(I also included this in a reply to Don earlier...)

My first thought on this tool was that it might be a wrench for threaded
flanges, but the pin size is too large for the bolt holes in many standard
threaded flanges that will readily fit under the foot, and I can't see the foot
being anything but a hindrance working a flange. I have used solid flange
wrenches and can't imagine a simpler, more effective tool.

(end of duplication)


A google search will show flange wrenches of the pin-and-block type. I have one
(somewhere), and this would not really do the job in practice, as the gap
between the pin and foot is insufficient for most flanges with bolt holes large
enough for the pin.



Obviously, my next thought was for grabbing the flange of a beam or channel. It
does this well, but I am not at all confident in that, either. I have done some
ironwork incidental to other jobs and worked around ongoing steel erection a
fair bit, and never seen anything like it. I also don't know why one would want
to grab a flange with a tool that can only pull a beam axially.

 Don's response (not on list) supports my doubts. Maybe this is why it is an
oddball. Or maybe it is a sheet metal tool, or other trade entirely. With a
little luck, someone here will have a positive ID. I'll still just use it for
whatever it seems to work for, but it would be nice to know what tag to tie to
it so the next guy knows when I follow my ancestors.



*** This message was sent from a convenience email service, and the reply
address(es) may not match the originating address