Let us help you identify that mysterious object you’ve found.
Currently in CHALLENGE mode: If you've got something obscure knocking about, post a picture, and let's see how we do. Please prefix such posts with "CHALLENGE:" so we know we've got a fighting chance.
I feel like I knew what this thing was right up until I had one. Two tool id site had no idea, and one said it's a ball joint separator, but I can't find any that look like this, and I swear I've seen them in stores, but can't remember where.
Maybe a type of bearing press?
Possibly a flaring tool...
Definitely a flaring tool for creating flared ends for copper or soft metal tubing. It was a tool they were still teaching us to use in automotive classes in the late 1980s.
We learned how to make single layer flares and double layer flares with those.
Learned all of it and then never needed to use one ever.
We still use them all the time in HVAC-R for refrigerant piping. Flare fittings are one of the best and easiest ways to have a reliably leak free but still easily removable connection.
I got really good with one because when I was young I'd always forget to put the flare nut on first lol. End up doing it twice every time. My uncle used to get pissed.
If anyone wants to learn how it is done here’s a good vid on the subject: https://youtu.be/_Tm6N5l69_c
Great vid, thanks for sharing!
That makes sense. It didn't come with the other part, but there's a bunch at a thrift store nearby, which must have been where I've seen it before.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! (Seriously. That was a revelation for me)
I'm pretty sure it's a type of bearing/gear puller. You'd slide the jaws around the bearing and use the screw to press against the shaft to pull the bearing off.
This. But most pullers I've seen have unfixed jaws to accommodate a range of bearings.
It depends on what the puller is intended for. Tie rod end/pitman arm pullers and u-joint pullers often have fixed jaws. OP didn't include anything in their picture to indicate size, but the tool in their picture looks almost exactly like an old tie rod puller my dad had from the 70s or 80s.
Perhaps I should have included that I've really only seen about a dozen. So by no means an exhaustive search.