What is this thing I found?

[jims09build]

This was found in a funeral home basement. The bottom is cast bronze but has been machined for a certain shape. The shaft is tapered and concave in shape. There are no markings at all on it. I know from posting mystery items before on here that there are some very wise members that have seen a lot of unusual things in their life. Cheers to anyone who can identify it.

Jim in Pa

 

[Redboy]

Funeral home, huh? Casket lid opener?

 

[PugetDude]

Lever for moving headstones.

 

[ChaseDE]

cremation ash rake

 

[turbowoodworker]

Specialized tool for making sure they are all the way dead?

 

[woody 73]

Jim I am sure you heard of Thor and his hammer, well that was his Father Odin's boat anchor and I just bet you they forgot to put it in his casket.

All in good fun I am sure someone will know the answer!

 

[Hybridss]

Specialized tool for making sure they are all the way dead?

 

[notlob]

Grim reaping tool.

 

[jims09build]

The long blade is actually quite sharp from the concave that's machined into it right to the edge, kinda like a sword. All good and humorous answers and I myself don't really know what it is!

 

[LXCam]

Rigamortis pry bar, the edge is for those special moments when the joint won't breake loose.

 

[Nuts]

Been around that industry for years, have no idea.

 

[drivesitfar]

Chase: i'll agree with you on the CREAMATION RAKE idea cause even if it's wrong it makes perfect sense.

 

[Tony G]

for pushing a casket into a cremation oven.

 

[northwoods]

cremation ash rake

Yep.

 

[ChaseDE]

that was my guess at least, should've ran it by my mom, she used to work part time at a funeral home helping those guys......she can be a little eccentric at times haha...she actually works for GM now.

 

[Teenager with old tools]

Castrate them for satanic rituals? Just kiddin I don't have a clue


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[southalabama]

Well we just missed Halloween.

This is probably the most unique tool I've seen on garagejournal.

 

[jimreed2160]

Based on the context, a rake seems like a good answer. Perhaps the sides are sharp because it was set inside a wooden handle. Or maybe it could be spiked into an extension handle.

 

[ALinCarolina]

So were you just snooping around the funeral home basement or did you buy it to convert to a shop? Sounds like a good basis for a horror movie script.

 

[ChaseDE]

It may be curved like that to enable a person to rake and collect the larger fragments left over after cremation, that is what usually gets put in the urn, all the smaller stuff/dust/ash then gets swept after.

I think.

 

[lakeroadster]

If it's just a rake... why is it bronze, and why machined edges..... gotta be a reason.

And as a rake, bad design. Lay it on it's side and it's not flat, hold it like a hoe and it's not very wide.

And it doesn't seem to show wear patterns like a rake would.

 

[Woodman920]

Double edged rigamortise detacher. For those really stiff stiffs.

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[PelicanPines]

Concrete vault lid tool... ?

 

[Dozerhand]

I'm pretty good on identifying the mystery tools on here but this one has me stumped. I'll bet it was used somehow in the mechanics of the building and not related to the funural industry.

 

[tlowery04]

maybe a crematory tool for scraping ash and stuck on grease out of the crematory, the bronze end being to keep from damaging the bricks in your easy bake oven too much.

 

[dkroth]

maybe a crematory tool for scraping ash and stuck on grease out of the crematory, the bronze end being to keep from damaging the bricks in your easy bake oven too much.

Stuck on grease!?!?

 

[lakeroadster]

Stuck on grease!?!?

Think Larry, Darryl or their other brother Darryl

 

[Lassen Forge]

Wild-assed guesses?

If the long end is sharp, maybe it's Vlad's Impaler... kind of like a super heavy duty Trocar to relieve inner pressure of the decaying corpse, pre-formadehyde era... the rounded end is to put a shoulder into the task at hand.

I once saw a dead bloated road kill "pop" one time, and I could only imagine the same thing at Ol' Uncle Henry's funeral... Really went out with a bang.

 

[lakeroadster]

I once saw a dead bloated road kill "pop" one time, and I could only imagine the same thing at Ol' Uncle Henry's funeral... Really went out with a bang.

Circa early 1970's... riding on the school bus... summer time. Dead horse along road. All us kids waited to check it out every day in the morning and afternoon as the bus went by.

After about 5 days it was a balloon. We happened by as the gut wagon was there trying to pull the horse up a ramp.

Pulled the legs right off.

Holy Schnikeys!