Mystery tool

A very delicate press for a delicat object???? Just a quick guess.

No, it doesn't show up too well, but that's a micrometer head on it.

wrote: A very delicate press for a delicat object???? Just a quick guess. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You are right, and I will carry it a step further. I think it's a press for a watchmaker. You place the circular plate on the table, selecting the hole that is appropriate. You would place a gear or wheel below the vertical pin, and turn the knurled thimble to drive a shaft either in or out.

Assuming that's a micrometer there, might it have something to do with measuring the thickness of fired brass cartridge rims?

Jeff

That was my first thought too, followed closely by a couple of contradictions. The micrometer-looking head - would you use it like a screw press? And the lack of a locating pin for the anvil block - kinda' defeats the purpose of 'percishun' instrument to hand-locate the work, doesn't it?

A dedicated/special measuring tool. You can keep it until it fits your need. Then you know the purpose. :-)

Nick

I'm thinking that this is a production gauging tool. I can see it for checking head height on something like a rivet, bolt, or other similarly shaped item. Drop the unit under test into a hole and slide it under the micrometer head and measure the head height from the disc with the holes in it. I'm guessing that the disc with the holes in it is ground and the two faces are parallel. lg no neat sig line

The disk is ground. I put it on my surface plate and measured, the faces of the disk are parallel. The micrometer head is an old Brown & Sharpe.

It came in an old box of machinist's clamps and calipers that I bought at an auction. Hate to just pitch it, maybe I'll stick it on Ebay if no one wants out of this group. If you do want it, make an offer.

Maybe for measuring tapers? Mike depth a tapered pin falls thru one known hole, ditto thru a larger known hole, calculate taper.

It's a watchmaker's staking plate. There should be a set of staking punches that go with it. I have one similar in design. Bugs

Hey Rastus,

Kinda tough to tell from the single pix what sort of "head clearance" there is. Is the table adjustable up and down? If not, when the holed disc is placed on the table, what would the mike read when touching it? Is there a lever at the front, or does the table "slot" go through the base too, like a press might? What exactly does the "pin" on the end of the barrel look like? Any chance it has a hole in it?

So far, I'd go with the horological suggestions, possibly to place a shaft into a gear for a very specific distance.

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario

I, too, have a watchmaker's staking plate. Mine has a precise vertical guide for a punch and a precise pin to locate the circle of holes in the block beneath the punch center. While the pictured item might have had a scrounged micrometer head substituted for the punch guide, there is no obvious placement for a block axis pin.

Bugs: if yours is similar, how is your block located?