OT: Object ID requested

Utterly work safe (I think)

Anyone know what this is? Family legend is that it is some kind of
surgical device. The 'blade's are serated on one half. It is currently
used for mashing baby food, which it does admirably.

Goatse prep tool.

That would be a speculum.
The thing looks like a document shredder. Does it cut paper?

It cuts just about anything. It's made in Solingen.

Surely you've tried searching the web 'solingen surgical'?

Well, yes, but I thought someone here might know. That is normally the
case.

Out of business apparently but an email to Herr Weck might be worth a

More fun granted. The first thing that came into mind when I saw it
wasn't surgical but horticultural.

All things are possible. Like I say, family legend says it's surgical,
but it's not even my family IYSWIM.

try.

Perhaps it is designed for cutting through surgical casts. The design would
prevent it slipping or twisting.

You know, that makes a *lot* of sense.

Two words. Angle Grinder.

The serations on one side suggest to me that it's a tool for cutting
leather as it slides up the blades if you try to use normal shears. I
have a very expensive pair of leather shears in my toolkit that have
those serationsand they really do work even on the thinnest leather.
Aside from that, you won't find that kind of spring on a surgical
instrument, it's a germ trap and wouldn't have been acceptable in any
operating theatre since sterilising of equipment became mandatory.

Or food industry, I wouldn't have thought.

I'd say it's a pair of hand shears for cutting fringes in leather.

Two votes for that, and definitely makes sense.

Ask rec.harley, then.

Christ, no.

That's dangerous! I could be there all day....

Solingen probably just relates to the Stainless steel.

Or the town, yes.

I would suggest they are not for cutting - the more usual scissor design
is much older and much more effective for that.

The spring mechanism is called a barrel spring. This could be either to
help the lever action, or, to enable quick release.

I note there is also a locking mechanism on the handles.

Unlikely. The locking mech will only engage when the blades are fully
closed. Plus they cut just about anything placed in the jaws.

And from uk.d-i-y ...

"Wasn't there one on Antiques Roadshow or one of the 'Flog your
heritage for peanuts over a lunch-hour boot sale in the Attic
challenge' a while back? Victorian baby food masher ISTR."

So you might be on the right track

Hmmm, interesting. It's what it's used for now so maybe it was right.

Suggestions?

A doohickey for doing whatever needs to be done to an umbilical cord?

Seems unlikely. It makes multiple cuts. AFAIK the cord only needs one.

I got a colleague to post about it on a 'blades' group:

There is such a thing??!

""
Re: mystery item
Quote riginally Posted by zackerty

Thin metal (copper/brass) tool to segment the edge of a lid, to fit
into a boiler type affair, for permanent joining...if you know what I

I could see that, sort of.

mean?

This is the right answer (ish) its for joining two equal diameter
tubes by forming a crimp in one of them so it will slot inside the
other
""

But this is bollocks. If you want to joint two copper pipes you'd use a
socket-forming tool to slightly expand one pipe, so that the other slips
into it. You need a clearance of about 4 thou so the solder flows in by

I think we're talking much larger diameter tubes here rather than 22mm
pipes

capillary action. Crimping one tube and banging it into the other is
bonkers on so many levels, and practically guarantees a leak.

Erm, I can't quite get my head round what they mean.

I've asked him if he can reply back and ask the name of such a device
so at least one can google search for it and get more photos.

Cheers for that :)

TIA

If it cuts paper and rock you could be onto a winner.

Good point.

Is is actually designed for cutting? By the looks of it the serrated jaws
have a flat edge rather than a sharp, cutting edge. The fact that it is
multi-jawed suggests that if it really is designed for some kind of cutting
then it is designed to shred rather than cut cleanly - not what one would
expect in a "cutting" surgical instrument. The spring between the handles
suggests that there is some benefit in the tool returning to the "open"
state when pressure on the handles is released. This would suggest that
repeated, single-handed use is a likely function. If the jaws don't
actually bear against each other in an obvious "cutting" way then it seems
possible that it is actually intended to temporarily grip and hold some kind
of thin, flexible sheet such as plastic sheeting or thin cloth (or skin if
used in a surgical/veterinary capacity). The material would be folded in a
kind of "WW" pattern between the jaws and the serrated surfaces on the jaws
would prevent it slipping out.

Interesting. Yes, to all points. It does seem to have a *very*
effective shear action. It's virtually impossible to grip anything
without it getting cut. Also, if it were solely gripping, I would
expect all the jaws to have serrated faces on both arms IYSWIM. Only one
set is serrated.

My bid's on them being an early version of the paper shredder.
- The serrated edges stop the paper sliding out - when shredding multiple
sheets
- The spring helps to open the cutter against the tendency to jam.

This example had 4-blades but isn't as well engineered.

Hmm, could be, but these really are over engineered for that kind of thing.

Do they cut credit cards?

Dunno, I don't have access to them right now. I could phone the owners
and ask them.

I have something very similar used for chopping worms.

Not *really* that similar. Yours have gaps between each pair of blades.

Try and find anything else that acts like scissors, looks like scissors, and
has three sets of blades.

That makes mine come under "similar" in my book !

Wash it before mashing baby food. It's got loads of germs and stuff on
it.
Think of the children.