Help me ID this piece from a gun show, no markings, bullet caster?
An old-timer duck hunting buddy of mine gave me this, said he got it from another old-timer at a gun show over 20 years ago down around West Virginia. The legs are castings, so I'm assuming what ever it is was mass produced and not made in someone's garage or machine shop at home. The 3 separate rings kind of "float" back and forth when you turn the top crank. That activates the 3 cams on either side. This may not even be gun related. Any thoughts?
MetalManChad
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Waffle Iron?
Since it is sitting on an old wood cook stove
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Never seen anything like it. No company name or patent info on it anywhere?
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No Markings.....
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I think that you are on the right track. It looks like a high volume lead bullet caster. There should be melting pot that goes in the center, with a movable spout. The cams would shut off the lead flow when the cavities are filled.
Neal
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This has really stumped me, I have a foundry background in brass, bronze and aluminum.
There is no sprue or "journals" that connect the center to the outer rings, they are isolated.
I, like you, still think it's a high production caster, but can't figure out exactly how it would
work. The cams raise the rings one at a time from the outer to the inner, like an extractor.
I'm sure it's much simpler than I'm making it out to be.
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You might want to look up dividing head . That is part of one. The things on the back are the stops . Used on knee mills and other type mills. This one is very old and you can set six stops. This short video explains how to use it and shows what you have.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9phmqh1jYPsIndexing head
An indexing head, also known as a dividing head or spiral head,[1] is a specialized tool that allows a workpiece to be circularly indexed; that is, easily and precisely rotated to preset angles or circular divisions. Indexing heads are usually used on the tables of milling machines, but may be used on many other machine tools including drill presses, grinders, and boring machines. Common jobs for a dividing head include machining the flutes of a milling cutter, cutting the teeth of a gear, milling curved slots, or drilling a bolt hole circle around the circumference of a part.[2]
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That's the most original idea so far, I can see how one might think that. But it's
not an indexer, I own a machine shop. On an indexer, while you may see lines between
the holes, those are just drag marks from the pin, and that face remains flat and smooth. The lines between the holes on my
item are actually separate rings. I will add a picture showing the rings in their "raised"
position to give you an idea what I mean. There's some intricate machining to this thing no doubt, thanks for commenting!
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This picture shows the separation on the rings as the cams pull and push them. A pretty intricate piece, and a great
conversation starter if nothing else. Thanks for looking and commenting.
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MMC nailed it. Conversation piece.
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