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What is this Clamp?

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 2:05 pm
by Zen
Found this at a sale some time ago and thought it looked interesting
It screws together perfectly by turning the handle

My question is firstly what is it ? and secondly--what could it be used for?
Could it be adapted in some way or converted into a clever little jig of some kind ?
Best suggestion wins a free Air Guitar !!

Rusty

Re: What is this Clamp?

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:46 pm
by B. Howard
It may be a bookbinding press.

Re: What is this Clamp?

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 4:38 pm
by Ben-Had
Maybe an old bench press.

Re: What is this Clamp?

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:04 pm
by  
Wine press?

-tommy

Re: What is this Clamp?

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:46 am
by eddard
The stamped trademark in the wood says "Dryad Ltd. Leicester." A few minutes of sleuthing with Google reveals that this trademark was used on several types of craft devices having to do with looms, basketmaking, and bookbinding. A short trail of clues from there leads to the conclusion that this is a bookbinder's plough; a device for evenly cutting the edges of pages held in a press by turning the feed screw on the plough to advance a cutting blade into the pages, a few pages at a time. The use of a bookbinder's plough is explained and demonstrated in this YouTube video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tMYsYqBLA8