A friend of mine bought this in a box of stuff at an auction. We have no idea what it is for. The hand crank spins the fixture that hold various round objects. There is a swing arm that looks like it could hold a blade or something against the spinning object. There is also a small 4-5 mm collet fixed into the front shaft that holds something but does not rotate. the lever pushed the shaft forward by rack and pinion. It is cast aluminum or pewter, very light duty.

Any ideas what this is?

Thanks for looking.

Jim