Went on a "road trip" the other day to look at some tools a guy had.  In his assortment was this little 4 in. brass bicycle wrench.  Having never seen one like it, I decided it should go in the little pile of stuff that I wanted.  The guy said it was French but I don't know how he arrived at that conclusion, as it is not marked in any way.

Turning the little wheel on the side locks the movable jaw in position, and is also used to lock the screwdriver when it is extended.  It may be locked at any position along its length.  There appears to have been some other attachment at the top of the moveable jaw.  Unfortunately it is missing.  The body is of two pieces and is held together by three small pins.  Two at the top and one at the bottom.

I looked at the wrenches in Shultz's but no luck.  Does anybody have any idea who may have made it, and also what the missing piece may have been.

Mike

Never seen anything like it, not even close. Nice find.

Neat find.  You have my attention.  I'll follow along and learn.

could it be Nautical?

A possibility for sure.  Judging from the condition of the jaws it doesn't appear to have been used much.  Certainly not abused, but maybe the application was for a job that required very little torque.

I forgot mention that the little "hickey" at the top has a hole in each of the bosses on the end through which a small pin may be inserted.

Mike

Fantastic. Just when I thought I'd seen every old combination tool out there, along comes another one. Too bad there isn't any maker's mark on it or other clue as to where it came from.

Hmmm, does the little thumb screw hold the top jaw solidly enough for wrench use? Or would the jaws would simply slip farther apart when used on a nut of moderate tightness?

Closer inspection shows that there appears to be small serrations on the shank of the wrench closest to the knob.  I speculate that there is probably a plate with matching serrations that the knob pushes against to lock everything in place.

Locking the wrench in position also locks the screwdriver in position.

Mike

Ah, that makes sense.

Now if we could only figure out what used to fit on the little hickey.....

Just browsing around through old threads today....


Mike, did you ever get any more info as to who made this wrench and what it was for?

Neat little wrench.  If it is a bicycle wrench, perhaps there was a little fixed jaw attachment on top to adjust spokes?

Quote from: john k on April 21, 2014, 01:11:30 PM
Neat little wrench.  If it is a bicycle wrench, perhaps there was a little fixed jaw attachment on top to adjust spokes?

I was wondering the same thing. And if we could only find a picture of a complete one somewhere, I might be able to re-create the missing piece out of brass bar stock.

Hah!! It only took 5 years, but I finally found the patent for this guy. Was right there on Datamp the whole time:

http://www.datamp.org/patents/search/advance.php?pn=406666&id=39771&set=84

Well I'll be damned! I guess "all things do come to he who waits". Nice job! Truth be told, I'd forgotten about that wrench, although I still have it.
I have to read the patent to see what those missing parts were for.

Thanks Bob,

Mike

Cool find!