Mystery tool/gauge

[Bullit]

As a kid, coming from a German community, we had quite a few German machinists and inventors in town. One of the shops that we would go to was an old time setup. One shaft running overhead in the shop powered about 30 or 40 other tools by running long leather belts from drive pulleys to driven pulleys. Each machine was different and had a different rpm so a device similar to what you have would be needed to correctly calculate rpms for the machinery. I have one 'power' hack saw, I'm positive it was steam, that has been in my family for over 150 years. It has the dates cast on it from the early 1840's and also cast into the saw is the rpm rating, 60 RPM. Incidentally, I still use that saw and it runs great, although it has a 100 year old electric motor on it.

 

[TDM]

es macht mich sehr traurig, recht zu haben

"It makes me very sad to be right."

Finally translated it.

 

[vintovka]

FIFY

"It makes me very sad to be right."

Finally translated it.

Good job.

 

[Relic shooter]

Looks something like manual tachometer I once had. You press the end to the end of a spinning object and it gives a number. I’ll see if I can find mine.

Phil somewhere in my pile of save-it's I also have a do-hicky like yours. One I have is nickle plated with a rubber nub on the end with a mechanical speed readout dial, box says it & was made to read RPMs on lathes. Probably made for lathes of our vintage

 

[vintovka]

Yup.

Sign need back arrow "zuruck" my favorite battle cry

 

[vintovka]

i have several dial type .

Me too. Used them once or twice then back in the chest.

 

[Brokennock]

All very interesting and I greatly appreciate the responses.
I will play with it some when I get a chance and see if I can get other numbers to change just by turning the tip.
My only doubt is speed. I can picture a dial device like what has been shown by some of you handling high rpm speed, somehow I can't see the numbers on this being turned that fast.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

No its geared Brokennock, so the numbers dispalyed will be the max speed times 100 most likely.

 

[Norman Brooks]

Looks like a Trump screw all machine!!!

 

[vintovka]

Looks like a Trump screw all machine!!!

You meant Biden right??

 

[Howard Pippin]

I did a search for “antique German steam engine mechanical tachometer”. Didn’t find an exact match, but a number of photos of mechanical dial types with the same tip. So I’d say the tool is a steam engine tach.

I have one of these, it says Starrett, A fairly high-priced precision Gage. It does work very well. It takes two people to run it, one sits in front of the spinning shaft, already to stick it on with a counter set at zero. The fellow with the watch waits until he can accurately time whatever length of time you want, the longer time the more accurate, and he taps the first man on the shoulder who then immediately sticks it into the center of the shaft. He counts the revolutions until he gets tapped on the shoulder again. if it would be for 15 seconds, then times four. If for 30 seconds times two. The most accurate way is for a full minute
. Squint

 

[Brokennock]

So I played with it a bit.
Turning the tip only changes the numbers closest to the tip. It never get to a point that it changes the next set of numbers, it comes to a stop in either direction.
If one uses the knobs to zero the top set if numbers, the bottom number will be a 9. No matter what the top number is turned to, the sum of top and bottom will be 9. (If the top is a 2 the bottom will be a 7 and so on)
The set of numbers closest to the handle can not be turned if the set turned by the middle knobs is zeroed, and won't be zero.

 

[TDM]

Sure would like to see somebody solve the mystery.

 

[Brokennock]

Sure would like to see somebody solve the mystery.

I'm going to send pics to the link someone posted earlier.
And I'm not discounting the tachometer answer either.