Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion What was this used for?

This has me stumped! Anyone have a clue what it was used for. Came out of the Standard Oil division headquarters warehouse here in town. I do know it was used for something prior to 1961 when my grandfather retired. It may have been specially made by him or did Standard Oil issue these. It is stamped S.O. Thanks for looking!!! The slide rule slides inside the shaft so maybe it was used for inside measurements of somekind?

My guess is an old bulk tank product measuring guage???

Appears to be an item made by someone versus a mass produced instrument.

It's an device designed to measure size in inches. This can be confirmed by "add one foot to readings" to allow for the solid part of the device. The other part appears to be calibrated in inches. Would be impossible to determined what exactly it was built to measure.

Thanks guys! It will go back on the shelf as one of those head scratcher/conversation pieces. Good day to you

I sent the images to my dad who designs scientific measuring instruments, and who used to work for NASA in Texas, kind of like a big oil company isn't it... LOL

Maybe, it just takes a rocket scientist to figure this mystery instrument out!

Hey thanks Nicole! I would value a rocket scientist's opinion .

I could be wrong, but I can remember seeing something similar to this in a friends antique surveyors kit. He had said that his had come from a relative that worked in the mines. I'm thinking that the wooden box with a screwed on lid gives evidence that it wasn't used too often. Just maybe they kept it at headquarters and used it in the oil fields.

This is what my dad sent back to me. I e-mailed back asking what a 'medium distance' is--as my aunt just arrived from overseas and I don't want to cut into their time together by calling.

He wrote -- Never seen anything like it. But "add one foot" indicates a measuring device for medium distances. More than the measuring tapes "add 2 inches".

There are surveyors in the building I have my studio in, so I will ask them as well in the next few days.

Hard for me to believe it's a surveyors tool/instrument.