Any idea what this may be?

I'm thinking a crank handle from a very old car.
Found when cleaning out my grandfather's barn.

He did have a gas pump of some kind in the barn. Maybe for the pump?

 

Window crank knob for a 1918 Ford F-350 crew cab pickup.

 

Hand crank for a YIELD sign?

 

16 inches

Sorry no scale to judge size

 

It's not an old hand crank starter. It has the wrong end on it. That would kill you dead.

 

Well crank maybe?

 

Looks like it's off of an old stove vent, those used triangular pins.

 

It's for cutting threads on triangle bolts.

 

meat grinder handle.

 

From the days when you might break,but the washing machine didn’t’!
I would have hid the crank in the barn too! Lol

 

Looks 2 b an unsavory son inlaw discourager ??

 

Wasn't injury or even death from hand starting a car a somewhat big issue in the day?

 

Still is
Break your arm ,wrist ,leg , noodle contact knock you rite out or put an end to all that

 

If the old gas pump has a top reservoir it could well be the crank handle for that.

I remember as a (very - cough) young kid the gas pumps at the family garage had to have gas hand pumped from the main tanks.

Could also be for a meat grinder, wringer (as fritz suggested) or one of many other contraptions from the not too distant past

 

The first family car I recall we had was a Morris 8 that was started with a hand crank. My father taught me how to properly start the car.

The main thing to remember is not to grasp the handle with fingers rolled over the handle and thumb the opposite way. If the engine kicked back it would tear your thumb off!

You curl your fingers and thumb the same way over the handle. Then, if it kicks back, it just jumps out of your grip.

 

Every hand crank car or tractor I've seen has a ratchet type end on it that throws the handle forward and disengages it when the engine fires. They were also mounted to the car- the handle only slid forward a few inches to disengage but would stay in the bumper. But If the engine kicked back and rotated backwards it would be ugly for the guy on the handle.. men were men then. Hand starting a 20 horse 6:1 engine probably was manageable.

 

I wonder if there was a population explosion when electric starters were introduced?

 

...likely not, those would usually have a rotating wooden grip so you wouldn't get blisters using it...

...got same instructional from my dad, he learned from a broken arm...

...ratchet was for positioning and overrun, didn't help with backfires. Sometimes I'd get lazy with my BSA on a hot start. Not retard mag, and it would occasionally reward my carelessness by popping me in the air. Downhill gravity is your friend, 3rd gear, push off, and pop clutch as fanny hits seat.

Some "early" imported cars had crank capability, but I never saw anyone use it...

 

...dunno about population, but there was a driver explosion...

 

Yes but the handle only disengages when the engine begins it's normal rotation; if the ignition timing is advanced, the engine can (and will) attempt to rotate in the direction opposite it's clockwise (from the front)rotation. In this case the crank will not disengage and really bad things can happen.