Curious old tool - recognize it?
 

A friend has a couple of boxes of old tools, mostly bike tools. Revered names like VAR, Eldi, Campagnolo, etc. Its fun seeing them and identifying what they're for. But one has me stumped. I'm wondering if anyone recognizes it and what each end is for. The boxes have about 6 similar tools but this one is the only one with 3 pins. Must have been used often BITD.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e8fe00480e.jpg
All steel, welded together, no name brand. Bit of walnut to prop up right end for photo

The left end sure looks like a freewheel tool, the movable pin does secure a 28t cog nicely, maybe 30 or so too. I can clamp this in a vice to spin off the 14t but a proper FW vice will do that even better. No idea what the right end is for. This was badly rusted when I brought it home but I've cleaned it up and freed up the left end 'core' so it turns and comes out.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fe7efca725.jpg
The other side. I've unscrewed the end fitting a bit but cannot guess what its for.

Here I've unscrewed the right end core most of the way. It will come out. A rod slides thru the holes to facilitate turning. I've found that the thread and size is much like that on a 14t Suntour Perfect cog but a bit too small, the cog will wobble on the threads. The inside of the core has no feature to grip and turn a FW remover tool and the fact the core easily turns defeats that idea.

I have seen a similar tool, via google images, in a VAR tool set photo but no explanation of what is for or how its used. Not found in online VAR catalogs.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b1d75e2cd1.jpg
A very few of the other bits from the boxes

Here is a sample of other 'treasures' from the boxes. Wald open end wrench - I've marked the 32mm end as it makes a nice HS wrench. Calipers that took over an hour to free up and clean up due to sitting in water too long. Neat needle oiler with brass cap. Just need to find a bottle for it. Madonna medallion for stem or HT. VAR cone wrenches. I generally mark my 15mm open ends red to make them easier to find. Most of this stuff was badly rusted and I've has some success cleaning and restoring old tools.

Edit: I also found that when you clamp a FW in this tool, The large cog is held firm but the core is suspended about 2cm above the steel strap so if you use this to hold a FW while working on the cogs the core will drop down once you've removed the threaded cogs. Not a good idea. The span of the pins is also way too small to hold chain rings. The cogs are held in the machined grooves of the pins. The OD of the pins are too large to fit into a cog's teeth gullet.

Todd, will the threaded round end tread into the freewheel end which normally fits onto a hub? Using the rod in the two holes the freewheel could be secured to the tool and clamped in a vise?

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thanks so much for sharing this mystery!

have you discovered any markings on the tool?

reckon that if you had you would have included the information in your excellent text description.

by eye, it certainly looks like something which may have come from either Cyclo (England) or ELDI

does not appear "VAR-ish"

suspect it comes to us from the interwar period (or earlier!) ; ]


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That's a freewheel vise. There's usually 2 or 3 of those kicking around on eBay. I believe Regina also made one of those with just a single pin on each side.

As noted, it's a freewheel tool. The end with the pins acts as a freewheel vise or cog remover. The other end is used to hold the freewheel body (with small cogs removed), to facilitate removal of the left hand threaded, large cogs, as found on some older Regina, Atom and TDC freewheels, prior to introduction of splined cogs.

Edit: The freewheel body (with small cogs removed) is threaded into the large end. The threaded inset is then tightened down onto the freewheel body, locking it in place. so the large, left hand cogs can be removed. See item F, below.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4563dab158.jpg

Campy made a similar tool that clamps the freewheel body and it is found in most of the big Campy tool boxes. Like said above its to get the left hand cogs off

Thank you T-Mar. The tool on the right in the photo is just what I have though there are no makers markings on it. We have other Eldi and VAR and Campy tools so I'm familiar with those brandings. Not a hint on our version of this tool. I also checked on the size and threading as PastorBob suggested. Our tool does not fit a Suntour FW body, too big. Your suggestion and the detail notes lead me to wonder if this tool is designed for specific makes of FWs. As I said before, we have a few more of these though they look like the tool on the left (above) and are not marked in any way. Not hand made either. Curious. Rummaging through those boxes has been fun. I pooled all this bits that were FW removal tools and sorta looked like FW removal tools. I'll check tomorrow but I think we have a few of the "extracting insert" things shown in the diagram as detail D and E. Neat.

On another note, one tool I found was a vintage spoke nipper for triming spoke ends of a built wheel. I showed it to my friend and how to use it. He flipped with happiness. We do restorations that often require rim replacements thus all new spokes. He now knows that he can stock fewer spoke lengths and nip to size. Life will be easier. Oh, yeah, got vintage thread rollers too. Livin' in the past.

Thanks everyone.

Edit: eh, I just noticed that T-Mar did note three specific FW makes that this too was used for. I wonder if that's the full list. It may be just try and see what fits. As with many vintage bike tools.

Nice. I need to find one of the old Regina freewheel vises.

Todd, I'd give my second born (if I had a second child) to acquire that tool! I'm guessing it works better and is not prone to stripping the threads as has been the case on the VAR tool that I use on the old Regina and Atom freewheels.

T-Mar thanks for posting this diagram.

Follow-up: I did rummage around and found a couple of the extracting inserts D as well as the lever C. Have not found an adaptation insert E yet. I also confirmed that both tool pin ends will grip a 14t cog and probably a 13t cog. The photo shows lever C holding a Suntour 14t. The lever F at the bottom is as found - grim rust on almost everything. Some salvageable, some not.

As a bonus bauble, notice the nice VAR chain break tool. They don't make em like that any more.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bdba011676.jpg

And I thought a “freewheel vice” was when you couldn’t resist adding another freewheel to your collection 😉. Hmm, maybe that’s a “freewheel fetish” 🤔. IDK
Nevertheless, a cool tool that could come in handy for someone in the C/V mode 👍😎.

I have a SunTour freewheel vise that fits into my bench vise, but it spans a maximum of about 26 teeth. It is great for removing the two outer threaded cogs from typical older SunTour freewheels. I also have two chainwhips to assist in dissecting freewheels

No, it's not comprehensive. Those are three that immediately came to mind because I used to work with them fairly regularly. Other freewheels brands with left hand threaded large cogs included G. Caimi/Everest, Simplex and W.A. . There may be more. Don't consider it comprehensive.

Mine in use:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Roc...MG_0172-XL.jpg

Brent