A "what is it, does anyone know" question

[penfold]

Could it be a clamp to hold the hubs of wooden artillery wheels while they're being assembled?

 

[Pete.]

Quite a lot actually,just bent a bit of 6mm steel in it with ease,not that this is of any use but been cleaning it and theres traces of grey machine enamel paint on the underside,i've also noticed that as you move the arm(which goes down inch or so further) the sliding part slightly backs off towards the bearing but only a few mm,so perhaps a holding/crimping device.

Going over-centre is a good way of making sure it could never spring open under shock loading.

 

[Wyn F]

Its a nutcracker





... coconut cracker

 

[awemawson]

Its a nutcracker





... coconut cracker

You may be on to something there ! It's the device that holds on to coconuts so you can't knock them off at the coconut shy at the fair!

 

[simplysimon]

I'd have to go with some kind of locking mechanism, maybe from the age of steam

I bet Fred Dibnah would have known what it was...

 

[chriscase]

Hello there , hope this helps
I think Its a kindling bundler , can't really put into words how it works but there's a video on youtube showing how its used
:

not sure how to do links from there so hope this works , forward to 1.45 and you can see one been used

 

[BrokenBiker]

interesting

 

[bigegg]

I *think* [1] that that is a *lot* of money, and work (in the casting) just to bundle kindling.

I would guess that the machine in the video has been re-purposed as a bundler.

But at least it's narrowed the field down to steam, rather than nautical (possibly).

[1] tried thinking before, didn't really get the hang of it

 

[Shedendman]

I agree,i think its fair to heavy duty for a simple thing like that,that's my next port of call I'll take it along to a few steam rallies that are held round here in the summer see if anyone can throw some light on it.

 

[chriscase]

I really have no idea what its for then , I just remember seeing the video , please keep us informed on what it was really built for , all the best , chris

 

[migmag]

Post up some more detailed photo's??

 

[Shedendman]

Post up some more detailed photo's??

What more can i post,do you want close ups,if so where?
I've watch that youtube clip over and over again zooming in to see what names on the base but to no avail can i figure it out

 

[brightspark]

I agree,i think its fair to heavy duty for a simple thing like that,that's my next port of call I'll take it along to a few steam rallies that are held round here in the summer see if anyone can throw some light on it.

everything years ago was over engineered and twice the size and weight it needed to be. modern methods are down to the bone now so its verry credible thats what its used for