anyone know what this is?   the thumb screws serve only to open the "jaws"...nothing makes the "jaws" tight other than gravity

Looks to me like an old bath towel.  What the neat looking rusty thing on top is...no idea.

Does it have a wooden bottom with metal clamps?  One of my friends and I have been wondering lately how they held the logs when they bored them out for water pipes.   I wonder if this clamp could be for that purpose.   What is the diameter of the round part?

It appears that tightening the two screws at the back of the arms, closes and clamps the jaws.... I'd guess for holding something that is a thin sheet, wound into in a roll, so that it can be cut or worked on (the whole device being mounted on a wall or workbench or held in a vice)

My second guess was a stove pipe clamp, so that would fit into Billman's theory.

Farmers spare torpedo rack?   

Chilly

this thing is about 24 inches long and does not clamp with any more strength than the weight of the "jaws".  the "jaws" seem to have been machined to be smooth where they come together.

Quote from: rhpabp on July 22, 2014, 09:35:15 AM
this thing is about 24 inches long and does not clamp with any more strength than the weight of the "jaws".  the "jaws" seem to have been machined to be smooth where they come together.

If the screws at the other ends of the arms are adjusted, they appear a) to limit the opening of the jaws, and b) to allow the jaws to be clamped shut - the question is which is the correct interpretation?????

I'm thinking it goes to a elevator a small portable one a farmer would have to unload corn or beans into his silo or crib.