Anybody know what this tool does?

[Pod]

A good friend of mine, now sadly deceased, left his American car spares business (Marshall Dickson Performance in Kent, England) to his brother, another of my friends. Amongst the great quantity of spares, cars and tools, this has been found. It looks as if it is some sort of chuck with a hexagonal input shaft. There is a collar which engages several splines, but can be moved outwards to allow it to spin freely. We cannot work out what the other end does. There is some sort of slip yoke with ball bearings on the inner surface. There appears to be another hexagonal female "receptacle" inside the body of the component. I was wondering if this can be some sort of stud extractor or even a valve grinding tool?

Since the owner dealt exclusively with American vehicles, we surmise that this tool must have originated in the USA. Any ideas please?

[dlvad]

Possibly a depth adjustable hex bit set adapter chuck for a hand drill..
Similar to this however a bit larger.

[Brucey]

IIRC this looks like a tool which is meant for use with a drill when setting woodscrews into wood, one-handed.

The receptacle inside the tool takes a hex bit which fits the screws you are using. The head of the screw is held captive against the hex bit by the ball bearings, but not so firmly that the chuck body won't slide backwards and let the screw go flush in the timber. If you have ever had to set screws using a cordless drill whilst up a ladder, you will appreciate the value of this tool.

cheers

[Pod]

Thanks, Brucey - and its great to have you back on the forum!

I'm now going to see if I can make the tool work.