Did you ever see one of these??

I found this while clearing out my late father's workshop. I wonder if anyone on the Forum can identify what it might have been or what it might have been part of?

It stands less than 150mm. tall. The shaft on the bottom rotates and traverses the whole unit along in a dovetail track using a rack and pinion. The higher up shaft raised / lowers the brass platform on it's stem.

Total travel left to right is about 70mm and rise and fall movement is about the same. There is no name of any sort on it. Most of it is made from brass and both movements are still tight with little "play". The rusted base plate had it's edges angled as though it also ran in a dovetailed track. This would have given movement in he x,y and z planes.

All ideas of it's origin or use would be welcome.

It strikes me as a possible building block for a Tool and Cutter grinder.

My guess is something to do with wheel alignment on cars?

Regards
John

Large jacks were available years ago for lifting and traversing a load,usually used in pairs ,and could be used for example rerailing a derailed rail wagon,the jack in the photo may have been specially built for lifting small loads and moving then sideways, it would have reasonable lifting capacity but the rack and pinion would not stand too much abuse ,it may have been made as a service tool for some machine where there was a requirement for a lift plus sideways adjustment.

I've never seen one of these but is there any connection to the print industry?
I can imagine a print roller bearing nesting in the cup, a matching setup at the other end of the roller and you may then adjust print pressure by jacking up and the lateral movement will facilitate print synchronisation with other colour rolls on the same machine

Anybody else got a flight of fancy on it?

Bob D

I looks like a Millwrights alignment jack. The ones I used, to align large engine before final chocking and grouting were not of such a complex design but we used tree similar units together with non-slewing wedge lifts plus shim plates - was the original owner involved in factory installation?

Tony

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. I doubt if it was any of the items suggested. It is quite a small unit being less than 6" tall. It is fairly accurately machined.

Could it be anything to do with aircraft instruments of the WW2 era? Anything to do with aiming etc? It is a pure guess but I know several came down in the area and one of them went on fire and was partly burned out.

My father lived in a quiet rural area and there would have been no connection with factories, printing etc. in the area. The most complicated bit of machinery in the area would have been a car or a tractor at the time!

It's a bit of mystery but I'd love to knw what it was.

When I was in my mid teens, I lived in Northern Ireland, in a seaside town called Whitehead which was the home of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. They had (and still have) steam engines which they would steam most weekends.

I once observed a steam engine being rerailed, after some of the wheels came off the tracks. The tool used was rather like a double version of this - although considerably larger and stronger obviously. A pair of jacks raised the bogey above the rails, then the whole thing was shifted sideways until the wheels were above the tracks and then lowered again. The load must have been considerable.

Obviously not the same tool but similar idea. Wow - I'm making a steam-themed post, possibly for the first time!

Murray

Looks like it is for lining-up something. A friend of mine used to repair tractors etc. in the field. He built himself a special jack for removing and replacing the gear box, it was just like your picture , except bigger and much rougher. So maybe millwrights or similar job ?

It certainly could be used in the way described in your posts but it is so small that it could not support much weight. My best guess is that it was of use to line up something accurately to something else.

It looks like it was probably made pre-1950. Unless somebody has actually seen one of them before it is difficult to imagine it's exact use. Bob's guess is as good as any so far!

Thanks for all your suggestions.

John

very interesting!

there is a recessed pad in the lifting or lowering brass casting on the top that must have been made to fit something.

also the cogs and bracket look very much like what one sees on a Church turret clock where the clock works the faces, though the bevel cogs are the same size on a Church clock. the bracket on the side is very reminiscent of such arrangements.

cheers,

julian

Julian, please excuse my ignorance of clocks. What function would the unit you describe in Church clocks have?

One thing not shown in the photos is the round knob that was on each handle. The knobs are about 30mm. dia with a straight knurled edge of a reddish brown material like a soft bakelite that seemed to delaminate with age.

Quite a puzzle this one.

John

my apologies john, i wasnt suggesting that your curiosity was part of a Church clock, merely that some of the parts such as the bevel gears and bracket on the side are reminiscent of parts you find on the mechanism that drives the faces from the clock movement.

i havent the faintest idea what your object was for im afraid

cheers,

julian

my apologies john, i wasnt suggesting that your curiosity was part of a Church clock, merely that some of the parts such as the bevel gears and bracket on the side are reminiscent of parts you find on the mechanism that drives the faces from the clock movement.

i havent the faintest idea what your object was for im afraid

cheers,

julian