Have  asked all my local friends, so counting on you folks again

Only marking is "Patent applied for" - tip is brass, tip is also flimsy

Thanks,

Dave

 

I have seen screw drivers like that before, but not one with a double head with a standard and spanner. I would think as it is brass headed that it is intended to be used around flammable gasses. 

Looks like a nice old wire twister to me

 

Maybe its a canonball fuse screwer-inner. Some of the canonball fuses had slots or two holes. Just a wild guess. 

 

Interesting thought. It does have the pivoting head that can present either the screwdriver (?) or the two nubs.

19 minutes ago, Daswulf said:

screwer-inner

That would be "screwer-in", technically.

I'm technically not very technical. 

I will say Charles's thought seems like a good guess. You want brass for either non-marring or as he suggests non-sparking. 

I think that what you "probably" have is an antique automotive valve lapping tool. Many antique automobile engines had valves with two holes in the top. A lot of different hand-operated valve lapping tools were manufactured that had two prongs that fit into the holes in the valve. The idea was that after removing the valve springs, you would apply lapping compound (grease or heavy oil with an abrasive mixed in) to the valve face and seat, and then you would use the lapping tool to rotate the valve back and forth, periodically re-applying the lapping/grinding compound as needed. The lapping compound came in different grits so that you could get a rather fine finish at the mating surfaces. It didn't produce as long-lasting of a result as, say, a proper three-angle valve grind, but it did the job. There were spiral models, geared models, hand-crank models, and even plain wooden sticks with suction cups and two-prong attachments. I'll see if I can find a picture of a spiral model, which is probably the oldest type, but in the meantime, here's a link to a picture of a geared model that would do the same job.

http://www.agcoauto.com/content/plugins/p17_image_gallery/images/64.jpg

You can still buy hand-crank valve lapping/seating tools that come with a two-prong adapter.

Al (Steamboat)

Think you got it, Steamboat. Mystery solved. And a great explanation, too!

Been driving me nuts.

Thanks very much

Dave

You're welcome. I can't include the link, but if you go to the USA ebay, you can search for "antique ford valve lapping tool" (without quotes) and something similar to yours should come up, unless it's been sold by the time you try searching for it.

Al (Steamboat)

For most of that’s a very short drive, there Dave.

FWIW, I should add that your lapping tool's tip could be swiveled 90 degrees to use either the two-prong tip to lap/grind the valves on cars like Model T Fords that had two holes in the top (or "head") of the valve, or or a flat tip that was probably for lapping valves on other engines that had a slot in the valve head instead of two drive holes, so I'm guessing that it was probably a 'universal' valve lapping tool, which may have come with other tips that could be switched to fit other valve configurations.

Whew! That's about as much valve-lapping esoterica as I can come up with at the moment. 

Al (Steamboat)

12 minutes ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

For most of that’s a very short drive, there Dave.

1 hour ago, windancer said:

Been driving me nuts.

That must have been difficult. Try one of these; they work a lot better.

Uh John: I didn't think anyone would comment on Dave driving his nuts. Seriously aren't there fora for that sort of thing?

Then again on second look I realize that IS the Wright tool. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks to all for the info and the laughs along the way

Dave