What is it? Strange looking antique...

[maxwell]

Hey, somebody just brought this into our mall, and nobody can seem to figure out what it is! Does anyone know?

It seems to be made of bronze, and folds up flat. The base forms a sort of tripod. The arm on the top is jointed in three places and comes to a point at the end. We cannot find any markings anywhere on it!

[mart]

Does it sit, stand, hang or what ??  My first thought was (I forget what they are called) an apparatus to center and mark a round/circular object !!  There may be some of it missing !!

[maxwell]

We don't know... It does look like the tip may have held a lead at some point. But the tip also looks burnt... maybe used for soldering or something.

[fancypants]

My first impression is that your item is a 'runout gauge' , used for checking out-of-round , centering & etc. for mechanical (spoked-wheel trueing & etc & misc) work .

Clockmakers '3rd' hand , some sort of scribe , etc ..... I really don't know for certain what the tool is , but will be happy to learn , when someone turns the right stone over !

[KC]

My first impression was a machinist drafting tool.

Are there any markings on it anywhere?

[mart]

Maybe Rauville or Cogar will recognize it !!

[cogar]

I hafta agree with fancypants .... on that, ...... a "centering" gauge.

I'm guessing  it would have been used with either a wood or metal lathe, .... or a "turntable" (such as  "potter's wheel"), ..... to put a "scribe" mark on the "piece" as it rotated.

[mart]

If used with a lathe that's probably why the tip appears burnt !!  Turning wood gets hot and over time will discolor the metal !!

[Rauville]

We don't know... It does look like the tip may have held a lead at some point. But the tip also looks burnt... maybe used for soldering or something.

Hmm...maybe?
A sharpened graphite stick is often used for a "heat sink" in soldering jewelry. This device might possibly be a "third hand" model for such use?

[maxwell]

Those sound like some good ideas. There are no markings on it that I have been able to find.