What is this tool??
 

This is not a weapon but with its sharp blade and accute tip I could not resist buying it. Blade 6 inches, Total 9 inches. Wooden (??) handle is missing. Any idea on its use??

http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos/extra/74/000074.jpg

http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos/extra/75/000075.jpg

I believe it's an auger blade.

Rich S

Could ba a tool for sampling. Modern ones look like this:

This was my first thought, but sampling tools, old and new always ends with a tube so the sample (grains, beans, rice etc) will easily fall into your palm. In the tool above, the end is open and if it would have been used for sampling, the sample will spread all around.

I'm pretty sure it's a reamer/auger for wood. It's simplest use would be to enlarge/round existing holes. It would also produce a given taper in the hole, which would match to standard plugs or stopcocks. It could be used to create a hole, with some slight effort, but ones intended to so do more commonly have a screw-tip that "draws" them into the wood. Some tools are indeed just ever so weapony, aren't they? I saw some kind of large push-dagger probably for gardening on ebay, but it went too high for me.....

It's made by Robert Marple which still makes high end woodworking tools (I have a set of their woodworking chisels.) It most likely is a specialized chisel or a blade used in turning where a piece of wood is spun around on a lathe and carved while spinning.

Is the tang broken at the end? On a turning knife the tang is usually longer and the handles are quite long...up to two feet long so that both hands can stabilize the blade against the knife rest on the lathe. If this indeed is a turning knife, I can see that if it wasn't correctly used the tang could snap like this...depending on the size of the wood being turned it could be spinning at around 1720 RPM.

Just in case anyone wants to look at the push daggery tool, it's ebay #6144211201

I agree with Rich and Tom , I think it's a reamer for furniture making . The handle was probably at right angles to the blade .
Useful in chair making .

The old hand augers I have seen usually have a screw type of tip so that the tool can easily bite into the material .

Its a taper auger used for tapering an already drilled hole, for making bung & tap holes, & as stated for fitting legs to plank seat chairs.It normaly has a t-shaped handle.

Spiral