Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Monday
Gary Smyth
This item can be found the world around. It seems to have been discovered independently on several continents at relatively the same time and can be found in use still in parts of the world. The beginning may have been as early as 2500 years ago. The "holes" sometimes have pieces of quartz or flint wedged in.
What is it? 
Re: Monday
Frederick Nelson
I recognize this! I saw it on the BBC Antiques Road Show about a month ago, so I'll refrain from answering at this time. The owner had hung it on his wall as a decoration, which was NOT its intended purpose, even if it was in a farmhouse.
Fred
done handing out candy in Eastern Missouri
Darn, I was certain this was
Gary Smyth
different enough to provide more of a challenge. Very quick (you were careful of the box) and I appreciate you keeping today's trivia alive. Oh well, your response does show that these appear in different places. If I found one I would hang it (as opposed to using it for the intended purpose) too. A lot of work making these, what, with all the holes -- as what it does seems to me to have a relatively short lifespan
Re: Darn, I was certain this was
John Veerkamp
AS Dale would say a WAG. I'm guessing that this might have come from a great White and be used in fine surfacing?
Re: Monday
Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level
A "bear style" back scratcher?
T.
It is wood
Well, it did come from a tree
Re: Monday hint
Gary Smyth
It is man made.
It is used with animals but humans alone used similar items first.
A pattern is used when it is used.
In demand as decorative devices. This one is for sale at over $600.00
Approximate size is 20" x 60"
Most are flat, but with some one end might be turned up
Traction Devices????
Re: Traction Devices????
Jim Rutten
Paddles for people who like to go slow?
Not snow shoes or the like
Good idea but, no.
Gary Smyth
Also mildly inaccurate. For example, a rudder and wing with holes in it is far more efficient than a solid one at certain speeds and applications... laminar flow and all that.
Grooming devices?
Good thought but not today.
Re: Monday last hint before answer
Gary Smyth
It's an agrarian device. This one appears to have only stones but not the holes.
WAG
Dale Lenz
A ground scarafier(SP?) for small seeds????
Close
Gary Smyth
Close
Re: Monday answer
Gary Smyth
Frederick may have had the answer almost as soon as it was posted. If so, Gold Star! The item is a threshing board.
It�s sort of a keelhauler for grain. It is used like a sled in grain collecting areas to separate the grain from the stalk. First it is drawn around in a circle to knock down the plant as is done with a crop circle. People or animals pulling the boards do this. Once the area is flattened the boards are drawn up and down the patch first vertically then side to side, then on the diagonal to release the kernels. The stone, quartz, or flint helps by cutting into the stalks. The grain is then picked up by hand.
These have been around a very long time and are used today where power equipment is not handy. The yield can be inefficient if done in a field. It can be more efficient if the grain is cut first then taken to a hard flat area to be processed. Some farmers walk along side the boards and some �surf� adding their weight to the boards.
Threshing boards were used together with the flail which provides a cleaner yield.
One may note a document written in 1265, in which a woman named Do�a Mayor bequeaths a farm:
�And I, Do�a Mayor, leave on my death these two yokings (yokes to harness two draft animals) of country state above referred to the Cathedral Chapter, well preserved with 76 bushels of wheat, 38 bushels of rye, and 38 bushels of barley to seed each yoking and with ploughshares (sod precut knife before the plow.), and with plows, and with ploughbeams (heavy curved beam that is attached to and stretches in front of the plow to keep it into the ground), and with threshing-boards and with all the accoutrements that a well-laid-out property should have.�
�Threshing board� will get history and info on most browsers.
Don�t forget to vote Tuesday..
Re: Monday answer
Frederick Nelson
This question gave everyone a good thrashing, er, threshing.
During my studies I manage to accrete all sorts of otherwise useless information, although occasionally some things turn out to be useful.
Thanks for the question.
Fred
cool with widely scattered dark in Eastern Missouri