Here I will picture some tools we have not been able to identify in hopes that you might have some clue as to their intended use. Any serious suggestions will be much appreciated.
If you have one you are curious about, send me a good picture and we'll list it here. No price tags on any of these.
Send an e-mail to me at toolman@gatctools.com. Any suggestions will be appreciated and carefully considered.
Richard sends this protractor,originally (to him) belonging to his grandfather. Intricate markings, perhaps hand stamped, measuring to the tenth of a degree. He writes: "I don't know how clear the picture was for you but looking at the actual tool it is appearent it is handmade yet it has elaborate markings to allow for 10ths of a degree measurements. My grandfather was a carpenter. Most of his tools were from the late 1800's. This tool doesn't seem to fit his work. The best match I can find for such a tool is a machinest protractor but machine tools in the late 1800's weren't really capable of 10th of a degree accuracy. It is ironic that someone would make a handmade protractor with all the obvious and expected roughness of a handmade tool from that era and yet make it to measure a angle to 10th of a degree!"
May, 2007 - I received this message:
I was looking through your site and came across your “what is it?” It indeed could be a machinist or woodworking tool, but there is another possibility. At an antique show a couple years ago I saw a similar device that was used during the late 1700s as a targeting device for artillery. It was placed on the barrel and in some fashion used to site the cannon. There is enough similarity between your piece and the one I saw to merit research along that line. Good luck!
George Short
Campton, New Hampshire
Tools for sale in my shop