It has been some time back when I was out picking that I ran across this wooden clamps. They were not all found at the same place but all came out of old woodworking shops. They just looked to cool to leave and it nothing else will make nice wall art in the shop.

I havne found any real markings or names on any of them so I know no real history to them.

 

These are about 50" long and in full working order.

The loose end will just slide up and down the wooden bar but lock in when pressure is applied. The adjustment end is all free and will screw in and out.

I then ran across this neat wooden bar clamp.

The adjustment handle is on the end and the hardware mounted inside. It has been cracked so you can see the workings.

There are notches in the bottom and as you move the loose end it will lock into the notches so you can tighten the clamp.

It has a spring spring clip to hold it tight against the bar.

The other piece is a homemade bench vise I believe.

The gear on the end is wired on so they could use the inside threads for the adjustments. The outer gear has no other function.

You could mount this under a table and with stop dogs tighten a piece down. It has a bar that moves in and out as you tighten.

I guess you could put a piece in that part and used it but you would  be limited to the size you could hold. 

Anyway they were just nice old pieces that needed to be saved and not put into the burn pile. So I'll just display them in the shop with a few other tools that have called my name.

Hopefully I'll be bak out Patriot Picking again real soon.

Till Then....

Happy Patriot Picking

 

Nice score! That's a really cool looking bench vice.

Nice score! That's a really cool looking bench vice.

Thanks Lew!

John,

My neighbor has a pair just like the first set that you show, I'll try to see if they have any markings on them.

can never have too many clamps

 

I don't think you are using the bench vise the right way or it has limited movement when not attached to the bench. try clamping it down and trying it out.

2nd thought is it was used to press tenons into mortise joints and hold it while it dried.

 

 

Edited August 6, 201510 yr by DRAGON1

The bar clamps look like the faces of the clamps are not 90 degrees to the bar at the screw side or the other end.  That leads me to believe they were made by hand and someone got the size wrong if the faces aren't at 90.

Try making a bigger bar out of maple and make it so the clamp faces are at 90.

 

Yea, Mike I was just putting something in there to show that it would tighten up. I really think that it mount under a bench and you would have used a bench dog to hold the other end. You are correct in that it would be very limited to the size and the amount of travel it had to clamp.

I think that worm gear and shaft came out of a beam drill...