NORM-MESS may mean “standard measure,” but I don’t know if that’s actually etched on German tools.
It’s not a wire stripper. There’s no sharp cutting edges, let alone circular or V-grooved ones for wires.
It’s not a “plier”, as in it’s supposed to grip something on it’s own, since the jaws are not serrated or grooved.
I don’t know what it is, precisely, but my first guess is it’s supposed to aid the installation of a split ring of some sort, like a large piston ring perhaps. Or maybe a spring-band type hose clamp, similar to the old wire band types seen on sixties Dodges.
When you squeeze the handles, the jaws spread, right? then when you release them, they are pulled back into place by the springs, right?
My WAG is that it’s used as a clamp; you open the jaws, put it on whatever, and when you let go it holds on by itself. It probably was made for a specific skill, a specific occupation. wha that would be, I have no idea.
I set my friend Kat on it. Her dad’s an old rancher & her grandpa’s an even older one. She’ll show them the pic, see if they’ve ever seen one.
My guess is its for the manufacture or installation of barbed wire.
It doesn’t work quite like that. It can’t hold onto anything by itself - you always need pressure on the handgrips.
I’ve uploaded a few new images that give you an idea of how it works.
When you pick the tool up, the jaws are open and the handgrips are spread wide - see the first two photos. Then:
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The images entitled rest and rest closeup show the position of the jaws before any pressure is applied. This is the way the tool is when no action is being performed.
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Images action_1 and action_1 closeup 1 show the position of the jaws when the handgrips are closed about 3/4 of the way. The only action so far if that each set of jaws has closed.
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Image action_1 closeup 2 is the same, but taken from a slightly different angle to show the fact that the springs are still fully compressed.
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The image final action shows what happens when the handgrips are closed completely. As you can see, the two sets of jaws stay closed and spread apart, away from each other. You can also see the expansion in the spring, which makes this last part of the action quite a strain on the hand.
You can also see that this last action involves a very small range of motion - i don’t think the distance between the two sets of jaws increases by more than about 1/3 of an inch, or about 8mm.
The tool will not grip anything unless you are press the handgrips.
Here’s my guess. Presuming you are right-handed, you hold your clampypliers in your left hand, palm up. You hold a pair of scissors in the right. You grab the unrolled cloth or paper in front of you with the clampypliers, and snip the goods with the scissors, cutting away from your body. Simple.
What do I win if I’m right?
I have to agree with Doc Nickel. It looks an awful lot like a piston ring expander.
I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t look like any piston ring expander I’ve ever seen. Typical ring expanders go inside the ring or its gap to pry the ring open, and are capable of a fairly wide spread.
If DRP really is the German patent office, then a search of their archives (assuming they are online) might turn up something. Whatever it is, I want one too.
I think it is the second tool down, Item #200-003 for $14.99 in this catalogue. I.e. anEclipse wire stripper.
It is definitely for clamping down on a pipe/wire of a standard gauge, and seperating two joined parts, both of which are probably spring loaded into place on the part you are clamping.
The reason the sdevice’s prings want to return the device back to the closed position is because whatever is being clamped/seperated needs to be returned to it’s original position before and as you release the clamp.
Most like a specialized tool for something electrical.
The tool is clearly for gripping something and then stretching/expanding it, isn’t it? - I don’t go for the wire stripper explanation (although it was the first thing that sprang to my mind), as the jaws are the same on both sides; there’s not one cutting set and one gripping set.
I reckon it could be a tensioning tool for some sort of fabric/upholstery/leather work.
Okay, while I’m being a curmudgeon, it doesn’t look like any wire stripper I’ve ever seen. The jaws are not even remotely configured to deal with insulated wire, and they’re too far apart.
Could mhendo clarify; on release, do the jaws open in the reverse sequence to that in which they closed or do they open in the same sequence.
i.e. is it:
On Close: Jaws ‘A’ close, then Jaws ‘B’ pull apart
On Open: Jaws ‘B’ Release, then Jaws ‘A’ open
Or
On Close: Jaws ‘A’ close, then Jaws ‘B’ pull apart
On Open: Jaws ‘A’ open, then Jaws ‘B’ release
??
Looks a bit like an eyelash curler…
Those springs on the jaws of that device, are they attached in any fashion to the device. It looks like they’re just there. I see there is a “return action” spring, to coin a term between the handles already. Could it be possible that those springs on the jaw were added later?
All I could think of when I saw this thread title is that it was going to be about either a politician or a pop star.
It doesn’t look like any piston ring expander I’ve ever seen, either. I meant that it looked to me that that was what its function was.
The jaws are flat and smooth, and so certainly aren’t for insulation stripping. Neither are they for gripping wire.
They look to be for the purpose of stretching something flat and smooth.
That “return action spring” as you call it may just serve to spread the handles apart and “open” the jaws. The other springs provide tension in the other direction, the “spreading” direction.