What Kind of Tool Is This?

The guy at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, pretty much has the answer for what this is. It is a field set of hand clamop/holders for soldiering/brazzing/welding bus bars and ground clamps together. I askjed a friend with Bell Canada (AT&T) what they were, he was a phone person in the Royal Canadian Army during WW II. Your set is in better condition that his set, he wants to know if you want to trade.

Jerry

[Dr. Rob]

"...filled with a powdered mixture of metals much like Thermite, and is ignited by a small flint sparking device. The powder ignites, melts and forms a fast, quick braze-like weld..."

Oooh, now I get it...That's what Clint Eastwood did in Escape From Alcatraz. You know, with the spoon digging tool. (* It has since been ascertained that most of the digging was done by convict labourers carrying out maintenance work, who were left unguarded with jackhammers!)

[Tuckerfan]

Well, finally think we've figured out what it is! The answer comes from Karl Allwang, of the Power Machinery and Machine Tools section of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">the work tool is a special soldering tweezers that is used to weld together two pieces of work materials. The tweezers were patented (Deutsches Reichspatent - German Imperial Patent) and were fabricated by Norm-Mess company. We know nothing about this company, for we do not have their papers. It is a pity that we can't tell you more about this most interesting work tool.</font>

Further detail was provided by another person

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">I asked an electrician I know, and he said the action sounds like a "Cadweld" mold handle. This follows the mentions earlier of copper busbar or grounding bar soldering, and the translated German mention of soldering.
Cadweld welding uses a graphite or ceramic mold that is clamped around the cables. The mold is filled with a powdered mixture of metals much like Thermite, and is ignited by a small flint sparking device. The powder ignites, melts and forms a fast, quick braze-like weld on the cables. I'm told it works for many combinations of metals, some of whom couldn't be attached any other way but mechanically (IE, with screws or clamps.)</font>

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[Tuckerfan]

Well, I've been able to find out a little bit more about the tool. It seems to have been made (this is a "best guess") for the German post office, which was also the telephone company. Still no definite info on what it is, however.

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[George Hodge]

Tuckerfan,I'm gonna guess that it's a valve spring compressor,for removing and installing engine valves.

[SJorgensen]

I had a funny looking device once and I had no idea what it was. There was a patent number on it though so I went to the internet and to the US patent office and found everything you could want to know about it including original drawings. Good luck.
Spencer

[darryl]

It's a bedspring installer, complete with two springs ready to be installed. Or it's a hand exercise machine. Or it's a thumbfingerpincherouch#%[email protected]$%. Wish I'd never seen it.

[Jaymo]

Hmmm, precursor to the speculum??

Nazi "torture speculum"??

Overengineered oyster shucker??

Maybe a scrotum opener for vasectomizing??

Rib spreader for veterinary use??

Barbecue rib separator??

Hemorrhoid stretcher??

"Wurst" separator??(you know, sausage to us in the US)

Saurkraut sorting device??

Bun spreader for above mentioned wurst and kraut??

Hmm, hungry now, must go eat.

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[Tuckerfan]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by CompositeEngr:
Looks like a wire stripper. Are there attach points or markings where cutters or jaws were fixed?</font>

Not so far as the owner of the tool's been able to tell. Of course, without knowing what it is, it's hard to tell if the thing's complete or not.

[CompositeEngr]

Looks like a wire stripper. Are there attach points or markings where cutters or jaws were fixed?

[Tuckerfan]

yf, here's a link to a gallery page showing various views of the tool: http://www.pbase.com/mhendo/tool You can click on the pictures to make them larger.

[yf]

Looks like its designed for stretching something, like maybe a tension spring?

Can you post pics of it from all sides?

[Martin]

Sort of looks like the fore runner to the Leatherman tools.....

[Thrud]

Tuckerfan:
I was thunking it might be a tool for nazi warplanes - it might have even been for buzzbombs.

[JCHannum]

DRP also could stand for dirty rotten pliers.