Odd tool ID

[leeana]

Can anyone help me ID this tool?

[Robert Allison]

Is there a hole down through the threaded part? If so, it looks like a plumb bob.

[Kate]

Looks to me like the base of a surveyor's pole. Kinda looks loke a plumb bob too, except for the threads on the top.

Kate

looks like a plumb bob.

[Robert Allison]

Almost all plumb bobs have a threaded part at the top that the cap the string goes through threads onto. The thing that makes me feel like this is something else is that the threads at the top of this one are left handed threads.

[Paul Franklin]

It's 3 1/2" + in diameter. I don't think I've ever seen a plumb bob that big. It must weight several pounds.

Any markings on it?

[Robert Allison]

We had a 10 pound plumb bob that we used in wind areas of a chemical plant that I worked on about 30 years ago. It looked similar to, but different than the one in the photos. We used it to plumb for long drops, often 100' or more. Lasers have pretty much reduced the need for those.

We also had a plumb bob that was totally enclosed in pipe. It had a telescoping sleeve so that the string was always protected from wind by the sleeve. (No relation, just remembering some old tools.)

[whit3rd]

The thread could be to attach an item that is rotated by this spindle, the cylinder section could be the bearing, and the cone could be a drive element (rotating CCW as seen from the cone point, it tightens the attached item screw under load).

Or maybe the threaded end is driven, and an abrasive collar (sandpaper or buffing wheel) is friction-fit to the cone? If there's a rubber collar that fits around the cone, the sandpaper idea is quite likely.

[Jim Harvey]

[Russ]

Might have to call it a plumb Robert...

[Paul Franklin]

LOL!