I was thinking some kind of saw set tool, but it looks too cumbersome. It’s clearly designed to be mounted on the front/side of a bench, clamping something thin. The bright hardened metal piece with the bolt can be set into different positions. The knurled wheel that it’s clamped to looks designed to be moved rather than decorative knurling.

The fine threaded clamp looks like it should push something, but it looks like the round metal pad on the end doesn’t have a bearing, so presumably something is put in and that’s screwed in to set a distance, but god knows what it’s for?

Bending something, or setting an angle on something metal…not sure.

Love this.

I have something similar for sharpening chainsaw chains but I can’t see how this would work for that. I would guess that it’s for setting and sharpening saws but I may be wrong.

    It’s actually from the stone age before we had grinders. Each bean had to be individually crushed.

    Ha! Love Tom’s suggestion of individual bean squashing vice! To me it looks more like it would be used for extracting confessions than coffee, an Acme Precision Truthmaster Pursuivant ™ thumb screw.

    LOL @Hotmetal so if it’s about extracting confessions as opposed to extracting coffee, them maybe it’s more of a nut cracker than a bean crusher?

    Is it for breaking open coconuts or some other hard nut/fruit?

    Or what about pushing out a bearing?

      The fine thread on the plunger suggests something precision or in need of delicacy.

      The knurled knob is eccentric to the through bolt. The bright part looks like it has a sharpened face. It looks almost like some kind of lathe tool holder - albeit quite an agricultural one.

        Gagaryn You are very close with your description👍. I will not give it away yet.