Vintage Mechanical Distance Measurements

Device for measuring air movement volume or wind speed.

It does not have a rudder to keep it in the right direction so it could have been used in a tunnel, mine or air duct.

For walking off distance in a bore tunnel, mine shaft? It might prove useful for when centerline measurements are needed in a curved or angled space. It sounds accurate enough. It could give a ventilation index as well. (Most likely)

I'd assume it's someting used in HVAC industry, but not recently

We thought of that, but didn't understand why it measured just feet, not feet/second or minute, although now that you mention HVAC I suppose with a watch you could time it for say a minute and then shut of the gauge lever, and you'd have a flow rate to use in a vent pipe say?

I like the thought of a mine shaft, or tunnel but don't know if wind would influence the reading? The centerline measurement for a curved tunnel sounds good too. No, there is not a rudder of any sort.

Thank you

Thank you, you are a genius!

Thank you to all, what a great site I've joined today! I've got more mysteries to post soon.

No, not a genius; I've just gotten fairly creative doing internet searches, due to having the need and/or the desire to obtain obscure information, both useful and irrelevant.

Welcome to CR4

Mike

It is an ANEMOMETER for measuring air velocity in feet per minute. A very good instrument and worth it's weight in gold to anybody connected to the airconditioning trade.

Guard it with your life

Regards

Phil

Wow !! I can see the value of this meter for measuring and understanding large volume low velocity air flow patterns in open spaces inside buildings. Quite a discovery.

Ed Weldon

Hello sir :

ur device have a wings so that device convert the velocity of air to linear displacement in pointer so that divce are mostly used in wind power plant to ensure the velocity of wind

Hi Popcornwizard, Phil is on the money. In the HVAC industry the modern electrinic units give a reading in velocity. In the past we used the good old stop watch in conjunction with it. (When man could still do sums) If a constant airflow moved through a duct, readings would be taken from the Center and the edge, corner etc of the duct and then a formula applied to calculate the volume of air. Temperature and pressure can also be added to calculate the actual mass of air being moved. You need all that to be able to confirm your cooling / heating capacity et al.

The unit u have is realy beautiful and a definite keeper.

Sorry Mike, left you out there, not intentional, great pics from your search.

Cheers

Duncan

No worries, mate!

Those that said "It is an ANEMOMETER" are correct. Bendix used to make the exact same model, but would have the name on the faceplate, so I assume this same model was made by several vendors. Aside from HVAC and general windspeed tasks, it is also used to measure air face velocity in chemical fume hoods.

Yes, it reads in feet, because it does not have a timing device. So, if you zero it, time it for 1 minute in the airstream and note the reading, you will have feet/minute.

Tad

It would seem to be a velometer measuring distance/time. You pick the time. If the pointer is active for one minute and indexes to 300 feet the velocity would be 300 feet/minute, etc.

WOW! What a handsome device! The art of fine instruments seems to have died away... and what a shame. The modern devices are stainless, cold, uninteresting... built simply with strict utility in mind.

An interesting site offering similar items for sale: http://www.scientificcollectables.com

Thanks for bringing it over for a look.