Can anyone help me to identify this

[sensei_]

Found this in my old man shed. He placed it in a box of saw guides but I believe this isn't related to carpentry. Looks automotive to me, I suspect it to be a brake pad spreader.

There are no markings on said tool, hence no clues I could use.

 

[ecotec]

Homemade brake caliper compressor?

 

[bwringer]

It honestly looks like a saw guide to me, or some sort of similar guide for sawing straight lines. Does that tab on the top match the width of the tracks in a table saw? And in the first photo, I think I detect a faint line near the bottom of the plate, perhaps indicating it's been sliding along a slot.

The fittings on the ends of the threaded bit do not seem appropriate for a brake pad spreader, and that knurled knob looks more like it's used for adjustment; it does not seem big enough to apply the amount of force needed for brake pads. There's also no reason a brake pad spreader would need that tab along the top of the plate.

And of course I could be all wrong.

 

[sensei_]

It honestly looks like a saw guide to me, or some sort of similar guide for sawing straight lines. Does that tab on the top match the width of the tracks in a table saw? And in the first photo, I think I detect a faint line near the bottom of the plate, perhaps indicating it's been sliding along a slot.

The fittings on the ends of the threaded bit do not seem appropriate for a brake pad spreader, and that knurled knob looks more like it's used for adjustment; it does not seem big enough to apply the amount of force needed for brake pads. There's also no reason a brake pad spreader would need that tab along the top of the plate.

And of course I could be all wrong.

I do not have the table saw top to try. According to my dad he doesn't have the table saw to go with it.

 

[sensei_]

Homemade brake caliper compressor?

If so, that would explain why there is no manufacturer markings such as brand, or part numbers.

 

[Old Steamer]

Homemade brake caliper compressor?

I'm in this camp. ^^^

 

[htmdude57]

I don't understand why someone would make such a pretty caliper compressor (unless he's a machinist or tool and die maker?) when a caliper can be shoved in using a large C clamp.

 

[four.cycle]

^ I've seen some pretty snazzy 19th-century C-clamps.

I'm with bwringer on this one... it looks like some sort of device for doing something parallel to something else.

 

[sensei_]

I don't understand why someone would make such a pretty caliper compressor (unless he's a machinist or tool and die maker?) when a caliper can be shoved in using a large C clamp.

Exactly! I have used large C clamps and even Channel locks to push pistons back in.

 

[CGarage]

Used for brake jobs on Hummer H1s / HMMWVs. Kent Moore was the original OEM maker for the factory brake caliper compressor for the inboard mounted rotors on the H1.