How about a (large) spoke tensioner? The threaded bit is run onto the top of a spoke (with a lock nut further down). the other part is forced against the wheel rim to tension the spoke and the lock nut done up while held with the pawl. Or something similar.
AKA 'honeymoon pliers' ;-)
leather gloves or something like that. the paul enables you to lock open the arms.
Robert
Could it have been part of some much larger construction, maybe paired with another, operating as a hinge and allowing something (work surface? seat?) to be unfolded and locked in the desired position?
Chris
Maybe it's not a tool, but a fitting? F'rinstance, a pram cover hinge, where the boss would face outwards? (Don't really think it's a pram hinge, but you get the idea...)
Ok, ok, so maybe one of two toilet seat hinges, with a pawl to stop the lid from falling down?
Thomas Prufer
actually, this may be waht it is. A cobblers tool for stretching boots..
The other thing that it looks a bit like, if it had an anvil attached to the other handle, is a riveter. .
AKA a tw*t stretcher
D'you know, I think that is the best explanation yet.
A sort of bonnet catch.
Or what my wife has on her cold frame..to prop a ventilation thing open.
I have a set of hellerman stretchers in my toolbox. Never in 40 years heard the expression 'honeymoon pliers'. Though I can quite see the point
I and my ex colleagues must obviously be a more genteel set than you lot
We always knew them as 'virgin breakers' *ahem*
There's also an arrow and the number 40 on the hinge. I think it may be used by putting one of the handles into somthing then pulling up on the other handle. This would put a push on the claw end as it tris to close. I don't think it would pull as the handle has to come up in the same directon as the pull, meaning you hand would be near the wire if it broke. Maybe it's some sort of brake handle from machinery. I can't think of anything else that would need a push and hold. Handbrake from and old car maybe.
mark
Our technicians used to call them Virgin Stretchers when I started work. hellerman pliers hardly get used in modern wiring techniques.
Bob
i used them until 1998. There were still lots of things being made that called for rubber sleeves.
Many thanks, interesting. Mailed pics and have had a reply from the owner. He doesn't know either but will ask and pop it on the blog in a week or two. Nick.
Nice thought but def. a non-runner. I use fencing pliers and these would not do the trick. Nick
Afraid not, unless it's for 1/4inch and very soft pipe. No, just wouldn't work. Thanks for your message. Nick.
That's along the lines I'm thinking. It is not a ratchet but more a pawl arrangement that might keep constant pressure upon whatever is subjected to the item. I'm sure this is part of a larger device. The legs are of equal length and would not be sturdy enough to withstand and great force, about 5/16" dia. The elephants trunk might be designed to accept different whatevers to do whatever it is supposed to do to whatever it is supposed to be doing it to. Scratches head. Thanks for your message. If ever I find a definitive answer I will post it here. Nick.
Well noted, Tim. The pawl is there to hold it open, not aid in getting it closed.
I'm intrigued that it is asymmetrical: one side of the hinge is flat, the other has a boss.
If it has to have wooden handles then I can't work out why one side is flat, unless whatever it works on is smaller than the distance from the hinge to the wooden handle.
The screw thread means something is added - an adapter of some sort, and the tool is used to hold something relatively small open temporarily against a fairly powerful force.
If it has the screw thread for an adapter, then it tells us it is used for more than one task (and that at least one bit is missing)
Perhaps part of a maintenance tool kit for a piece of agricultural machinery? Or possibly a specialised tool used in the manufacture of something?
Sid
Or hold it closed if the gadget is working against another part of the tool? I think the symmetry may be decorative, perhaps the bossed side was the operators view? There are no signs of anything having been broken off and I think it almost certainly is not agricultural, it's too well made. Nick.
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