Some kind of a clamp or gripping tool

[amecks]

Found this forgotten what's-it upstairs in the garage today.  There are no markings - at least not yet.  I'll clean it tomorrrow lightly to look for any stampings.  The serrations in the jaws have a helical pattern and the is that on "tooth" that sticks out on one side.  The background grid markings are one inch.

[lptools]

Hello, Al. My first thought is jar opener, but maybe automotive? Oil Filter Wrench/ Regards, Lou

[Yadda]

The protrusion seems to indicate it probably isn't for jars?  Maybe a special fitting wrench?

[Ken W.]

I also first thought jar opener.

[gibsontool]

Looks to be about 3"ID so I'd lean towards some type of filter wrench.

[amecks]

Cleaned it with a wire brush - it looks nicer - but not a maker's mark anywhere.  There is a overall corrosion but not so bad as to hide a stamping.  I looked with a loupe (magnifying glass).

Is there any reason one would want to punch a whole in a filter while removing it?  Maybe the tooth punched a whole to drain the filter before removal.  I know when I take oil filters off it can be messy.  Maybe I will start punching holes in them - or actually use this tool.
Al

[amecks]

I just went to DATAMP and looked thru all 113 jar opener patents.  It seems a popular feature was a "finger" that rested on top of the lid to keep the jaws aligned on the right part of the cap.  That could be the reason for the toothlike object on my device.
http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=292710&typeCode=0
Of all the openers this one is so very close.  Note how the central rib is formed as on my wrench.  The patent includes linings of "sheet-rubber, rubber cloth, or leather" however this tool has serrated teeth.  Also the patent has a can-opener and no evidence here of anything like that.  DATAMP says "not known to have been produced".
The 1884 patent was to Alexander Van Slyke of Fort Plain NY, about 2 hours from here on the Thruway.  While I do not remember where I got this tool I do know I never purchased it.  It just came into my possession somehow.  A distinct possibility is that it may have been in the basement of the old house #1 Rose St in Jordan - built about 1900.  In the basement of the house was a corner pantry filled with canning jars.  Many jars still filled with their contents, having been jarred in 1946 - pickles, pears, corn relish and other stuff.  I can't specifically remember but I might have found it in that pantry.

[mvwcnews]

Al,
Having been the "guilty party" putting most of those jar opener patents into DATAMP, my guess is the tool is a jar opener -- some of them were over-built for the intended purpose.  Get a little pitting in the canning jar glass & a little "boil-over" between the lid and the threads on the jar & you have a lot of friction to overcome.  Especially with those "zinc" caps that had a glass lid up inside, but the seal was a rubber ring between the rim of the cap & a shoulder on the jar.

Regards, Stan Schulz

[lptools]

"The protrusion seems to indicate it probably isn't for jars?  Maybe a special fitting wrench?"
 
Maybe for a hose coupling? Fire/ Dairy/Milk Tank??????????

[bill300d]

That nub just might be there to keep from getting too low on the lid that you catch the shoulder of the jar and break it. That how I see it.

[amecks]

Right, Bill.  After looking at the patent pictures of 113 jar openers, the number of openers that had similar tabs convinced me that this was indeed a jar opener.  I feel like this item must be related to the Van Slyke patent somehow.  It is eerily similar - except for the can opener attachment, which, in the patent he describes as one device among other devices that could be attached.  It could also be left off.  The patent describes rubber or leather inserts.  Maybe they proved to be unnecessary and the designer went with the cast serrated ribs.

[bill300d]

That patent is so close that i would think that is the one amecks. Its not unusual that the end product doesn't look exactly like the patent illustration. You'll probably never know for sure.

[crankshaftdan II]

The protrusion might have been to keep the unit on top of the lid as previously stated and also once opened you might still have a vacuum effect to deal with from the inside seal of the cap-thus this flange was used to break the final seal??  Just a WAG on my part as I can't remember for sure how we opened them back then!!!

[mvwcnews]

....[snip] ...  to break the final seal??  Just a WAG on my part as I can't remember for sure how we opened them back then!!!

To break the seal, mom used to pull on the little tab on the rubber ring with a pliers (worked until the rubber got stiff from re-use & the tab broke off).

[amecks]

Good point crankshaftdan,  The tab is wedge shaped so the point would work as a pry for the lid.
Thanks
Al