What are they????

[Bogstandard]

I have been digging out my bottom storage shed and came across these little items.

I know exactly what they are, and I rescued them from a car boot sale for £2 many years ago.
I offered to give them to a relevant museum, but they refused as they said they had enough of them. So eventually I will find a use for them.
If you know the answer, please leave it for a few days to give the members something to tickle their brains with.

Now a few clues.

They are almost all cast iron, the handwheels are approximately 4" in diameter. They are both different patterns, but both do exactly the same job. They could be used today for what they are designed for, but aren't. For the giveaway clue, Orville and Wilbur Wright would have almost definitely used one of these.

I am not after the general use, but their exact use, as they were made to do one specific job.

Bogs

 

[Twinsquirrel]

k, I'll have a go..... are they used to splice the rigging wires on an early aircraft?

 

[Cedge]

John
I'll avoid letting the cat out of the bag, but I'm also aware of these tools, having recently turned one down myself. The one I saw was of automotive origin, but serving the same duty.

Steve

 

[mklotz]

A shot in the dark - bicycle chain breaker.

[The Wright brothers were bicycle mechanics and their plane used chain-driven props.]

 

[slink74659]

Are they bicycle spoke threaders?

 

[Stan]

The knife is missing, but it is a hand cranked apple peeler.

 

[Bogstandard]

Bright load of devils aren't you, I thought this would keep you baffled for at least a couple of days. Slink has it spot on.

I know that for a fact, as I used to watch the bike makers apprentice making hundreds of them at a time. Sometime around the middle of the last century, I used to visit my grandparents who lived next door to a bicycle shop.

It might be a bit of interest to members to see how it was done.


Here is the machine set up with a spoke.

The spokes were not thread cut, but the thread was cold rolled onto the then soft iron wire spokes. If you look at the nut behind the straight cut hardened rollers you will see it has a tapered thread. As you moved the nut to the rear, the rollers exerted more pressure onto the spoke. The angle of the thread was caused by the rollers being mounted onto angled pins.

On this shot you can see the angled spindles, the rollers also could move backwards and forwards slightly, so they could find their own position on the threads being rolled.

Ingenious little monkies were the Victorians.

I will have to have another root about to see if I can find something a bit more challenging.

Bogs

BTW these were a setup photo. The spoke you see is in fact a stainless one, and this machine would have great difficulty cold rolling that. Why do I have spokes knocking about, cheapest near enough stainless 2mm rod you will find anywhere.

 

[Cedge]

If memory serves, I believe the one I encountered was part of an early mechanics kit for an early 1900's Oldsmoibile.

Steve

 

[CrewCab]

Bright load of devils aren't you,

??? and there I was thinking it was an acorn peeler ............. for use in bio degradable finger engine construction : .... Oh well, wrong again





Nice one John, thanks ....... it's really interesting to see things like this :bow:
CC

 

[malcolmt]

Hi John
That's excellent, isn't it fascinating to see how things used to be done. As you quite rightly say " clever Bu..ers those Victorians. ;D

Malcolm