Help with ID on this interesting vintage tool/machine

[ken erickson]

This is an interesting one!
A family member that does a lot of selling/buying of vintage items came across this at a Goodwill for a few bucks.
I have not seen in person but this is what I THINK I know about it so far.

Approximately 14 inches long.

The three brass gears mesh properly if installed inline with the three "axle" holes.

The knobs on the ends of the axles look to me like cam lobes. Two of the four have the same profile, while the other two are both different from each other and the first two.

The cam lobes come in from the opposite side that the gears sit on.

The block that the two pillars with thumb screws rides in a t-slot in the base.

It appears as if there is a "pusher" stick of sorts.

The only markings that can be read are EXT. TT. 34 39. The cams have a sticker with TT-4. TT-3. with a date of 3/4/39 and what looks like a signature.

What a few guess's are on my part. I do not believe this is a chip or sawdust making tool. I think it perhaps is an accessory tool for a lager machine with this doing a very specific job.

 

[mcfarmall]

It's a bull$#!t grinder, of course!

 

[bird dogger]

That's an interesting gadget for something. Finely made, too. Hope somebody can figure it out!!!
It could even be for some "Quack" medical device back in the day?

 

[Fordtech86]

I thought for sure @bird dogger would have known what it was

I was going to throw out a WAG that it’s something for an old knitting loom

 

[woodman55]

To me the 3/4/39 is a date. March 4 1939, or April 3 1939. Are there timing marks on the gears? The item in the third picture looks like a cam. The blocks with the thumb screws look like movable clamps to me. It reminds me of some form of a straightener to me.

 

[ken erickson]

To me the 3/4/39 is a date. March 4 1939, or April 3 1939. Are there timing marks on the gears? The item in the third picture looks like a cam. The blocks with the thumb screws look like movable clamps to me. It reminds me of some form of a straightener to me.

As mentioned I do believe that the wooden ends of the axle shafts do have cam lobes. Two are the same profile, 3 and 4 are each have a different profile.

I do not have this item in hand, but from my discussion and the pictures I do not believe there to be any timing marks on the gears.

 

[bird dogger]

I thought for sure @bird dogger would have known what it was

I was going to throw out a WAG that it’s something for an old knitting loom

HaHa!! I'm stumped.....but very curious to find out. I agree with @woodman55 that the numbers are/could be a date code. Did anybody notice the two tiny eyehooks screwed into the wood at two locations. Suggesting the device might be "pulled along" whatever it's used on?

That could very well play into your idea of an automatic loom of some kind. The cams could trip a device to insert a "pattern" into the weave every so often? It really does look of loom build type and quality, now that you mention it.

 

[ken erickson]

Did anybody notice the two tiny eyehooks screwed into the wood at two locations.

I had noticed the the eye hooks. One is on the base, the other is on the sliding piece with the two pillars. I had thought perhaps that the sliding piece is inserted 180 degrees off and that a spring might connect between the eye hooks.

If you notice also one of the axle/cam bushings has pulled out of the wood and is located on the one axle/cam.

I also believe as noted in my first post that 3/4/39 is most likely a date.

One item of note. I do not see any provisions for a hand crank or pulley to power this contraption. That is why I thought perhaps it was an accessory to a larger machine, perhaps driven by a pinion gear that meshes with one of the 3 brass gears?

 

[bird dogger]

Are the gears identical? Or of a different tooth count for additional variation to whatever it might be used for or on?

 

[NCL4701]

I don’t know what it is but I do agree it looks like an industrial accessory to something. Reminds me of the the type thing I saw routinely during the brief time I worked for Reynolds Tobacco’s engineering department, sometimes dealing with production machines from the late 1800’s still running in the late 1980’s.

Only thing I could suggest based on experience trying to identify similar mystery objects from our area. Consider where it was found. The Goodwill location isn’t a highly reliable indicator but it’s all you have unless there happens to be some info on it somewhere to narrow down the location or identify the original owner.

For that area and time period (assuming that 1939 date) find out who the manufacturers in the area were. Often, there are only one or two during that time period. If they’re still in business, often there’s some sort of company history/company museum person that can tell you what it is. If they’re not but were bought out, that’s still a possibility.

Local museums in the area where it was found are also good sources of identifying odd stuff like that. I’ve been amazed how many times a local museum curator can look at something and immediately tell me what it is, where it came from, what it was used for, and sometimes who owned it.

 

[ken erickson]

Some additional pictures and hopefully a hint or two.

There is a metal stamping of the word BOSTON on the hub section of the gears. No timing marks that we can see.

One piece had a hand written note, "use over F. W. tool in T. T. EXH.

Tomorrow my family member should be able to take some pictures of how the wooden tools that fit into the pillar slots might interact with the cams.

I also had her rotate the slide with pillars 180 degrees so the hooks face each other.

One thought I had was is this. Could this be a device to DUPLICATE one of the cams? Much like a gun stock duplicator. One of the pillars would hold a follower piece, the other a metal cutter.

 

[ken erickson]

I am posting this picture just as an example of how the 3 gear set-up would produce a 1:1 movement. I wonder if the key to the machine is the cams themselves. What vintage machine would use this type of wooden cam?

 

[Russell King]

Boston Gear is a commonly used brand of gears.

Open Gearing

Boston Gear's complete line of spur, helical, miter, bevel, worms and worm gears meet virtually any gearing need with superior results. Boston Gear continues its tradition of leadership with the manufacturing of over 2,800 different styles of open gearing at our state-of-the-art facilities.

www.bostongear.com

I would assume that they cast their name on the gear and were in business back then.

Where or how would power be fed into the gears? It looks like the center gear has the shaft filling up the gear but the outer two seem like they are sort of empty.

What happens or moves if you turn one gear?

Are the two outer gears the same size (diameter) and number of teeth? What about the middle one?

But in your pic it looks like the vertical pillars are made to fit together (slot and protrusion). I don’t know why they would but they look like they could fit together.

Do you know where that small piece with the writing fits? Does it fit into the vertical pillar’s slot? Or in the vertical brass clip on the pillar?

Why is the pillar in that center position? Does it interact with the gears at all? Can it go on the other end of the base?

 

[ken erickson]

Boston Gear is a commonly used brand of gears.

Open Gearing

Boston Gear's complete line of spur, helical, miter, bevel, worms and worm gears meet virtually any gearing need with superior results. Boston Gear continues its tradition of leadership with the manufacturing of over 2,800 different styles of open gearing at our state-of-the-art facilities.

www.bostongear.com

I would assume that they cast their name on the gear and were in business back then.

Where or how would power be fed into the gears? It looks like the center gear has the shaft filling up the gear but the outer two seem like they are sort of empty.

What happens or moves if you turn one gear?

Are the two outer gears the same size (diameter) and number of teeth? What about the middle one?

But in your pic it looks like the vertical pillars are made to fit together (slot and protrusion). I don’t know why they would but they look like they could fit together.

Do you know where that small piece with the writing fits? Does it fit into the vertical pillar’s slot? Or in the vertical brass clip on the pillar?

Why is the pillar in that center position? Does it interact with the gears at all? Can it go on the other end of the base?

Russell,
Thank you for the questions! As an update I will be taking temporary possession and plan on getting the bushings freed up, gear train working and will take better pictures . Problem being is that it might be a month or more , but I will update this thread and hopefully be able to answer your questions in better detail.

Thanks to all that have viewed and responded so far!

 

[GreensvilleJay]

curious... so I found....

HOME | fwtool

www.fwtool.com

been around since 1937.....

maybe send them pix and ask if they know what it it or what t.t.exh. means ???

one of those have to see it, have to play with it, to figure out WHAT it does....
but I suspect it's an additional piece to somethin FWTool made.

 

[ken erickson]

curious... so I found....

HOME | fwtool

www.fwtool.com

been around since 1937.....

maybe send them pix and ask if they know what it it or what t.t.exh. means ???

one of those have to see it, have to play with it, to figure out WHAT it does....
but I suspect it's an additional piece to somethin FWTool made.

Thank you Jay!
Very interesting and I did use their contact form giving them my email and a brief description, fingers crossed that they respond with some information.

I am beginning to wonder if this is a non-working prototype, proof of concept, prototype or perhaps even made up in the casting department wood shop for making casting molds.

 

[RCW]

Thank you Jay!
Very interesting and I did use their contact form giving them my email and a brief description, fingers crossed that they respond with some information.

I am beginning to wonder if this is a non-working prototype, proof of concept, prototype or perhaps even made up in the casting department wood shop for making casting molds.

Hmmm…. just wondering if it could be a Salesman’s Sample of some larger machine? They were common in the first half of the 20th century.

Doubtful, but a thought.

Be curious what it really is.