MWTCA March 2020 'What's It' Project (925)

[John Morris]

"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.

 

Additional What's It Rules

• Unless you are completely sure what this item is, please avoid "definitive statements" that appear that you are without a doubt claiming that you know what the item is. For example stating, "this item is called a "widget xx" used for "insert purpose here". If you are making a definitive statement you must accompany your statement with evidence or proof from a secondary source.
• An example of acceptable statements within the realm of having fun and educated guesses would be something like this, "I believe it could be", or "It appears it's made for this or that", etc etc etc...

 

Ok ladies and gentlemen, we now have our "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.

 

 

 

 

[Larry Buskirk]

...Well I'll be danged, that's the second one of those I've seen recently.

The neighbors got one, and asked me if I knew what the heck it was. ..

I do know if you move the handle the pullies move into the heart shaped outer metal ring like some kind of brake.

[HandyDan]

Looking at the construction that action appears to be the bands would tighten around the wheels when the lever is actuated.  The wheels look flat on the outside and no place to insert anything.  I even make  a silly a&& guess as to what it could be used for.

[Larry Buskirk]

2 hours ago, HandyDan said:

Looking at the construction that action appears to be the bands would tighten around the wheels when the lever is actuated.  The wheels look flat on the outside and no place to insert anything.  I even make  a silly a&& guess as to what it could be used for.

Dan,

The wheels (Had pullies on my mind) actually move into the band when you move the lever.

On the one my neighbor has the slot in the handle is big enough for me to fit 3 fingers into. 

I couldn't find any markings on the one he has to help identify what the heck it is/was. 

[Al B]

Thinking this works in conjunction with a single pulley, like a block and tackle to raise or lower a heavy object, like a large door

[HandyDan]

26 minutes ago, Larry Buskirk said:

Dan,

The wheels (Had pullies on my mind) actually move into the band when you move the lever.

On the one my neighbor has the slot in the handle is big enough for me to fit 3 fingers into. 

I couldn't find any markings on the one he has to help identify what the heck it is/was. 

 

You should get that from your neighbor and dissect it.  It is really hard to visualize what moves when the wheels are mounted a solid frame.  I feel the band assemble and the wheel assemble move into each other somehow.

 

 

 

[Larry Buskirk]

@HandyDan,

I'll check if he still has it, or knows where he put it. He might have put it out for sale.

If you look at the center photo the slotted part below the handle slides back and forth, the bands are connected to this center section. It may very well be that both parts move together.

It was 2 or 3 weeks ago I played with it trying to figure out what it is/was.

[Gerald]

The handle pushes the wheels forward to brake a shaft that is in the hole on the bottom. Maybe to control the speed instead of totally stop the shaft.

[HandyDan]

3 hours ago, Gerald said:

The handle pushes the wheels forward to brake a shaft that is in the hole on the bottom. Maybe to control the speed instead of totally stop the shaft.

 

The hole is fixed and so are the wheels.  The only part that can move is the heard shaped band.

[Ron Dudelston]

It acts looks and performs like a hand brake to something.  To what, I don’t know.  I wonder how it attaches.

[Gene Howe]

I'm guessing it's not pneumatic.

[Larry Buskirk]

Well I checked with Bruce, and we looked for it for about a half hour.

He said he doesn't remember putting it out for sale.

He does remember playing around with it again a few days to a week ago. 

Wouldn't surprise me if it was right in front of us somewhere in the 10,000+ SF building.

 

Bruce has got all kinds of things that leave us 

Half the time he just puts a ?, and price on an object. (Say $5.00)

It's funny watching him when someone asks what is this, and he replies $5.00.

But what is it? He replies if you want it it's $5.00.

 

[Larry Buskirk]

1 hour ago, Ron Dudelston said:

 I wonder how it attaches.

I was wondering the same thing Ron.

The hole doesn't go all the way through.

[DuckSoup]

 My guess would be some sort of tensioner similar to what's used on a reel to reel. Used to apply tension to a band or ribbon.

 The first photo shows a hole and the back of three studs. The hole would mount to a stud on a piece of equipment with nut & washer, based on the wear of the other studs.

 Two studs on the back hold the round dowels, threaded on the opposite end to accept the screws.

 The photo shows a third stud in the middle the I believe to be a rod.

 

 

 The flat plate on the top I believe is fixed to the back mounting plate maybe brazed on the inside. A 90 degree bracket with 2 rivets to hold it and threaded to accept the screw.

 

If you would remove the three screws and pull the plate back with the handle this would allow access and then you could insert a band or ribbon over the dowels and under the rod. The spring would adjust the tension. The lack of wear on the spring has me thinking that nothing moves through this but is use with other parts that require the tension.

 

 

[Ron Dudelston]

I’m going to agree fully with Bob.  In fact, I wrote something similar to his explanation, read his and erased mine.  Think banding machine.

[Gunny]

Reminds me of a manual tensioner.  A belt could run along the outer smooth surface.  Kind of like a belt sander tensioner.

[Gerald]

Ok now for a slightly different take . Looks like a feed rate adjustment. The thread or banding goes thru behind the plate above the wheels. This item might be thick so do not think film but more like banding. The tension is applied not by pushing the handle down but pulling it up to expand the band toward the plate. Also a possibility that this is for alignment and not tension.

[steven newman]

Might be use to REPAIR a belt.....as in the belts that drove this..

Because the "slide" attached to the handle slides TOWARDS the wheels....instead of moving the wheels.   It may also pull the outside plate towards the wheels.   The wheels are more like guides, that rotate when the slide goes by, guiding it along.....Could also be a hand brake....that "hole" could be for a bracket that fit into that hole, and was attached to a machine by that bracket.   Maybe while the operator was doing set-ups on a lathe,  when done, release the "belt clamp" and the lathe will start running again...

Edited March 9, 2020 by steven newman

[John Morris]

 

Winner

@DuckSoup has been selected as this months MWTCA Membership recipient.

Since a verifiable answer was never arrived at for this item, we went to random draw.

 

Award

Bob, for your participation you have won a 2020 Calendar Year membership into the MWTCA.

Please Private Message me your contact info, shipping address, spouse or significant others name (if applicable).

Thank you all for your participation!

 

Links

• https://mwtca.org/member-benefits/
• https://mwtca.org/the-gristmill/
• https://mwtca.org/special-publications/

 

Gristmill Magazine Sample

 

[HandyDan]

Congrats Bob.

Edited April 4, 2020 by HandyDan