MWTCA July 2018 'What's It' Project

[John Morris]

Grand Prize

Sponsored by Woodcraft Supply ~ Win a beautiful Rob Cosman 22-15 TPI Dovetail Saw with Black Resin Handle (value $250), with your referenced answer to this months "What's It". This months "What's It" is sponsored by our supporter Woodcraft Supply.

 

Rob Cosman designed and developed this dovetail saw to address the problems he had seen. The first two inches of the blade has super-fine, 22 TPI for ease of starting the cut, while the remainder of the blade has more aggressive 15 TPI for finishing the cut quickly. With an extra-heavy brass back and an overall weight of 22 oz., versus 13 oz. of other high-end dovetail saws, the saw itself provides the downward pressure for smooth, vibration-free cuts. Composite handles have carved finger recesses for a comfortable fit in the hand. A slight .002 inch (per side) set makes for dead-straight saw cuts and produces a .024 inch kerf. Each saw is personally tested by Rob prior to shipping. Overall saw length is 15-1/8", blade length is 10", cutting depth is 1-5/8".

 

"What's It" Basic Rules Reminder (For a full run down on this project and rules please go to: "The Patriot Woodworker and MWTCA "What's It" project") Only Patriot Woodworker Members are eligible to participate and receive the award. The MWTCA only accepts a verified source to support your answer, so one should be submitted with your answer, such as a patent, catalog entry, tool book reference, or a respectable website on the subject. Do not let these requirements prevent you from having fun and submitting educated answers on the subject without verification, we can worry about references later. All answers are welcome, as well as healthy debates regarding "What's It". If a verified and referenced answer is not arrived at by the end of each month's "What's It" project, a random draw will be performed for a "One Year MWTCA Club Membership". Only Patriot Woodworker's who participate in this "What's It" topic will be included in the random draw.

 

Ok ladies and gentlemen, we now have our July "What's it" live and ready!

The image(s) below is a MWTCA "What's It" image for you to research, and tell us all here in this topic post, just what the heck is it!

 

Project details

The information provided hereon is all the information that is provided, no further information on this item will be added.

Remember, "What's It" is not always woodworking related!

 

 

[steven newman]

Very large drill press's chuck key....

 

[Grandpadave52]

My first guess on this is some sort of engine barring device used to engage the flywheel ring gear to manually rotate the crankshaft while performing service procedures such as adjusting engine valve clearance, checking injector timing (if a diesel) or other work where incremental rotation of the crankshaft is needed. Several engine manufacturers patented their own versions particularly for field (shop) service. Additionally, various tool manufacturers created their own after-market versions.

 

Most current & recent versions allow for a 1/2" square drive ratchet to be placed in the end so the tool did not have to be removed to continue rotating. 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/OTC-7471A-Engine-Barring-Cummins/dp/B00063YWUK

 

https://www.otctools.com/products/cummins-engine-barring-tool

 

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3395588.pdf

 

https://www.apexinds.com/tools/J-38587-A.html

 

https://www.greenpartstore.com/John-Deere-Servicegard-Engine-Turning-Tool-JDE81-1.html

 

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=antique+engine+barring+device&atb=v92-6_g&iax=images&ia=images

 

Edited July 6, 2018 by Grandpadave52

[Cal]

It does have a striking resemblance to the John Deere tool Dave linked to.

[Chips N Dust]

The crank from an old ice cream maker

[Gerald]

There is a ball detent on the side to hold in a socket. I think it is for a ratchet lever to tighten and loosen a gear or binder .Much larger than this of Coarse.

 

[Grandpadave52]

3 hours ago, Chips N Dust said:

The crank from an old ice cream maker

Could be...what flavor though?

[John Morris]

3 hours ago, Chips N Dust said:

The crank from an old ice cream maker

Good one Kelly, but the crank would have a 90 degree bend at the handle I believe if it was a crank type mechanism.

[DAB]

i'll never win one of these.  oh well.

 

[HandyDan]

I have a Unimat lathe that has a similar lever crank which is used to move the head of the lathe in a drill press action.  I will get some pictures since it is a removeable item when not in use.  Other lathes and machinery use similar.  It is item 31 on page 43 of this manual.

 

https://www.scribd.com/document/46540204/Emco-Unimat-SL-and-DB-Manual-English

 

Edited July 6, 2018 by HandyDan

[Grandpadave52]

Could be Dan...the detent ball on the end of the shaft suggests a handle to be easily installed/removed yet secure during use.

[steven newman]

Maybe a more modern day version?

Picked at a yard sale a while back...fits the chuck on my drill press..

A ratchet version....grip is rubber. 

Still looking for a Brand name for it....

[Grandpadave52]

3 hours ago, steven newman said:

Picked at a yard sale a while back...fits the chuck on my drill press..

That's cool Steven...never seen anything like it before but a really good idea.

Looks to be very well built and fully serviceable to change gears and switch lever.

Is it a steel body or cast resin/reinforced fiberglass body?

I'll keep a watch during my web perusing for any kind of info.

[p_toad]

https://55tools.blogspot.com/2014/07/set-552.html

 

Listed as being 11" long which might be a clue.

[Grandpadave52]

13 minutes ago, p_toad said:

https://55tools.blogspot.com/2014/07/set-552.html

 

Listed as being 11" long which might be a clue.

"Hyperized the link for ya' Pete. Thanks for the find...more information than we had...Good job Sherlocking!

https://55tools.blogspot.com/2014/07/set-552.html

[HandyDan]

Here are the pictures of my Unimat lathe.  Here it is with the geared lever installed.

 

 

Here it is with the geared lever removed.  It just pulls out.  No retainers of any kind.

 

 

Here is the geared lever.  Not exactly the same but close.  Would have to find the exact application to get any closer.

 

It actually had a plastic knob that went missing.  Darn gremlins.

[Grandpadave52]

28 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

Here is the geared lever.  Not exactly the same but close.  Would have to find the exact application to get any closer.

Wonder if the one shown could be an earlier Unimat model? Angle of the handle to the gear shaft looks pretty darn close. Is the overall length in the neighborhood of what Pete found?

I suppose there are Unimat clones out there; I'm not familiar enough to know brands/models.

[Ron Altier]

It looks like a rotation positioner. When working on a motor/engine, you need to slowly turn the crank to set timing, check clearances, etc.

[HandyDan]

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Is the overall length in the neighborhood of what Pete found?

What Pete found is another "What's It" of the same piece we are looking at.  These things get passed around quite a bit from my searching experience.  We are not the only site that joins in.  To answer your other question the overall length of my piece is eight of nine inches.  I would have to measure it for sure.

Edited July 7, 2018 by HandyDan

[Grandpadave52]

7 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

To answer your other question the overall length of my piece is eight of nine inches.

Reasonable close though, so you may be on to something...the real sleuthing will be to determine make/model...of course that's where we seem to get hung up most of the time.