What does this double clamp do?

[JimG]

It's about 6" tall and appears to be able to clamp something flat and something round at the same time. The brand is ACME and it is made of brass. Anyone know what it is used for?

[news]

Holding some form of scientific/laboratory kit?

More modern versions available here

[Bob Minchin]

looks like the sort clamp a lamp to a table edge device.

[Nightjar]

The padding on the flat bit makes it seem likely that is to clamp on a piece of furniture. What is intended to fit into the round hole bit is anybody's guess - table lamp, pencil sharpener, WHY.

[Heliotrope Smith]

JimG wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Go to Google images and look for ACME Mangle.

It is one of a pair of mangle clamps.

[News]

In message , JimG writes

It reminds me of a clamp for a kitchen table, to hold a mincer, or bean slicer or similar.

[newshound]

Well spotted that man.

We didn't have one of those modern things, ours had 4 inch diameter wooden rollers and had an ornate triangular cast iron frames at each end, supporting the roller mechanism. Big cast iron reduction gears too.

[newshound]

Something very like this, in fact

[Nightjar]

Just like the thing I used to turn, while my mother fed the clothes in.

[Jim S]

Ah the memories:

still-call-it-laundry/

[Bob H]

Yes I would say that as well. Clamping to a table or bench edge

[Johny B Good]

That looks like an Anglepoise desk clamp bracket to me. Old Skool, on account it looks like a brass fitting rather than the plastic one that's disappeared in the house move of 3 decades ago.

If I'm not being fooled by the lack of a scale, that would have saved me having to drill a 10mm hole in the RHS front corner of my office desk just 6 months ago when I realised that that was going to be the only way I'd be able to press my slightly rusty Anglepoise lamp back into service. I'd rather 'recycle' my old lamp than cough up in excess of fifty quid to get a poor quality copy or, worse still, one of those Ikea abortions.

[Johny B Good]

On re-reading your OP, I see you mentioned an overall length of 6 inches (presumably as represented in the picture). This makes it about

50% or so larger than the original clamp that was supplied with the Anglepoise lamp I have.

Other than that, it does look remarkably like an old skool version of such a clamp. Maybe the original Anglepoise lamps were even more over-engineered than that late 60s early 70s example I'm using.

[Bob Eager]

My trusty Luxo finally died after a bit more than 40 years. I was surprised to be able to buy an almost identical one from them, and the quality is good. Not cheap though!