Mystery Tool

次回この記事の日本語版を投稿します。

I recently acquired a box full of old bicycle tools.

Tools are interesting, they are all designed with a specific purpose in mind; however, with old bicycle tools it is often difficult to figure out exactly what the tool was designed to do.  I have a few old tool catalogs which have been very helpful in uncovering the purpose of unfamiliar tools.  But catalog information is limited and I have had to rely on other sources to unravel mysterious tools.  In the past a fellow vintage Japanese bicycle enthusiast "ShigeP" over at しげP自転車の日記 (Japanese only), has enlisted the assistance of other enthusiasts to help solve a couple of mysteries. 

This mystery tool below was solved at ShigeP's blog and turned out to be a rear drum brake adjustment tool for Honda Super Cub scooters.  In the old days, bicycle shops serviced not only bicycles but mopeds, scooters and motorcycles.

This mystery tool below turned out to be a spoke cutter used to cut the excess spoke ends after assembling a wheel.

In the recent batch of vintage bicycle tools, once again, there was a mystery tool, one I have yet to come across. 
Let's take a look.

Appears to be some sort of pliers. 

Let's take a closer look at the tips. 

The tips have been hollowed out to create a specially designed cavity.

The cavity must clamp onto something, but what???

My guess is that this is a tool created to pull out stuck Woods (aka Dunlop/English) tire tube valve cores.
Let's take a closer look.

The Woods (aka Dunlop/English) valve core seems to have the same contour as the cavity.

Perfect fit!
The cavity diameter is slightly smaller than the valve core allowing it to firmly grab the valve core.

Valve core is easily pulled out without any damage to the core itself, nor the cap screw threads.

The valve rubber has a nasty way of welding itself to the valve inner walls, this is especially true on old bicycles which have been sitting for years.
 

Interesting tool. 

Most likely a one-of-a-kind tool fabricated by someone by machining the tips and then adding them to an old pair of Backsmith pliers. The two holes are obviously the original pivot point. 

If anyone out there has seen something similar kindly let me know.