On Thu, 05 Jun 2014 20:13:59 -0500, Ignoramus30385
wrote:

more pix here

http://yabe.chudov.com/UNKNOWN-SURFACE-TESTER-14671/

On 2014-06-05, DoN. Nichols wrote:
On 2014-06-05, Martin Eastburn wrote:
On 6/4/2014 9:24 PM, Ignoramus13687 wrote:
Any idea what it is, it is incredibly cute.

http://goo.gl/IQlnSm

press. On the rod where a chunk of material would be placed is
there an impression ? - is that a die ?

Put a chunk of wax or something and press it lightly.
See what happens - looks maybe another item..

Is it a grommet press ? button swag or Blue jean - metal grommet press...

Or perhaps a press for eyelets for printed circuit boards from
before plateed-through holes were common? Or turret terminals on
component boards?

Maybe for seating a hand on a dial indicator or a watch?

No other views posted?

Details of the rod and the head might help.

Enjoy,
DoN.

Now that there are more and better pictures I know what the device
does. It checks bores. So it is some type of bore gauge. The indicator
is missing of course but also maybe missing is a rod that runs through
the center of the plunger. Looking again at the picture it looks like
the rod is there. Anyway, you can see where the plunger is split and
at the top there is an oval hole through the plunger and on either
side of the oval hole metal has been machined away so that the split
plunger can close up easily when inserted into a hole. When the
plunger is inserted into a hole and the end collapses a little it
pushes the rod inside the plunger up. The end of the rod is tapered so
that the plunger squeezing it causes it to rise. The rise is then
measured wuth an indicator. I don't know what all the other stuff on
the top is for but it is ultimately a tool for measuring bores in a
controlled fashion. The part to be measured is placed on the round
table which is raised with the lever. I'm sure the operator would not
be touching part when it was measured and this would tend to remove
any influence from the operator on the indicated dimension.
Eric