Identify this strange clamp thing.

May 16, 2011 5:16 PM

Identify this strange clamp thing. Here. It's black aluminum. It's pretty small. Just fits over my pinky finger. The upper left part there is held on with a screw. You can make out the rounded head of the screw. So by loosening and tightening the screw, the 'jaws' could grab something.
posted by gummo to Grab Bag (15 answers total)

It looks like the clamp for my bicycle light.
posted by samthemander at 5:18 PM on May 16, 2011 [3 favorites]

Looks like a hose clamp. Size matches pretty well to ones on my car. Where did you find it?
posted by InsanePenguin at 5:26 PM on May 16, 2011

Bike light for sure.
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 5:30 PM on May 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Right size for a cable clamp, if the C-structure (almost-complete big circle portion) is flexible.
posted by IAmBroom at 5:53 PM on May 16, 2011

From you description I was desperately hoping it would be a nipple clamp.(I'm currently bored brainless in hospital.) Then I clicked the link and, much to my disappointment, it is indeed a bike light clamp.
posted by taff at 6:30 PM on May 16, 2011

Yeah, I think it's some sort of bracket to hold something on a bike (although aluminium would be unusual). There is a screw missing on the right side that clamps the bracket to the frame and then the screw that you point out fastens the item to the bracket. Given that it's clearly designed to be fastened to a specific diameter <thing>, it's not likely to be a hose clamp or cable clamp.
posted by dg at 6:40 PM on May 16, 2011

If that's college-ruled paper, that's not a bike light clamp - the smallest standard handlebar grip-area clamp diameter is 22.2mm, so the inner diameter of that clamp would need to span over three 7.1mm-spaced lines. Wide-ruled would keep you in the ballpark, but since you claim it won't fit on your pinky finger I'm guessing it's on the smaller side.

It is a curious piece of small machining, though. The round clamp, the hooked end, and what looks to me to be a wire clamping screw all add up to something interesting.
posted by lantius at 7:48 PM on May 16, 2011

Definitely looks like some sort of hose clamp to me. Maybe from the back of a toilet if you've got one with slightly odd fixtures. Got any leaks?
posted by duien at 8:16 PM on May 16, 2011

Not a hose clamp. Could it be a part off of a wheelchair?
posted by davey_darling at 8:51 PM on May 16, 2011

I agree with dg, it looks less like a hose clamp and more like something designed to attach something onto a rod or pipe.
posted by hattifattener at 8:53 PM on May 16, 2011

lantius writes "If that's college-ruled paper, that's not a bike light clamp - the smallest standard handlebar grip-area clamp diameter is 22.2mm, so the inner diameter of that clamp would need to span over three 7.1mm-spaced lines. Wide-ruled would keep you in the ballpark, but since you claim it won't fit on your pinky finger I'm guessing it's on the smaller side."

I was thinking a bike computer sending unit clamp or rear marker/tail light bracket. Both of those are sometimes mounted to the rear frame triangle which is much smaller diameter than a handle bar.
posted by Mitheral at 9:09 PM on May 16, 2011

That is a mount for a telescopic rifle sight. There should be two of them.
posted by leaper at 3:40 AM on May 17, 2011

Scope mounts all seem to be 25 mm or bigger. Unless gummo has gigantic pinky fingers, this thing is nowhere near that big. For the same reason, it won't fit on bike handlebars.

I think it's a grounding clamp.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:20 AM on May 17, 2011

A scope for a .22 rifle is typically 3/4 inch. The scope mount would have two clamping points 3/8 inch apart to fit the grooved receiver.
posted by leaper at 7:22 AM on May 17, 2011

I looked at it and immediately thought "scope ring". Not saying that's what it is, but that's what I thought it was.
posted by BeerFilter at 11:29 AM on May 17, 2011