Name that tool:

[T i m]

Hi All,

I posted the following elsewhere on the grounds it might be an automotive question but it could also be more general purpose (and I know you love a puzzle). ;-)

Mechanic mate dug out a couple of old hand tools. One was for crimping the end on an HT lead (that one was 40 years old) and the other was this:

is lightly sprung open and the round steel 'punch' (like that in a paper punch) only goes as far as it shown in pic Tool4. The anvil opposite the punch face is flat. The whole thing is about 5" long and is quite heavy / substantial (but that may reflect more how old it is rather than it's role).

So, what was it for please?

Cheers, T i m

[Roger Mills]

Could it be an embossing tool for stamping text or a logo etc. onto sheets of paper? If so, the actual dies are probably missing.

[T i m]

Hmm, like a MOT / service stamp possibly, interesting.

It feels like it has that sort of action ... quite light and smooth and being smallish, not the sort of thing that would put a huge amount of force onto anything.

We will have to see if anyone has anything better. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember T i m saying something like:

It's for spreading upholstery /material rivets or similar. The tool can't press the rivet and material any further than a set amount and avoids damaging rivet and material.

Just a guess, mind.

[T i m]

Ah! It seems there could have been a smaller diameter 'pin' that may have stuck out of the middle of the punch [1] and that could have gone through the hole in the anvil (and formed a hollow rivet over, stopping at a fixed point as you say) but has been snapped off at some point. ;-(

FWIW the punch can move about 3.5 mm and the gap / jaw in the tool is only 2.7 mm so the numbers would work as well.

Further there is also a shiny stripe, about the same width as the diameter of the punch (or the head of a rivet?) going at 90 deg across the anvil and in line with the punch, the sort of thing that might happen if you slipped the material in / out with the rivet in place.

So, you think this could be used to form a hollow rivet on something for decoration, to provide a reinforced hole for some sort of thread or fastener or riveting two parts together (or all the above)? ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] You can just see the rough metallic structure in the middle of the punch, as you might see if something 'hard' had been snapped off.

[S Viemeister]

I was wondering if there was a pin there! It looks very like the punches used for programming the cards for knitting machines. The cards come with a very small pinhole in the centre of each square, and the pattern hole isn't punched unless the pin goes through the pinhole first.

[T i m]

The strange thing is, if this pin is vulnerable you would think the pin or punch would be easily replaceable but it doesn't seem to be? I don't think the centre pin would just push into the main pin in case it pulled out in use. I can't see any grub screws or roll pins either.

Yep, it sounds like this would work similarly.

Cheers, T i m

[Bob Eager]

Without saying anything whatsoever (except to mention the broken inner pin) I showed the photos to SWMBO.

She immediately said "Looks like an old kniiting machine hole punch, probably Brother". And she knows a fair amount about the machines.

[T i m]

Well, that's two for the knitting machine vote. ;-)

Whilst mate is a mechanic and has been so for a good few years, I'm aware he has been know to use tools from all sorts of fields if they made his day easier.

The most recent being a little Snap-On endoscope thingy. It's already proved itself invaluable on a VW crank sensor job.

Cheers, T i m

[Rod]

Partner, also more than a little familiar with knitting machines, thinks not. At least not for domestic machines.

My very limited experience of knitting machines makes me think of cards which would have been too wide for this to work.

However neither of us has any other suggestions.

[Andy Burns]

Looks like the pliers from a company seal or similar

[T i m]

I think we are nearest with the idea they are a riveting / eyelet tool of some sort, too many facets seem to line up.

The apparent limited range of the punch that doesn't even clear the mouth of the tool (because of a missing centre pin).

The shape of the tool ... allowing good visible and finger access to where the action would take place (to help align stuff pre punching).

The limited reach (probably as whatever was being processed would be near the edge, like with a door strap or edge tube (like at the top of net curtains to allow the wire through). In fact, if you look at this pic:

note the radius at closed end of the jaw, like that would allow some piping or the fold of some material / leather through? (I don't think it would need it for stress relief of the jaw).

The small size in general (suggesting relative light work, unlike say a metal punch or swaging tool).

I'll tell my mate what we have come up with so far and see if any of them fit his memory of the sort of things they were doing back then.

Thanks to all who have offered suggestions so far. ;-)

T i m

[<me9]

[T i m]

Whilst anything's possible I don't think these would be a ticket punch as even if the actual punch pin was present as it would only make a 2 mm diameter hole (I'm thinking it wouldn't be that obvious but then I've not seen many punched tickets). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Tim]

My feeling is that given the weight of the construction, it's way over engineered for punching holes in paper or card. I would guess that it's for punching holes in sheet metal (a bit like these punches.

preparatory to riveting?

Tim

[T i m]

Agreed.

Hmm ..

I think it must actually be a (hollow) riveting tool Tim as nothing extends past the face of the tool other than what I believe is a missing punch pin.

I think it goes like this.

You make a hole through (say) two bits of leather or webbing with another hole punch of some sort. You put a hollow rivet through the bits of material and slide the bundle into the jaw of the tool with the rivet head downwards, align the pin over the rivet then squeeze the tool so the thinner middle pin passes through the middle of the rivet (and eventually though the anvil),and the open end of the rivet is folded over and outwards, creating another 'head'. The tool only closes so far, ensuring you cannot over compress the rivet.

Well, that's one idea anyway. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Tim]

Ah, I missed that.

Hmm, give that it can't compress further than the width of the slot, whatever it is that needs to be compressed needs to fit into the diameter of the punch pin. I think all I can say is that without doubt, it's a device for compressing something, by hand. ;-)

Tim

[Tim Lamb]

It could also be tooling for use with a fly-press. The big hole at the back must have some purpose.

regards