What it iz?

[sandchip]

Picked this up today and feel like I ought to know what it is, but it's not coming to my feeble mind. I'm sure one of you will, I hope.

 

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[Red-Coat]

I would think it's a cast iron pedestal table support. Something like this:



This one has a telescopic height adjustment, but some have a crank and some have a screw like yours. Also this one has the top affixed to the rod of the pedestal but yours is likely for a heavier oval top to be dropped into those fitments... probably a marble slab or something similar. It also looks a bit utilitarian for indoor use and is perhaps for a garden or 'tavern' table.

 

[old digger]

I'm not positive, but it may have been an old cast-iron adjustible typewriter table.

 

[sandchip]

Those round pockets on that X-shaped top part (no holes for fasteners) are what keep throwing me off. It does look utilitarian, especially with that odd leg with the fork and lever. I thought it was a wheel brake, but it doesn't seem to be or isn't working. Also, you'd think there would be some embossing somewhere, but there's not the first letter or number anywhere to be found.

 

[Tpmetal]

Those round pockets on that X-shaped top part (no holes for fasteners) are what keep throwing me off.

Also throws me off. Makes me think it's kinda like a jack for lowering something ? It's odd for sure

 

[dozer dan]

I was thinking piano stool minus the wood on the bench.
how tall is it?

 

[Kray Gelder]

It's an industrial grade adjustable base for a work table, as suggested above.

 

[bowwinkles]

The clamp thing on one leg makes me think that you maybe have it upside down. Those cups could be for rubber or glass balls as seen on many vintage metal tables. The clamp item could be for an adjustable top of some sort.

 

[sandchip]

It's an industrial grade adjustable base for a work table, as suggested above.

If it was that, I would expect some provision for securely fastening the work table surface to the base, but nothing's there. If the X-shaped piece was turned over and had holes for bolts or screws, I could see it, but the last thing I would expect would be for someone in an industrial setting to rely on gravity alone to hold the table top in place while work was going on.

The clamp thing on one leg makes me think that you maybe have it upside down. Those cups could be for rubber or glass balls as seen on many vintage metal tables. The clamp item could be for an adjustable top of some sort.

I just can't see it being upside down where the swivel casters would be on top.

I really appreciate everyone's input on trying to figure this thing out.

 

[Red-Coat]

If it were a garden or tavern table with a heavy marble top (not at all unusual), then gravity would do it's job. The top wouldn't be going anywhere in normal casual use. The struts would stop it tilting and the corner pieces on the struts would stop it sliding.

 

[Tpmetal]

The clamp thing on one leg makes me think that you maybe have it upside down. Those cups could be for rubber or glass balls as seen on many vintage metal tables. The clamp item could be for an adjustable top of some sort.

The clamp thing is to raise the caster so the forked feet hit the ground and prevents from rolling around to easy

 

[sandchip]

If it were a garden or tavern table with a heavy marble top (not at all unusual), then gravity would do it's job. The top wouldn't be going anywhere in normal casual use. The struts would stop it tilting and the corner pieces on the struts would stop it sliding.

I understand that, but my argument would be that a top fitting into it would be too small to be of much use in garden or tavern. The corners of the top also would have to be not just rounded, but lobed to fit securely in the corner pieces. I'll take some measurements and more pictures tomorrow to show what I'm talking about. I'm still thinking it was designed for a particular mechanical use, but I've yet to find a picture of one exactly like it. Thanks again, everybody.

 

[Tpmetal]

I understand that, but my argument would be that a top fitting into it would be to small to be of much use in garden or tavern. The corners of the top also would have to be not just rounded, but lobed to fit securely in the corner pieces. I'll take some measurements and more pictures tomorrow to show what I'm talking about. I'm still thinking it was designed for a particular mechanical use, but I've yet to find a picture of one exactly like it. Thanks again, everybody.

I'm with you on this. I have seen many tables and stools similar to this, but they were absolutely nothing like that top. I have also seen stuff like this used in industrial stands. My mind goes to a jack type of thing that held something in place while you attached it. Or supported something as you detached it(like modern day transmission jack)

 

[Red-Coat]

Something of a similarly 'industrial' nature with a provision for swivel casters... described as the base for a 'drafting table' (essentially a multipurpose desk/table that may or may not have been used by a draughtsman). It's difficult to see from the pictures if the geometry of the corners could have accommodated a top with scalloped corners or if they are specifically designed to hold some sophisticated contraption such as an actual draughtsman's tilting drawing board, easel or whatever.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-industrial-cast-iron-1793076310

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Great suggestions by the guys here on what your piece might be.
In attempting to determine out what an object is, I take a number of factors into account...

What material is it made from?
What is the time period that it comes from?
What were they doing in that time period that would've necessitated the piece to have been made?

This piece was made for a specific industrial need, likely in a manufacturing environment. It was not made to be decorative, but functional. I would be looking for patent dates or a manufacturers name on the castors and locking mechanism on the feet. Date wise based on the style of the legs, I'm thinking 1860s - 80s.

The reality here is that we may never know exactly what this piece was originally designed for, except that it was made to fit a need at that time period in history.
Dave

 

[redbeardrelics]

It looks like a pretty heavy duty coil spring between the tripod base and the upper "bracket" for lack of a better term. If you lean your body weight on the upper 'bracket", how much flex does it produce in the spring? This could give you and idea of how much weight the top bracket was designed to support. I am liking the idea that it was an early assembly or manufacturing tool, similar in function to a transmission jack, allowing the operator to move a specific item into position on the jack, and having a little flexability with the coil spring, to position the item into an exact position.

 

[sandchip]

The central piece is not a spring but a double-helical screw. At a glance, it does look like one though. Here is a picture of the top piece which measures roughly 10" x 16", and is held to the big screw by two set screws positioned at right angles to each other. Needless to say, it's not meant to spin on the big screw. It would seem that once you're close to the desired height, the base is spun to raise the load, then locked by flipping the foot lever up, which as Tpmetal mentioned, lets the caster pin slide upward in its housing which would let the forked part of the stand hit the floor. When I set it out in the sun for more pictures, lo' and behold, there's a label on the center column which actually has a picture of the device and whatever it was designed to hold and some directions, but it ain't in the best shape. I tried spit, then alcohol, then naptha but those didn't help. I'm hoping I can eventually clean it where I can at least read enough to tell what it was and put this to rest.