"Jim and Eloise Barter" wrote:
>It is - without doubt a sharpener for cork borers.  I have one - mine also
>has a B in a circle.  The cone shaped part is brass, it is cone shaped to
>accommodate the various sizes of cork borers.  The steel knife sharpens the
>end of the borer when you rotate it around.


Ahhh!  I'd say puzzle solved - perhaps my Ma was recycling one from her
days in college as a bio student and working in various labs - or perhaps
one from her Dad's gen. practitioners office!  It had a solid cast and
turned brass point like a plumbbob and I thought the sharp edge of the
blade was inward and would retract into the point, but I may be wrong as
most of the blade was gone.

        Dan W.