Help Identifying tool

[twistsol]

I'm unboxing the Great grandpa/grandpa/dad's antique tools and found the crank below. I have no idea what it's purpose is. Any clue what this was for?








It is v ery crudely casted so I don't know if the notch on the side is intentional or not.

[dbhost]

Why that is a vintage patented doohickey of course!

No?

Hmmmm.

Well just a very dumb guess here, but it has a slot between bellish ends like a guitar tuning machine. I assume that retains an end of some sort of semi stiff wire like fence wire?

My late FIL inherited some ranch properties in Mexico. While we were dealing with clearing out his estate and doing the inventory in the barns the question often was. WTF is that thing?

[twistsol]

That may be a good guess because there was a pair of fencing pliers and a farrier's hoof nipper in the same box.

[dbhost]

That is good information to have. Hmmmm. It DOES seem like it has something to do with wire fencing, like twisting out / tying up wire against a post sort of thing. I know there is a more polished item like that for tying up the ends / connections of wire for rebar, we sold the snot out of them when I worked in the home center in college...

[LCHIEN]

My first reaction was that the channels were pivots or guides for rope or cable of some sort. Like a nonsliding pulley.

[capncarl]

Looks like a tubing bender. It could very well be a round bar bender, as in 1/8,3/16, 1/4” rod. Real handy to build all manner of things with. Considering the distance between the 2 handles it was probably intended to bend box shaped rod for cages or baskets.

[Black walnut]

Looks to be a crude barrel bung wrench.

[capncarl]

Agreed, but the barrel bung wrenches I’ve seen did not have the doohickey under the handle. And this tool in the photo is a cast unit so it was purpose built.

[Condoman44]

Looks like a tool to tighten metal strapping on bundles of anything.

[twistsol]

My dad identified it. Grandma used it to tighten the clothes line.

[capncarl]

What someone used it for doesn’t mean that is what it really is! I’ve seen an old Volkswagen Beetle jack inside a church organ. It was being used to tune some part of the instrument.

[twistsol]

You mean to say that everything isn't always used for its intended purpose?

[leehljp]

My wife uses her expensive Japanese layer forged knives as screw drivers, picks, open cans and to pry things! EEK! EEK!

[nicer20]

leehljp - I can imagine what you go through. I cringe every time my wife uses her kitchen knives for similar purposes and they are not even those Japanese knives you mention. I feel that torture, Bro !!

[cwsmith]

Going on three months now and no one has identified this. What are the dimensions, especially of the slots that look like they may be for rope or pipe? That might be helpful.

CWS

[leehljp]

It looks like a bob wire (the vernacular in the mid south) (BARB for others) tightener.

[capncarl]

Used for keeping bobs in your yard?