Help with a neat old 3-jaw plier

[Plyerman]

Picked this one up off eBay recently. The "third jaw" is actuated by the slotted levers between the handles. The jaw runs right up through the plier pivot, which seems like it would have been a bear to manufacture. There is a screwdriver on the end of one handle and a nail puller on the other. No markings of any kind. I'd sure like to know what it was for and who made it..?









 

[HeelSpur]

That's an awesome buy.
I've never seen a pair of those but would have jumped on them quick.

[Lostmind]

First for my eyes. I certainly would have bought them.

[1930]

I wonder what it feels like to have the coolest tool collection on the planet.....you think Im joking

[keykeeper]

Interesting, they have the cutter's on each side, similar to Button's patent pliers.

Looks like the third jaw would add enough holding power for small pipe or something.

[Plyerman]

I wonder what it feels like to have the coolest tool collection on the planet.....you think Im joking

Are you talking about Bus, or Pawpaw?? Hehe, I got a loooong ways to go to catch those guys!  :-D

Interesting, they have the cutter's on each side, similar to Button's patent pliers.

Looks like the third jaw would add enough holding power for small pipe or something.

Yeah, I was trying to guess if the three jaw arrangement was for gripping stuff tighter, or was it for crimping something?

[mvwcnews]

(http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=1,498,488&type= ) patent no. 1,498,488 in DATAMP.
The patent describes the features, but does not tell us what the inventor had in mind for end use.
( http://www.freepatentsonline.com/1498488.pdf ) will bring up the 3-page patent text at "Free Patents Online."

[Plyerman]

Woohoo! Thanks a bunch Stan!! Boy does it feel good to get a little history on an old tool. I'd been all over Datamp looking, but it felt like the old needle in the haystack thing.

So yeah, I looked at the earlier patent too, and like you say apparently these were just meant to be an improved general-purpose plier. Seems like the third jaw would help in a few cases, like small round objects, but for gripping larger objects the third jaw would just get in the way?

[rusty]

This set of 3 sided pliers is for removing screw in horseshoe calks....

[turnnut]

the 3-jaw pliers look like they would be usefull when trying to hold a bolt or pin to put into a hole.

have you ever tried to work a bolt into a hole and the bolt would bump into something and go sideways
in the pliers that is holding it ?  this 3rd jaw would prevent that unwanted movement.

just my observation.

[Plyerman]

Good point, I've had that happen. Makes me crank the pressure on my vice grips a little higher.