This has me stumped ????

[psgen]

I found this a few weeks ago and it has me completely stumped. I've ask several people, but to no avail. Anyway it's appox. 13" Long, Tapered to a fine sharp point. It has a slight bow to the rod itself and is fairly heavy. I've included two pics. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

I had one EXACTLY like it with the German silver handle piece. It was an old worn out knife sharpener. Lightning/grounding rods are copper or copper plated and do not use German silver which I think this handle is. Only my opinion from memory.

 

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[dg39]

[size=10pt]Knife sharpner!!!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I wish we could hear from the original poster. What do you think psgen? Is the handle silver?

 

[Michelle]

[size=10pt]Knife sharpner!!!

 

[mech]

Its a worm shocker..the lil post on top is where ya hooked up the 120.

 

[mojjax]

Psgen , does this item have any evidence of black paint or ''use'' wear on it ?

 

[Michelle]

[size=10pt]Knife sharpner!!!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

[size=10pt]Knife sharpner!!!

Its Ben Franklins lightning rod!

 

[Michelle]

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

It looks like a match. 8)

 

[Michelle]

It looks like a match. 8)

i drew that one....but cant you see what I mean...its missing lower part of the rod and the insulators.... Cypress...back when in them old days they had Iron rods with glass insulators and a copper wire that ran along the rod...

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

It looks like a match. 8)

i drew that one....but cant you see what I mean...its missing lower part of the rod and the insulators.... Cypress...back when in them old days they had Iron rods with glass insulators and a copper wire that ran along the rod...

I dont know what you are referring to... a lightning rod? lamp?

 

[TreasureTales]

It looks like a match. 8)

i drew that one....but cant you see what I mean...its missing lower part of the rod and the insulators.... Cypress...back when in them old days they had Iron rods with glass insulators and a copper wire that ran along the rod...

OK, here's where the confusion MIGHT come into play. The support for the rod was often iron. The lightning rod itself was copper. So if this thing in question were part of a lightning rod it would be copper. If it were part of the support, it could very well be iron. But a lightning rod didn't have a big round blob on one end and a point on the other. They usually had points on both ends.

Here's a modern reproduction for your viewing pleasure. You can see the iron tripod support base and the copper pointy rod.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

It looks like it would make a cool interesting lamp, but I still say old worn out knife sharpener.

 

[DiggerBug]

Wouldn't a sharpening steel be made of steel, not iron? (sorry, my husband is not here for me to ask these dumb questions to)

 

[TreasureTales]

Wouldn't a sharpening steel be made of steel, not iron? (sorry, my husband is not here for me to ask these dumb questions to)

DiggerBug, you should know by now that there are no dumb questions on TreasureNet....just dumb answers!!!!

Here's my dumb answer to your intelligent question. Don't be fooled by something's name. Case in point: an "iron" (tool for pressing clothes) is made of steel (and plastic) these days. True Although, in the case at hand, a sharpening tool might have been called a sharpening iron rather than a sharpening steel if it had been invented long ago. So my question would be, "When was the sharpening steel invented?"

 

[Michelle]

 

[Michelle]

:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P http://images.google.com/imgres?img...&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-48,GGLG:en&sa=N sorry Sonnys'........got it

 

[Michelle]

DG,Cypress TreasureTales....all you guys...this has been a learning experience (for me)....Good Job Guys.....

 

[dg39]

Yeah!

DG