From the files of the Black Baron: Casefile #100313 - Conundrum

On the same trip that led me to those most interesting wrenches I mentioned in a previous missive I also discovered a certain item that, while I didn't care to purchase it, intrigued me as to it's use and purpose...

Listed on it's tag simply as a "wooden press" and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what in the nine hells it is... and the shop owner was equally bewildered by the device and as such could offer no suggestions of his own.

It is constructed of wood with brass fittings, the handle shows signs of wear at the edges from where one's hand would be in contact with it but there are no other markings or signs of use anywhere else on it aside from those that show where the brass had been in contact with the wood for some time which can be clearly seen in the photos.

As if it had been left in the open position for a considerable length of time for some reason.

So, I put it to you, the few that actually stop by once in a while to read this tripe, to help me figure out what this blasted thing is so I can put it from my mind move on to more important matters... like fine-tuning the edge on the most excellent Ka-Bar I got for my natal anniversary and figuring out how to weaponize a 1976 AMC Gremlin on a budget.