Big old heavy thingamajig

oldgoaly · January 22, 2018, 05:35:10 PM

Wonder if it got that twist from trying to remove a nipple or broken pipe from a ? So let guess if the small end fits 1/2" pipe the larger one would fit a 1"pipe? or 3/4" and 1 1/4"

lptools · January 22, 2018, 05:45:09 PM

Hello, I was thinking the same as Chillylulu, but my 2 cents worth is that the lower ( smaller) section has been twisted from its original shape. Regards, Lou

Bill M · January 22, 2018, 07:38:37 PM

No, it doesn't look bent by accident, this thing would put a dent in a bank vault.

wvtools · January 22, 2018, 07:44:24 PM

The bent end close up looks like what the old tool catalogs call a nipple wrench. I have never seen one with a handle like that. They are usually brass. My grandfather was a steamfitter who overtightened everything (he passed that trait on to me). His nipple wrench was bent like the one in the photos.

Bill M · January 22, 2018, 08:01:55 PM

Straight on

Bill M · January 22, 2018, 08:14:50 PM

Socket at end of handle is about 3/4 inch

Bill M · January 22, 2018, 08:18:57 PM

I have other angles, the twist is too perfect. I think that whatever it is, it was cast this way.
The writing on the side is simply "patd applied for" in all caps.

turnnut · January 22, 2018, 08:38:52 PM

can you remove the twist piece from the handle ? is it possible that the handle does not belong with it ??

Bill M · January 23, 2018, 03:04:39 PM

Nope, it's all one big solid Mjolinir type of thing. I bet I could drop this thing from a plane and it would still do whatever it is that it's supposed to do...

bill300d · January 23, 2018, 06:18:21 PM

No doubt. All I can come up with has all been suggested and discussed all ready.

mvwcnews · January 23, 2018, 09:56:28 PM

"Spud" wrench for the left / right hand threaded nipples that connected sections of cast iron heating radiators. The nipples had internal lugs that these engaged. This one experienced extreme torque to get that twist. At some point in the past 35 years a catalog illustration for one was shown in the Missouri Valley Wrench Club newsletter but I can't track it down right now.

P.S. == Probably the twist is original -- would that help keep it in place? At any rate, the MVWC Newsletter appearance was a 1911 W. D. ALLEN Co. catalog listing reprinted on pg. 12 of the 1993 MVWC Newsletter & the listing includes mention of the 3/4" socket in the end of the handle. But the tool may be broken -- By coincidence, a MVWC member forwarded a photo of a complete one in his collection & gave me the page citation for the newsletter item. The attached image is an edited version of the catalog listing along with the MVWC member's photo of his wrench. His also shows the twist, but has two sizes extending in the opposite direction from the handle.

turnnut · January 24, 2018, 10:45:38 AM

if you read Stan's picture, and look at #1 they describe the hexagon opening like on Bill M's wrench, the picture does not show his,
but it does describe it.

?? the hexagon opening; if I remember right, the radiators were made up in sections and had to be bolted together.

Plyerman · January 24, 2018, 11:13:28 AM

Yay! Great detective work Stan

Yadda · January 24, 2018, 01:30:43 PM

Quote from: Plyerman on January 24, 2018, 11:13:28 AM
Yay! Great detective work Stan

I agree! Super Sleuth work!

Bill M · January 24, 2018, 08:35:32 PM

I'll need to read this more than once but this is it, I'm sure. I was looking at it just before I checked back in and was about to suggest it was a sort of 'star' drill because it appears to have been hammered at the opposing end, but....

This has been nagging at this 51 year old since he was about 11!
Thank you, Stan. I hope I can help someone out sometime in the future like this, like I said (or think I did): this was 'bucket list' stuff; hadda find out what it was before I died!

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Big old heavy thingamajig