Any chance you grandfather was a teacher of some sort and this was made to illustrate basic mechanics of gearing? Or a sales prop for someone to show clients?
No idea, but the vertical plate between the gear mechanism and the spool Looks like it is made to slide out without much effort. I wonder if the whole rig is made to slide out to change different spools for some purpose. That would allow for the spool appearing to be an independent part from the rest of the set up. From the hole in the spool it looks like it would turn forward and down when the handles is turned. I wonder about the gear ratio too. It also looks like a dust cover or Id plate may have covered the gears at on time.
There is a special way one hand throws ( rolls up a steel tape ) by hand in a figure 8 shape then snaps it into a circular shape.
And if you do it up right handed, you better let it down right handed. Seems it would be more trouble than it would be worth for a measuring tape. Easy to put up and throw, by hand. miles
It ain't a surveying tool.
Not stout enough.
Surveyors would tear it up, strip the gears, and spill beer all inside...
Drunken Ruffians...........
Paul
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear a sermon".... D.A.D.
Trump Won!, Sandmann Won!, Rittenhouse Won!, Suck it Liberal Fuuktards.
As someone already stated it started life as Victrola Guts....
What it is NOW, you would need to ask the tinkerer....
That is pretty interesting. So If that’s it, the spool is not a direct drive from the crank. Instead Appears the crank loads a coil spring and the spool turns from the spring tension without having to turn the handle while Loading the spool. Somebody with a good imagination it looks like if it is indeed a repurpose effort.
What Idaho_ Shooter said--- The first glance at the photo of the box reminded me of the old wooded boxes surveyors instruments were stored in. There is a special way one hand throws ( rolls up a steel tape ) by hand in a figure 8 shape then snaps it into a circular shape. This would just roll the tape up. The eye in the drum looks like it was made to accept the leather thong at the end of the tape.
Yep, that's what is called "throwing a chain". The steel tape was 66 feet in length, one chain. Ten square chains = one acre. A more modern surveyor might have used a hundred-footer. Now I think they all use lasers. Throwing a chain took a little practice, but once you got the hang of it it was easy. Key is to take up the chain in equal lengths before trying to throw it. No surveyor would have wanted or needed anything as convoluted as the OP's item in order to store a chain. A simple reel or throwing it would suffice.
The biggest problem our country has is not systemic racism, it's systemic stupidity.
I will take better pics of it and maybe a video if I can post it here.
"...aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." - Paul to the church in Thessalonica.
What Idaho_ Shooter said--- The first glance at the photo of the box reminded me of the old wooded boxes surveyors instruments were stored in. There is a special way one hand throws ( rolls up a steel tape ) by hand in a figure 8 shape then snaps it into a circular shape. This would just roll the tape up. The eye in the drum looks like it was made to accept the leather thong at the end of the tape.
Yep, that's what is called "throwing a chain". The steel tape was 66 feet in length, one chain. Ten square chains = one acre. A more modern surveyor might have used a hundred-footer. Now I think they all use lasers. Throwing a chain took a little practice, but once you got the hang of it it was easy. Key is to take up the chain in equal lengths before trying to throw it. No surveyor would have wanted or needed anything as convoluted as the OP's item in order to store a chain. A simple reel or throwing it would suffice.
Any chance you grandfather was a teacher of some sort and this was made to illustrate basic mechanics of gearing? Or a sales prop for someone to show clients?
All in all I have no clue.
It's too flimsy for a wire stretcher. For a good tight wire, I have one of these that's been in the family for many years. It's not on the original rope.
These also work very well although with this you have to pull most of the slack out before you can hook it up. The block and tackle will pull a lot more slack.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
Miles---- Yes once ya get the hang of it it's easy, but there is someone always wanting to reinvent the wheel. Looks handmade -- Gurley would not put out anything that rough.
What Idaho_ Shooter said--- The first glance at the photo of the box reminded me of the old wooded boxes surveyors instruments were stored in. There is a special way one hand throws ( rolls up a steel tape ) by hand in a figure 8 shape then snaps it into a circular shape. This would just roll the tape up. The eye in the drum looks like it was made to accept the leather thong at the end of the tape.
Yep, that's what is called "throwing a chain". The steel tape was 66 feet in length, one chain. Ten square chains = one acre. A more modern surveyor might have used a hundred-footer. Now I think they all use lasers. Throwing a chain took a little practice, but once you got the hang of it it was easy. Key is to take up the chain in equal lengths before trying to throw it. No surveyor would have wanted or needed anything as convoluted as the OP's item in order to store a chain. A simple reel or throwing it would suffice.
Now they all use GPS.
That's probably right. Another way for them to get away with not marking the lines. Take the easiest roundabout route to set or locate the corners, then the person needing to know where the line runs has to hire another surveyor or run it himself using good ol' bearings and distances.
The biggest problem our country has is not systemic racism, it's systemic stupidity.