What is it? Set 283

[Rob H.]

I can't believe it's Thursday already, I need some help on a surveyor's device this week:

[kfvorwerk]

1609. Radiator cap from and old car (30's or before). I bet someone else here will know which one. Karl

[joelblatt]

1611: most of a roller bearing (all but the outer race)

1614: Maybe a cathetometer - sort of a short distance telescopic very low power microscope used to examine something, such as the height of a column of mercury, from across the lab. In this case, the "thing" you are looking at has a scale attached... Joel in Florida

[Tim Shoppa]

parking meters.

[riverman]

Nice call. Here's a very similar one on this page, about halfway down in the middle column.

[riverman]

Found it.

Ford Model T

--riverman

[Matthew Russotto]

1610: Super dee-lux dowsing rod 1611: The thing in the middle is a roller bearing; I don't know what the assembly is for. 1612: ??? 1613: Kind of looks like an old tube tester, but I've never seen a portable one nor one quite so substantial. 1614: A surveyor's level. You'd set it so the spirit level showed it was level all around. Then you'd aim at at some known point (e.g. a benchmark upon which your woefully underpaid apprentice is holding a level rod). Then you'd turn it so it was aimed above the point you wanted to transfer the elevation to, and have someone else hold up the level rod so the level is aimed directly at it.

I don't know what the numbers are for; typically a level has crosshairs.

[Rob H.]

Thanks, that's a good link, I'll probably use it on the answer page, although I don't think this Boyce Moto-Meter was for a specific type of car.

Rob

[Rob H.]

I thought that 1614 was a surveyor's level but now I'm thinking you might be right about it being a cathetometer, I'll send an email to the owner and see what he has to say.

Rob

[Andrew Erickson]

1609 - It would be really, really nice to have an enlarged view of this, so as to make out the markings engraved on the front glass. I'm guessing these may give the item away, since an enlargement is missing. Anyhow, it seems to be an indicating device of some sort. I'm guessing, for no particularly good reason, that it has a nautical application, possibly in ascertaining distance of a log line or something similar. 1610 - Seems to be a tool for levering something a short distance, but with great force. Maybe it's railroad related, such as to manually move the points of a switch that is otherwise uncooperative. 1611 - This looks to be a roller (maybe timken?) bearing of hefty size with the rods welded on. It could form the hub of some small amusement ride. It could also be a part of a turntable for, say, a large television set, but the bearing looks designed for radial loads more than thrust loads, which is opposite of what a TV turntable would encounter. 1612 - Probably a gauge to measure the width of some relatively thin things, measured on what appears to be a logarithmic scale (a linear increase in dimension leading to an exponential increase in gauge number). The chain is to keep it handy at...well, whatever it's used at. So, what's measured? No real ideas, although I'll take a stab and guess small metal extrusions of some sort--channels or I-beams or some such. 1613 - Self-service tiki torch check. ("Please check all tiki torches at the door. Thank you.") 1614 - My guess is that it's to measure windage due to gyroscopic effects for a rifled gun. My guess is probably not correct, though.

It's a tough set. Now to see other people's thoughts.

[riverman]

I'm not so sure that this isn't some homemade device. The body of it looks strangely similar to a circa 1920 Brass Microscope:

[kfvorwerk]

That's a cool project. Karl

[riverman]

[J. Clarke]

Microscope:

>>>> Found it. Its in this document on page 84. Can anyone read german?

purpose. "Ablese-mikroskop" is apparently commonplace German usage but it's not in my regular dictionary and I don't know where my technical German dictionary is hiding.

[Northe]

Ablesen means to "read off" (perhaps to "tell by looking")-- probably refers to the microscope having a calibrated scale.

Northe

[Matthew Russotto]

another? The company made a lot of different optical instruments (and various bits of it, like Leica Camera, still exist).

[Matthew Russotto]

But its presence there makes it a lab instrument rather than a surveying instrument. Also, Google helpfully informs me that Abelese-Mikroskop means "Reading Microscope".