Monday, March 13, 2023

Monday Mystery, Brass pointers


 Here are a couple of pointer or guide-type things, made of brass, a little bit decorative. They look to be made to slide over possibly wood slats or metal bars about 3/4"x 2" . The adjustable (or replaceable?) points do not look bent or abused, I can't quite figure out where these things might be used. Thoughts?

6 comments:

Observer said...

Perhaps some kind of a story stick or bar gauge? If the tips are replaceable, these could even be trammel points.

Dave said...

Those are trammel points with the caliper legs installed. They can be used to measure inside and outside diameter, but I've never seen anybody actually use them. A nice find because they often get lost or repurposed.

https://www.starrett.com/metrology/product-detail/59F

Dave said...

A better picture of how they're set up in general:

https://www.motion.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,onerror=redirect,anim=false,quality=75,format=auto,metadata=none/motion3/fsdb/images/item/Starrett_59F.jpg

I can't find a picture of caliper legs in use and like I said above I've never seen anybody using them. Anything large enough where you're going to need them you're probably going to measure with something else.

Anonymous said...

I have a pair here too, found in a machinist chest. Never knew what they were for.

Inno

Mister G said...

Of course, trammel points. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RFEs4mQb44

Mister G said...

Thanks, Dave, once again.