Found this: boring tool with inch marks?

[tmenyc]

Its 6+" long, two grooves the entire length, marked 0-5" in 16ths from the end to the 5" mark, and has a slit in the top holding a boring bit. Looks to me that the slit was done professionally but the boring tool an add-on.
Ive never seen one of these before without the boring bit...what is it? For measuring distance from a chuck or collet?

 

[benmychree]

Its for knowing how deep you are boring; back in the olden days when we did not have digital readouts or Travadials, or lathes with graduated longitudinal feed dials (American Pacemaker lathes have that, very handy).

 

[RJSakowski]

Possibly to measure the depth of the bore?

edit: Just not fast enough on the return key.

 

[dulltool17]

Possibly to measure the depth of the bore?

Absolutely.

 

[tmenyc]

Definitely one of those questions where my answer to myself is "if you'd only given it a MINUTE of thought you'd have seen what it was." But, I looked at it the other way 'round, and saw it first as a measuring stick of some kind with a boring point stuck in it, rather than as a boring tool with depth measurements...
Thanks, guys!

 

[tmenyc]

Well, this is definitely one of those questions where my answer to myself, having seen your responses, is "you've been at this long enough now to have thought of that..."
Thanks, guys.

 

[Illinoyance]

I think it was a marking gauge and the body is missing.

 

[MrWhoopee]

My new, Chinese threading bar. Metric, of course.