15 hours ago, Frosty said:

The table is a lapidary table so would work with abrasives and a lubricant not paper. Dad had several when he was playing with lapidary stuff. In a rare cases he used rubber pads to cover the steel table but it was a rare occasion.

I don't know what this unit was actually used for but I suppose sharpening blades is a possibility. Are sheep shears straight edged? Unless that device has a cam to rock the blade it's going to cut, grind and polish straight and flat.

Frosty The Lucky.

That would make sense for lapidary work.  What about sharpening the blades of powered shears  They need to critically flat to work properly.   

I think Frosty is right. It has been used to grind something flat. Many years ago we used a rotating table like this to flatten the sides of concrete samples before testing. We held the samples by hand over he (motor driven) table and moved them much as the rocking device here will do. Without electricity, this machine will allow a man to grind flat on his own. The sample holder is missing.

I think that it could be a precursor to modern autopolishers. The new ones rotate the sample(s)  above the polishing media (anything from 80-120 grit paper through ~0.03 micron slurry and anything in between, with sample cleaning and abrasive changes between steps), holding them flat and level while also preventing uneven wear on paper or slurry buildup. The sample holder rotation (and possibly also the arm motion here) would also change the angular relationship (think time on a clock face) of the sample relative to the direction of travel of the grinding / polishing media, which saves a step in making sure that you have progressed through the scratches caused by the previous, more course grit.  http://www.struers.com/default.asp?doc_id=364

I agree with gote and others that the sample holder is missing. 

I said all that to basically say that I also think that Frosty is correct, and point out that the item is very familiar feeling to me despite its age and my rather niche application for lapidary type equipment. 

I've cut my own hair for 30+ years & used to cut the boy's 'til he went to a pony-tail.  Roached a lot of mule manes , too.  My Oster clippers have a snap-in blade system.  The two screws are removed to polish the mating surfaces. 

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 0:45 PM, Charlotte said:

That would make sense for lapidary work.  What about sharpening the blades of powered shears  They need to critically flat to work properly.   

All you do is remove the screws and polish the surface flat on a fine stone.  Bought 1 set of replacements about ten years ago.

I remember my grandpa shearing his sheep when I was a lad.  He just used a bigger, coarser version, about 3-4" wide.

My Grandfather used a piece of ground glass to polish clippers. He sharpened well, honed really, double edge razor blades by rolling a drinking glass with one. He'd hold the razor blade against the inside of the glass and roll it back and forth on the table after 5 he'd flip the blade over and hone the other side. honing razor blades is a habit he developed fighting in WWI.

Frosty The Lucky.