J C Browns multi fence tool?

[stanley62]

Found this at the Rose Bowl antique swap meet Sunday.  It has been years since I had attended that swap meet.  I must have walked 5 miles to bring home one tool!
This is marked what looks like J C Browns.  May be a user mark as it is pretty rough.

  Jim

[turnnut]

interesting looking tool, plus you gave yourself a good workout walking.

sounds like a good swop meet to try.

[Yadda]

That is one monster of a multi tool!  Maybe Bob will happen by soon to tell us more about it.  I believe I've seen one before, but I'll need to reflect upon it a while longer..

[mvwcnews]

Look at patent no. 245,398 ( http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=245398&typeCode=0 ) which many people connect to the J.C. Brown's combination "fence tool."
I don't know that anyone has ever found a "paper trail" to confirm the connection.
If you have "Antique & Unusual Wrenches," study pictures no. 825-828.

[jimwrench]

 Since I don't believe you have a copy of Schultz I will attach a copy of patent picture. Looks like a dead ringer to me.
oops you can pull up patent drawing aw shucks its already attached.

[stanley62]

Looks like that is the critter.  The one difference I do see is that the patent drawing looks like there are inserted wire cutters.  My copy has no wire cutters.

I do not have a copy of Schultz's, but I keep looking...
  Jim

[stanley62]

Oops.  Looking more closely, what I thought were wire cutters was an axle gripping feature.  Either way, mine does not have this feature.

  Jim

[mvwcnews]

Perhaps the thing is noted in a Brown Fence Co. catalog -- Four larger research type libraries in the U.S. report having a copy of the 1915 Brown Fence Co. catalog ( http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/34004433 )  Anybody live close to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City,  The Henry Ford Museum & Research library,  Cleveland OH Public Library, or the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus?

[Plyerman]

I'm not much help. Here is mine. It looks exactly the same as Jim's:






And here is the page from Antique & Unusual Wrenches that Stan was referring to. #825 appears to be the same as Jim's and mine. #826/#827 (which are opposite sides of the same tool) is unusual in that it has V-shaped surfaces projecting from the handles to grip square nuts. It also does not have the screwdriver blade at the end of the handle.





Another variation is #347 below, sold in the MVWC King Herrington auction a few years back. It is slightly larger, and reportedly has the removable wire cutters: