Could be a barrel wrench. Or a thing for crimping the edges of a melted cheese sandwich. Don't look like my shoehorn, though.
The tool is comprised of two separate stamped pieces . The spring provides tension on the one piece , as it slides over the other piece , to help return the piece to it's neutral position . The round knurled piece apparently is turned to adjust something ? That's what I get from looking at it but I don't know exactly what purpose the tool is made for ?
You might try a website called,"Alloy Artifacts" which specializes in vintage tools.It is a rather extensive site so you may have to spend some time on it.The good part is they list tools by makers name.That tool I believe is actually made by Walden-Worcester(I haven't seen any with the Stevens name before it)and they are a very old maker of tools.One of their,"better ideas" was a replaceable socket wrench using an oval drive and held on with an Allen set screw.This was made in the early 1920's when replaceable sockets were just coming into vogue.They weren't very popular and were eventually dropped.I have one Walden-Worcester socket that came in a bunch of vintage tools I bought awhile ago.
Just an FYI ... The same question was asked on the Hemmings Forum in April of 2011: Mystery tool--what is it? This tool was made by Stevens Walden Worcester, Inc of Worcester, MA during the mid 1920’s. It has a Patent Pending mark but no Patent number or date. A brief history of this automotive tool company can be found on alloy-artifacts.com. I sent them a picture of this tool and they replied that a 1928 company catalog did not show this T-618 but did show lower and higher numbers. There is one other collector with this tool and he has no more information. We would like to know the purpose of this tool. Using the picture for reference, the handle is approximately 4 ½ inches long. The handle is two pieces. I’ll call them the inner and outer pieces. The inner piece ends with a welded ring that holds a knurled socket. The knurled socket turns freely within the ring. The interior of the socket is broached as a hexagon with approximately 11/16 inch across opposite flats. However, the broach-work does not carry through the entire socket. So, if the socket was to hold a nut or bolt head, the side of entry is also the side of exit. The side of entry also has a space for a shoulder so the nut or bolt head could have a shoulder or narrow washer. The outer handle piece has two fingers that cover the entry side of the socket. The outer handle piece is connected to the inner handle piece by a rivet in a slot of the inner handle. The rivet moves freely in the slot but its position is retained by a spring connected to the inner handle. The fingers of the outer handle piece ride in two slots cut into the sides of the inner handle piece. This combination of slots and spring allow the fingers to slide away from the socket possibly for the insertion of a nut or bolt head into the socket. Once the nut or bolt is inserted in the socket the outer handle is released and the spring forces the fingers to slide back over the socket to restrain the nut or bolt in the socket. This description assumes that indeed a nut or bolt is the object to be inserted in the socket. It was proposed that this tool might be a holder for a nut or bolt to be used to align and start the thread contact. That proposal has problems. The nut or bolt can only be inserted into and released from the socket on the finger side of the socket. This means that the handles point toward the stud or hole and would interfere with the object being bolted up unless the stud or hole was located on the very edge of the object. Use of the tool requires two hands; one to hold the tool and one to turn the socket. It seems to me that the space required of two hands and the tool would allow one hand to easily start the nut or bolt without a tool. So, why was the tool manufactured? Is it a mechanic’s tool or a manufacturing tool?
I'm surprised that no one a Hemmings knows what it is. It is a band nut and washer tool for a Model T transmission. If you've ever worked on a T and dropped a band nut or washer into the hogshead you will appreciate this tool. It holds the nut and washer so you can install the bands. There is also a horseshoe shaped gizmo that holds the band in the compressed position so everything can be cinched up easily. I had one, along with the horseshoe clamp and a ratcheting band wrench in the toolbox of my "T"
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