Identify this tool, please!!

[flyingnut40]

Hi,
I got this as part of the "bits" with my 110 yr. old Meuller 18 inch engine lathe.
Not sure what it is or what it would be used for, or if it's even related to this machine.
Any guesses before I spend time cleaning it up?

 

[L Vanice]

Radius cutter?

Larry

 

[Georgineer]

It's a grostling iron.

George

 

[Gordon Heaton]

More pics from different angles would be helpful. Is the bottom of the slab dovetailed? Looks like possible gib screws on the lower edge in the photo. If dovetailed, and it doesn't match your lathe crosslide or compound I'd toss it.

 

[cranium]

Throw something away?
That's a good one.

 

[Limy Sami]

Throw something away?
That's a good one.

It's alright Cranium, we're on the case - he's being sent for re-education

 

[M.B. Naegle]

The bent bar on top doesn't look original. I'm thinking some kind of grinding attachment. Perhaps a wheel dresser or part of some kind of tool sharpening machine. Knowing how the crank fits in with it all would help.

I'd at least clean it up. Blow off the dust, take it apart and dip it in evaporust, dry it and coat in oil. Maybe an hour all together. Bonus points for hitting the machined surfaces with a soft wire wheel polish. That and more pictures would help.

Mystery pieces like this are worth a little time IMO. The casting and ball crank mean it's unlikely to be a shop made fixture, and it looks old enough to merit some effort.

 

[flyingnut40]

The bent bar on top doesn't look original. I'm thinking some kind of grinding attachment. Perhaps a wheel dresser or part of some kind of tool sharpening machine. Knowing how the crank fits in with it all would help.

I'd at least clean it up. Blow off the dust, take it apart and dip it in evaporust, dry it and coat in oil. Maybe an hour all together. Bonus points for hitting the machined surfaces with a soft wire wheel polish. That and more pictures would help.

Mystery pieces like this are worth a little time IMO. The casting and ball crank mean it's unlikely to be a shop made fixture, and it looks old enough to merit some effort.

Thanks for the opinion.
When I get home, I'll clean it up a bit and look for any clues and post some more pics. This group is great!
I wish I was getting this much response to my question of what oil to put in the oiler cups on the Mueller engine lathe.
I really don't want to hurt the old gal.
The cups have wicks, so thick oil is not guaranteed to work..... It worries me.
Keep the ideas coming. :-)

 

[flyingnut40]

Here are some more pics. The bent arm is free (barely) to pivot. Locked down by square head bolt. There is a dovetail on the bottom of the cast iron base and the handle spins a worm drive type screw. And, I agree, the hole in the arm seems to have been put there to make for easier bending.
There is a number cast in the top of the base, 517 if I recall...... The mystery continues........

 

[sfriedberg]

I don't know what it is, but if it mounted on a dovetail with a "helical rack" (rack with slanted teeth) that protruded up into that shallow straight recess on the bottom of the whatever-it-is, turning the crank would move it relative to the dovetail. They might have used a worm and helical rack rather than a pinion and normal rack to get more mechanical advantage and/or to put the crank handle in a better/safer place.