Whats this tool?

I finally moved my workshop and one of the things I unearthed is this.

Errr what is it?

Maybe and odd design of tap wrench where one of the handles that should be on the top bar is missing. Or on some the other one would be on the lower half.

Probably not - but it can be surprising what people do at times when making things like that.

John

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More likely a home made lathe dog or carrier I suspect...

IanT

Yes, lathe carrier I expect.

I have a very similar one that I inherited from my dad & he used it as a tap wrench. His has a longer handle on each bar & the screws though similar to yours are fitted so that there is a screw head against each bar. There are no makers markings on it so it must have made it when he was in the REME during WW2.

aLAN

I have one too Alan. Came with a hobbymat and like this one if it is the square part of the bars is too long really,

But only one handle? I can't see anyone using it as a carrier. Why the small V's?

Maybe it's multi purpose. The screws are suitable length for a toolmakers clamp.

John

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Edited By John W1 on 21/11/2015 18:09:40

Edited By John W1 on 21/11/2015 18:10:03

I've got one and have used it to drive square section stock between ctrs where the V is ideal and also as a tap wrench with a bit of tube over the two ends.

I also have a large tap wrench like Flying Fifer describes

Wil take a picture later

The best "home made" one I have seen was my Dad's but it will have been made at work to use.

A square, slightly oblong made up of 2 parts with the usual V in them where they join. Opened / closes just like a toolmaker's clamp. The threads having long handles rather than the usual clamp type shown in the shot. The handles were tapered too widening towards the parts that grip. Compact and able to hold a pretty large tap or reamer. I'd say it would probably hold a 3/16" tap and upwards very firmly. Sort of sizes a toolmaker would be interested in.

The handles were maybe 1 1/2" out of line so it could adjusted just like a toolmaker's clamp is.

John

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Funnily enough there was a tap wrench to his basic design in that 1904 copy of Practical Mechanics the other day.

I think this is a driving dog or clamp, though - the screws are just too long for a tap wrench, and you need a balanced handle for tapping..

Neil

Looks like I have misplaced a screw.

I'm pretty sure my Dad made his during his apprenticeship. Tidier than yours Jason. No thread sticking out of the end when fully closed. I'd say the jaws formed a bit more of a squarer when together and there were flanges where the handles meet the jaws. I tried to find it after he died but it had gone, no idea where.

I made 2. One for the small stuff, V filed in the side of a drilled hole and a usual type with a sliding jaw to one side. One of the more useful test pieces. Filing out the slot and filing and fitting the jaws.

John

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We used something similar when I was a lad as straps to hold small items while being drilled, much easier than mounting components in a drilling vice as the components are lying flat on the drill table. Toolmaker's clamps do the same job as well.