, so that they will fit around the glass. It can also be used to burnish copper foil.

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 7:47

dcarch - most fids are made of all plastic for burnishing; a metal one would scratch and pull up the copper foil and I have never seen one (of my 30 years in stained glass). The curved plastic or bakelite? handle is the wrong shape for burnishing also. A metal fid would work for opening lead or zinc came but there would be no use for the curves that this gadget has, it does not look thick enough, and would be at the wrong angle for that use. So, I don't think it is a fid/lathekin but it is a good guess.
I thought it might be a woodworkers bowl turning tool but it does not have the required sharpened edge anywhere.
It wouldn't be used for a glass putty tool because you'd also need a flat straight edge for finishing.
The larger curved edge looks like something I'd use to clean paint off a roller and the other end might be used to pry up the lid of a can of paint but more like the old fashioned hole poker for canned milk.
Or, the curved inside edges might have been used for reaming corn off the cob but what would the other end do? Take eyes off potatoes?
Still a mystery, but fun to speculate.
Nancy

One thing I hadn't noticed until this morning is are the serrations on the larger left blade, and that this blade is actually a split or double blade. So whatever it's used for can't be particularly dirty or it would gunk up between the blades. That got me thinking about sectioning citrus, which I was about to post until I realized that TNorms already beat me to hat guess.

Might it be for sewing? Or leather working?

Leather - was another thought. Also shaped a lot like some grape harvesting knives I found, but for the double blade and the serrations on the wrong side.

So why are the blades so curved? Like they go around/down something, e.g. a bone? I have wracked my brain for days and I got nuthin'!

I used several of the better reverse image search engines with the image and they found nothing at all.
I have done pottery and the shape is similar to some of the sculpting tools but it is definitely not one. The double blade with the tiny serrations would not be good for that. I also do leather work and have never seen anything like that.
It would be helpful to see it from other angles and with something to give a size reference like a quarter or something we all can identify with.
I couldn't see that it was a double blade or the serrations in a normal view. I had it really blown up to see that.
The rolled blade is interesting there has to be a reason for that.

So far my guess is if it is a kitchen tool it's a zesting tool or for fruit.

Hey - Check this out. Emailed to me by another former poster. I'm resting my case with grapefruit knife, due to the double blade.

Great work FOAS!

I did find these pictures but didn't associate it with grapefruit.

dcarch

{{gwi:2134461}}

{{gwi:2134463}}

{{gwi:2134465}}

Yeah that second pic, of yours, isn't screaming grapefruit to me either. Obviously you found something different; start a new thread! :)

Grapefruit is probably my favorite fruit. I miss it. Freakin' statins.

Hi,

Longtime lurker here.

As soon as I saw the photo I thought shrimp deveiner. This is kind of fun - sort of like trying to solve a puzzle!

double post - sorry.

This post was edited by edwinna on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 19:48

My vote is that it is a tool for making supreme's in citrus. Thanks dcarch. It would go through the fruit and slice the membrane out. The other end would ream out the segments. Who needs this kind of thing though? And, who made millions selling this?
Such fun.
Nancy

No question that it is for food.

18-8 stainless is food grade stainless steel.

dcarch

I think Nancy has it. I was thinking citrus from the beginning, as did others, but it didn't explain the curve. The serrated side would be for the way that FOAS showed cutting in the rind, but the inner curve would be great for supreming a peeled orange. The right blade would be good for slicing the rind without cutting into the flesh, which is often done, or just for peeling.

Citrus cutter would be cool; it doesn't look like any of my citrus tools.

This reminds me of the "Gadget Game" we had at the CF Bread Camp. I had 36 gadgets, numbered the gadgets, set them on the table, campers were to ID as many as they could.

Here is a sample.

{{gwi:2134453}}

An eyelash curler.

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Wed, Feb 4, 15 at 19:22

Glad to see the mystery solved (or was it?) Seems like arather awkward tool for making supremes - maybe that's why it looks so pristine...?

edited to add:
Pic above looks more like a message or card holder, laying on its side.

This post was edited by carolb_w_fl on Thu, Feb 5, 15 at 16:57

Carol, if this is in fact a kitchen gadget it might not be a particularly good one. Otherwise it would have been definitively identified by now.

Just because something is invented doesn't mean it's a good invention!

Haha - I agree!

FOAS, The gadget I posted validates what you said. It's a "watermelon seed remover":

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention takes advantage of the fact that watermelon seeds are arranged in six elongated columns symmetrically disposed about the longitudinal axis of the melon. More specifically, each of the columns is crescent-shaped in cross-section, with the seeds dispersed within the flesh of the melon but invariably located within the confines of the crescent-shaped imaginary envelope of the elongated column.

Wow ... I knew gardenwebbers would take this and run with it! Love the collaborations. The photos above by dcarch are accurate!! I will pass your conclusions on to my friend: It's either for citrus supremes as demonstrated by FOAS or as mustangs81 indicated .. a watermelon seed remover. Thank you!!!

Parisgirl - the new forum format is wreaking havoc on old threads. Mustangs posted a different tool that's a watermelon seed remover. The picture is gone. She didn't suggest that's what your friend has.

FOAS, Thank you for clarifying that for Parisgirl. The new format is wreaking havoc and I'm sure it will take awhile to get use to it. I don't get it...why would they make it less poster-friendly?

A lot of sites are optimizing for display on phones. Especially with the rise of phablets, there's a whole generation that doesn't quite know what an ethernet cable is and won't need to. :) Have you looked at the new SubZero/Wolf site? It's impossible! No information, and everything so huge it hurts to look at it on a full sized screen. The internet was a cool, secret place to hang out in the '80's. In the '90's it was a boomtown full of potential to change the world. Now that the world has changed, it's a place for people to volunteer all their private information and to be tracked by corporations using data mining and targeting routines in a far more insidious form of enforced mindlessness than TV ever was.

On this site you're being tracked by Facebook Connect, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Quantcast and ScoreCard Research Beacon (link to Guardian article). That's pretty benign. Social media and user analytics (tell the site/advertisers what's popular on it). Perhaps some other less known ones.

If you remember Spike, you remember a much different Internet. GardenWeb hasn't been that for a long, long time. Some of it is just becoming more obvious with the new system. You're not in a cozy little corner. You really never were.

Aw rats! You figured it out before I made it over here. LOL Yup, it's a citrus supremer. I have one somewhat similar that is, believe it or not, my favorite kitchen gadget. Just love it. I've had mine for many years. All parts are quite sharp still. When I buy grapefruit, I usually do 2 or 3 and squeeze the juice on it and keep in a jar in fridge.

Oh, btw, don't think it can be for watermelon seeds. The gap that goes on either side of the membrane is too thin.

Here is mine. The red thing in front. Thought I had a pic of just it by itself, but nope.

Coconut, I wasn't saying that Parisgirl's (original poster) gadget was a
watermelon deseeder--I actually posted a picture of a watermelon
deseeder and said it reminded me of the CF gadget game we played.

Ohhh, gotcha Cathy! The pic wasn't showing and I was about blind from this new format. You'd love the grapefruit segmenter. I thought of you when I got mine out to take that pic.