I feel like we don't have an overall pic of the whole thing.

How big is it?

Are the bluish gray cylinders visible in the first pic, metal, paper, ?

It looks like they should turn on those shafts but I don't know exactly why. I've seen similar looking mechanisms in apple cider presses - for shredding the apples. Google up "apple crusher" and look at the pics to get an idea. However those usually have teeth on them and these don't seem to.

The round shafts seem to be chrome plated or stainless steel, pretty fancy. EIther meant to be weatherproof, corrosion resistant (again for mild acids like apple or grape juice), or just clean for food grade work. Actually it could be a grape smoosher. You're not in wine country are you?

Do the two drums/shafts have any gears, chaines etc. that connect them together?

It looks like it's supposed to be able to withstand pressure, the bolting reminds me of old crankcases and pumpkins on cars. It kind of looks like the top of the one pipe bit has threads in it?

Good point, they do look like all those bolts around the outside are supposed to hold them together under pressure. Maybe something to do with boilers, a condensate return tank, something like that? But those things I was calling 'shafts' would have to be hollow pipes. They could be, I can't really see.