What is this heirloom mystery object?
Shimone says:
My buddy (the yo-yo impresario Doctor Popular) posted this mystery object on his blog.LinkFrom the page: The mystery object is made out of brass and belonged to Rachel's grandmother. It has an arm with three joints and a collapsible tripod stand. When fully collapsed it makes a flat 3" x 4" square.
As mentioned before this is an heirloom piece, but Rachel has never been able to figure out what it was originally intended for, as a matter of fact I'm only making the assumption that the three pieces on the bottom are even intended as a stand. For all I know the pointed end could plug into something.
the latest
latest episodes
Perhaps you put a candle on the spike and use the arm to position it?
It looks like it could be a jeweler's tool. Maybe you position it so that it holds down a piece you're trying to solder?
The cut outs on the hinged portion must have a function beyond decoration. If they didn't, one would think that they would be left off or made MORE decorative like the arm itself. But the circle with the small notch seems like it belongs to something.
Stop-motion animators such as Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien use such devices to keep track of the positions of their puppets. You position the point on the top of the head, and other vital areas, before you move the model during a walk cycle, so that you do not move it too much or too little.
It produces electrical static.
Okay, here is my best guess!
I would say that this is a free-standing compact magnifying glass for use with needlepoint or embroidery work. I think the circle in the middle was once the storage place for a round lens in a brass fitting, which had a connection (the notch in the circle) that slid on to the pointed end of the arm. The lens is missing, and so is the nice case that I imagine this once traveled in.
I think my mom had something similar (though it was made of plastic and probably bought in the mid 70s) for making pom-pons. You wrapped yarn around it somehow, closed it up, cut the yarn around the edge, opened it back up and poof.
I don't think this is exactly the same -- ie, I doubt it makes pom-pons, but I bet this is something similar for tatting or some other older form of lacemaking.
I think I've seen these behind the counter at jewelers and watchmakers. I'd go with it being a little stand to hold something in place while you work on it.
There's also another way to find out fairly easily: the patent number. The gizmo looks of the right age to have a patent number engraved on it somewhere. Find that and call up the patent office and you'll be able find out what something is.
When I was in eighth grade, my history teacher had this broken bit of cast iron with a patent number still readable. The extra credit project was to find out what it was by calling up the patent office. About fifteen minutes of phone calls later, I discovered it was a baling-wire tightener.
Admittedly all the speculation is fun, but the patent number will give a definitive answer.
Gamma: I doubt this was used for stop motion but it's a good guess. I don't have a guess myself. Okay...how about an old tymey roach clip?
My money's on JimH's theory.
[anal literalism]
uh, '3" x 4" square'?!
[/end anal literalism] ;^>
It's obviously what I like to call "Junque" which is 'Junk Antique' mashed together.
Is it a fly holder - it holds a fish hook while you tie the fly around it? Any anglers out there? - Longboxes
Is it a fly holder? - You use it to fold a fish hook while you tie the fly around it. - Any anglers out there? - Longboxes
That is one of the arms from a T-3 which was sent back in time, from alternate 1978 to our 1919. Do not study it any further, or risk developing an army of brass robots, controlled by an all-knowing, self-aware computer network known as SteamNet.
Yeah, Rick, I jumped too quickly on that. Now I'm leaning towards a knitting or a sewing tool. Though the device is functionally identical to the animator's tool.
It's obviously a henway.
Pahool, it's not a henway. It's a wormdo.
It's a height transfer gauge.
Transfer gauges are used to transfer
a measurement from a pattern to a workpiece,
or from an item being measured to a ruler.
It is not a wormdo. It's clearly a hammerfor.
It's not a hammerfor. It's an updoc.
Looking at it again, I realize that it's snoo.
I've seen a similar device that was collected by a pattern maker, so my guess is that it helps with some aspect of pattern drafting. I'm not sure what height gauges are, so I can't confirm John Lupien's guess.
Part of an arm from one of the many terminator models that have been pouring into the present, and past, ever since they developed time travel in the future.
Potter's use something similar to help make identical (nearly) pieces over and over again. I.e., making all your teacups the same height and width as the first one you threw. Though not as fancy looking typically. :)
Somehow, I really don't think those flanges are intended as a stand. They're too tall and too thin; they look too unwieldy to hold the device steady given their length versus height.
The two axes involved with the "stand" part are what intrigue me most; there's obviously something of a large diameter that would run perpendicular to the flanges through the hole when they're folded flat, and yet they unfold along a parallel axis.
Very strange.
I vote with #20 and #24, a height transfer gauge. Pattern making or pattern take off? The whole tool is more delicate than machinist gauges which were often a machined casting for the base. They are made that way to this day. http://catalog.starrett.com/catalog/catalog/groups.asp?GroupID=545
I believe we have a winner.
http://www.docpop.org/2007/10/19/case-closed.html
Wow, Ferry nailed it in Post # 1 Good Job!
I thought it looked like a diclic but sadly I was wrong!