Any idea what this tool is?

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railrider1920

railrider1920

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NW Fla Panhandle, USA.
Hi Folks,
I got this tool several years ago. I don't remember where exactly from. The lever in the middle is used to open the tool. Kinda like a pair of vise grips. The part that is between the "jaws" screws into one jaw. The other side is rounded over, like a half sphere. The other jaw end is bowl shaped to receive the end of the part in the middle. Bad pictures, sorry.

tool-1.jpg


tool-2.jpg
 
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Buried somewhere in the 'stuff' in my shop, I have one similar to that. I believe a rubber pad is missing from the top section. The tool I have came from the Douglas Aircraft Company in Chicago where my father worked in WWII. The clamp was used to hold the aluminum body sheet to the airplane frame work while holes were drilled or rivets put in. I'm pretty sure that is what you have also.
 
I don't buy Hank's idea or Joe's. For either of those activities, it would not be necessary for the tool to work like a clamp and have a release lever. Frank's explanation makes a lot of sense.
 
I thought I'd post a pic of the copy I have which I was told was a sheet metal clamp used in an automotive plant to temporarily hold body panels being welded but that doesn't preclude them from being used for something else before that! My background is in the sheet metal trade so obviously was easily converted into C clamps comonly used in the trade.[:)]

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I agree with Frank, it is a "toggle clamp". It can clamp parts together that have a lip or structural angle without having to back out a screw like a c-clamp would.

Paul in AR
 
Looks like an old De-Sta-Co squeeze action plier clamp to me. These have been made in several styles for many many years.

http://www.reidsupply.com/aDetail.aspx?N=1003805&A=TC-482&An=1003805&On=1003805&ST=
 
Thanks for all the replies and opinions. I have been out of town for the last few days or I would have gotten beck the this thread sooner.

Thanks for the info on these things. I have been wondering everytime I have picked them up.
Looks like it's a squeeze action plier clamp. Now I know.
Thanks again
 
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