You're talking about a knife froe, Scott.  Like as not, a necessary tool
for sash makers and a lot of furniture makers back in the day for making
the pins that held just about everything.  Then it was a common enough
bench tool.  I forget where I first saw one in use (maybe on The
Woodwright's Shop), but take a block of wood, say two or three inches
deep.  Tie a string around it, lay out a grid.  Then whip out your knife
froe and split out a whole bunch of stock for pins.  Nifty, I thought,
but I kept using a chisel to make the occasional pin.  Then came
coopering demos.  Needed a bunch of 2, 2 1/2 inch dowels to make up the
heads.  So I found and bought a 19th Century English knife froe.  Made
by the dozens in Sheffield. 

Mine's much prettier, but figure 7 in this article shows 3 examples; 
https://craftsofnj.org/index.php/froes-by-hank-allen 

Mike in Woodland.