What is it ?

[PeteH]

This turned up on Craigslist, described as a "blacksmith's bench". I tend to doubt that, but I wonder what that little spike anvil would be used for.

Any ideas ?

[HWooldridge]

I'm guessing might be for jewelry work. Could also produce small finishing nails but the rest of the setup (hardy, heading plate, etc.) are not present and no obvious space for them either.

[David Einhorn]

Something like that could have been a one-of-a-kind bench made by someone for a perceived need/use. one-of-a-kind items can only be guessed as to their purpose. We may never know.

[Frank Turley]

Leather work riveting [guessing at tomcats].

[ThomasPowers]

My guess is with Frank's as that sort of bench is seen with other leather working tasks.

[Grizzer]

I'm thinking cobbler's bench. There were a lot of different styles, some simple like this, some with buit in tool boxes, etc.
Is the stake anvil removable? If it is for cobbling, it may be swappable for a cobbler's last for stiching soles, or this could have been set up for riveting, with a larger bench used for holding the lasts that would have had a lot more provisions for holding tools, etc. In a busy shop it would make sense to have a dedicated bench for riveting, just like some blacksmith shops had a dedicated nail making station, etc.
There are also saddler's benches, but they tend to be much larger and more complicated than this appears to be.

[sydney_bitless]

It's a saddle makers bench. I've seen many of these. It looks to be a homemade version? Some of the parts are missing though. Likely the metal piece was used for setting rivets in the tree's of the saddle. The vise seems to be missing though.

[doc]

I tend to go along with the leather working thing, but one other guess is it could be a bench for sharpening scythes.

[Bentiron1946]

I used to have a scythe sharpening anvil years ago that looked like that but it was not set in a pretty little bench like that when I found it in Indiana but a rotted stump.

[ciladog]

I'll go with cold working the edge of a scythe.

[Harri]

I used to have a scythe sharpening anvil years ago that looked like that but it was not set in a pretty little bench like that when I found it in Indiana but a rotted stump.

+1

[MOblacksmith0530]

I was thinking along the scythe lines myself

[Leon Renaud]

This turned up on Craigslist, described as a "blacksmith's bench". I tend to doubt that, but I wonder what that little spike anvil would be used for.

Any ideas ?

I've seen one bench like this that was used by my Great grandfather's family for of all things straightening nails taken from salvaged lumber! Even in the 1950s when I was just a pup it was very common to "Salvage" buildings to build new structures, A building would be pulled apart board by board the nails would be pulled and tossed into buckets,boxes etc. and it was the job of the youngsters or in some cases the woman to sit at a bench like this and straighten and sort nails by sizes. I sat at Grangpa's bench almost identical to this one and straightened more than a few nails when I would visit his farm almost his entire farm was built from reclaimed buildings. From talking to other old timers this was a common item and common practice well into the 1950s around here. I know as late as the 1970s a bunch of farm buildings in my area were "reclaimed " from other structures this way. Part of the old farm house I live in now was built this way as well as the 2 outbuildings on the land 2 other buildings long torn down were reclaimed lumber as well. depression era people were very frugal and here hundreds of pounds of "good nails" were straightened and sorted at a bench just like this!

[PeteH]

WOW !!  That makes excellent good sense.

 

When you consider that, prior to around 1800, all nails were made by hand and thus were expensive (and even after the "cut nail" took over, THOSE were relatively expensive), it justifies the cost of a specialized bench like that. 

 

If it wasn't 120 miles away, I'd go buy it, just for the "I have one, you don't" thing.

[ThomasPowers]

OTOH I have used a chunk of RR Rail to straighten nails on---but it was not originally made for that purpose!

[Borntoolate]

Sounds like it might have been a bench for a specific purpose at first.  I heard Cobbler, Saddle making and leather in general.   Perhaps it was available or maybe seen in use by someone in it's original purpose and form.  THen someone needed to straighten nails and said why not use the cobblers bench.   And then someone got into leather work and said use the cobblers bench...  Depression era / fruggle people in general would use whatever they had for whatever they needed.

[Bob S]

 

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