What is this tool I found in grandpa's garage!

looks like a glass cutter

I think coffenut nailed it

[Edit] Oh I so just saw you already had a link @coffeenut…

The little wheel is for scoring the glass…the round end is for tapping the score line to break large pieces off…the little teeth parts are for a more precise break (smaller pieces)

Thanks @coffeenut I thought it was a glass cutter b/c of the wheel. But the teeth really threw me off.

When they make stuff like this each line is a separate piece of glass.. the teeth part is great to use for separating the glass for the feathers on wing, tail and parts of the head, body…

Boy am I out of touch. Nobody ever taught you this when you were a kid? You never cut a piece of glass, ever? Or watched somebody else do it? If not, you’ve got to try. It’s kind of amazing once you score it, and all you have is a line on the glass, and sure enough that’s where it breaks. Old fashioned activities can be very rewarding.

It’s a glass cutter

@jazzticity I can’t think of a time in my life where I would have needed to cut a piece of glass for any reason. And I still struggle to see why I would have the need. But when I got confirmation on this question to the purpose of the tool, I went in my garage and cut some glass. Yes, I can see how fun it is, in fact I wanted to find more glass to cut, LOL.

It’s ok though, I learned lots of other stuff as a kid, like how to change the oil on any given vehicle. How to change brakepads, how to use a mider, a circular saw, how to caulk, and how to do a bunch of other stuff that I think would be more useful in a lifetime than cutting glass, LOL

I am glad you now have its name. Glasscutters do have a place in humans life and you have discovered it.

Criminals, also like glasscutters. I answered a police call where a circle had been cut, inside the burglar alarm tape, to allow the burglar inside, without tripping the alarm.

It worked for him, but he cut his leg and his blood trail got him arrested.

@john65pennington I saw Sherlock Holmes do that in a movie once. He put a suction cup on the circle to pull the glass back toward him. The opening he made was just large enough to put his arm through and unlock the sash. Evidently your burglar wasn’t that smart.

@mrrich724 I didn’t say there had to be any practical reason for doing this. It’s just fun! (Actually, I do occasionally find the need to replace a broken window or cut glass for a picture frame.) And to me it was always counter intuitive. You wouldn’t think that the break would confine itself to the line, but it does. BTW, if you don’t have instructions, you should dip the cutter in kerosene or light oil first and use only firm pressure, letting up at the edges.