Can Someone Identify This?

[silverhawk]

A really strange question. I have a friend who asked if someone could identity this piece of "hardware". It's not a lathe, as there is no spindle (and the far end isn't even secured). The left end of it is a knurled, threaded "bolt" with a point on the end, and it has three bars - one in brass, one in aluminum, and one in steel.

I thought about fishing rod building, but you wouldn't have rods for that. It's not an error fletching machine, either. I'd even gone as far as guessing a seismograph, but there's no where to transfer the marks onto paper (or another recording device). Does anyone know what this might be?



All of my supposition is fallen into the pit of recycling - I don't have a foundation for a good guess.

 

[pontiac428]

Looks like an arrow shaft straightener or similar. That's an odd contact point on the second picture.

 

[silverhawk]

I was thinking like that, but then I wondered what the brass/aluminum/steel rods are for.

 

[silverhawk]

There isn't a mechanism to lock the shaft into place, either, which means it is free to move.

 

[pontiac428]

The fixtures are die cast, which means more were made. That means someone's done something on the internet with it, even if it is just an ebay listing. You have to know what it is called to search, though...

I think the need for three different rod materials must be key in solving this mystery. Maybe the points are for alignment?

 

[silverhawk]

Alignment, balance, or straightening?

joe

 

[silverhawk]

We found it. It's a pyrometer expansion demo tool, and it is missing a gauge on the end. See :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PYROMETER-...978302?hash=item4b1fea07be:g:1SkAAOSwT2JZlfHH

Looks like it is used to teach some physics courses.

 

[pontiac428]

What a needle in a haystack! You have strong internet kung-fu skills, @silverhawk!

 

[silverhawk]

I wasn't the one that found it. Someone else mentioned "pyrometer" and "teacher" in another location, and my brain finally settled things down. I luckily managed to find one on eBay for the owner so he knows what he's looking for.

 

[DoubleHelix]

Here is more info if anyone is curious:

Pyrometer

Basically you heat the bar and it expands and pushes on the dial. Different material rods show the different coefficients of expansion between material.