Rummage sale find...what is it?

[Edsel Detector]

A friend found this at a rummage sale and no one seems to know what it is. Over the years i've seen the geniuses in this forum indentify a lot of obscure items...so..what is it? tried another site with no luck.

 

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[elh]

Looks similar to a thing I made to melt beeswax in. Place a clear glass on top, put beeswax on the grooves and the pure whit wax will melt out at bottom to be caught
in a container. The witer wax is higher priced.
Then Again I may be wrong.

 

[Molewacker]

That is interesting -

 

[bradyboy]

chock block?
whats it made of.
did it come with the stand?
brady

 

[Anduril]

A very early Pachinko machine?
And not a very fun one at that.

IDK know what it is.
The beeswax idea sounds just about weird enough to be correct. (?)

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Have seen similar that were for laundry (so you could use both hands). But they were set-up to drain better.

Maybe a table for sorting dowels? Cigars? Cigarettes?

 

[Bruce R]

For some reason I want to say it has something to do with bookbinding.

 

[Red-Coat]

It looks to me as if something would be tipped down the sloping sides onto the table for sorting or shaping and I'm struggling to imagine it being used for anything which was not dry. If it had been for beeswax or anything of that kind then surely there would be some giveaway residue? At the front (as pictured) there also appear to be some grooves of the kind often seen on desks for holding pens. pencils or some other kind of implement, so one assumes that the 'operator' stood at that side. It looks too wide to be reached across from the other side and also too wide for anyone seated to reach across its full width.

After racking my brains (and with a nagging suspicion I had seen something similar in a museum) although the design is not identical, I think it may be one of these:



That's a wool-sorting table, more properly known as a 'classing table'. Skirted fleeces from sheep-shearing would be spread on the table; seeds, burrs and other debris teased out; and the better quality long strands of wool separated from the rest. On an industrial scale, the debris would fall through to the floor for sweeping up since there was no baseboard below the slats, but perhaps on a cottage industry scale you wouldn't want that degree of mess in your farmhouse.

 

[Edsel Detector]

That's a wool-sorting table, more properly known as a 'classing table'. Skirted fleeces from sheep-shearing would be spread on the table; seeds, burrs and other debris teased out; and the better quality long strands of wool separated from the rest. On an industrial scale, the debris would fall through to the floor for sweeping up since there was no baseboard below the slats, but perhaps on a cottage industry scale you wouldn't want that degree of mess in your farmhouse.

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I think we have a winner. Thanks.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of combined brain power that exists here on Tnet!

Amazing I.D. on the 'wool-sorting table' by Red-Coat and Edsel!

Dave

 

[ARC]

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of combined brain power that exists here on Tnet!

Amazing I.D. on the 'wool-sorting table' by Red-Coat and Edsel!

Dave

And then there are combined brains with no power.

:P

 

[Bruce R]

Are those angled sides adjustable ? In and out and lock into those grooves ?