"anorton" wrote in message
m...

"Bill Noble" wrote in message
...


"Denis G." wrote in message
...
On May 16, 11:06 pm, "Bill Noble" wrote:
wouldn't you know it - as soon as I whine about the site being down,
it's
up - so the photo of the odd c-clamp is posted (see below) - the file
name
is: "Quikcet - Grand DualGrip C-clamp.JPG" - it should be in the drop
box
about the time this note makes it to the NG

"Bill Noble" wrote in message

...



I picked up an interesting C clamp today, on one side of the main
casting
it says GRAND DualGrip REG US PAT OFF, on the other side it says 40A
and
40 (presumably casting numbers), and QUIKCET Pat Pend. max opening
is 4
inches. The copper colored parts were probably nickle plated, I
polished
them and there is a little silver still visible.

to operate, squeeze, slide the clamp bar down, release (spring force
pushes it together) and tighten the screw. to release, loosen screw
and
rotate clamp bar 90 deg to disengage ratchet.

I tried to post to the dropbox but it seems that the metalworking.com
site
is inoperative right now - and I always go there first to get the
address
du jour.

so meanwhile - anyone recognize it from the above description? I
can't
find anything on line about it, the company, or anything - the heavy
copper plating with nickel suggests to me that it's probably pre
WWII, but
that's all I've got to go on

if you would like a photo, get my email from my web site (below) and
send
me a request and I'll send you the photo I was intending to put into
the
drop box

--
Bill -
www.wbnoble.com- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I found two similar US patents: US3147003 and US078781, but not
exactly like the one you have.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=LfZ...page&q&f=false
http://www.google.com/patents?id=9JU...page&q&f=false

at www.uspto.gov it's a bit easier to read - following the ref in the
johnson patent, 2755681 seems relevant (dated 1954) but it isn't the
same - I would swear that this was pre WWII from the looks of it - what
do you guys think? It just can't be 1961

I have to disagree. It is just too fancy. It definitely looks post-WWII
consumer age. The fact that the ratchet part was plated, but the plating
was thin enough to wear away indicates it was made to look fancy but not
designed to wear like a professional tool. Then there is that somewhat
unnecessary spring to make it just a little more convenient. If you
search on Quikcet, it seems they made a similar acting vise in the mid
50's.

Now I see a reference to the Quikcet vise just after the war in what is also
a very interesting Scientific American
http://tinyurl.com/2ebdn72