went to a swap meet today, and I picked up a thing called a "Davey
Vibrometer" made the the Vibroscope Company - it says "made in USA", the
calibration sticker says "do not use after July 6, 1981" - this definately
looks much much older than that - if i had to guess, I'd say 1940s or older.

so, what is it (yes, I know what it is, keep reading)

The face is a ground glass, with calibration marks. there is a mirror
inside that is fixed, a small 6V light bulb and a slit to form a bean that
is directed through the instrument to a small mirror in the back. The
mirror pivots laterally, reflecting the beam of light back to the ground
glass. The mirror pivot is held in two bearings (needle type). The shaft
is wrapped with a piece of thread. One end of the thread goes to a spring,
the other end goes to a lever which is in a housing that protrudes from the
back. Moving the lever rotates the shaft by pulling on the thread, and this
moves the beam back and forth on the ground glass. The ground glass area is
about 4 inches long, full scale deflection is about .004. After some
flailing around with a sticky bearing, I got it all working. the case is
brass painted in that black wrinkle paint that used to be so common.

Ok, so that is WHAT it is, the question is, on what were these things used,
and how old is it really? It is Model 1-1000. If I try Google, this time
Google is not my friend - vibrometry has acquired a new meaning and is done
by lasers, and is used in search and rescue. This looks like the kind of
thing that might be mounted against a huge bearing to warn of failure, but I
just don't know.

any of you have a clue? Would a photo in the drop box help? if yes, I
can post one.

--
Bill
www.wbnoble.com

On Jan 31, 3:35*pm, "Bill Noble" wrote:
went to a swap meet today, and I picked up a thing called a "Davey
Vibrometer" made the the Vibroscope Company - it says "made in USA", the
calibration sticker says "do not use after July 6, 1981" - this definately
looks much much older than that - if i had to guess, I'd say 1940s or older.

so, what is it (yes, I know what it is, keep reading)

The face is a ground glass, with calibration marks. *there is a mirror
inside that is fixed, a small 6V light bulb and a slit to form a bean that
is directed through the instrument to a small mirror in the back. *The
mirror pivots laterally, reflecting the beam of light back to the ground
glass. *The mirror pivot is held in two bearings (needle type). *The shaft
is wrapped with a piece of thread. *One end of the thread goes to a spring,
the other end goes to a lever which is in a housing that protrudes from the
back. *Moving the lever rotates the shaft by pulling on the thread, and this
moves the beam back and forth on the ground glass. *The ground glass area is
about 4 inches long, full scale deflection is about .004. *After some
flailing around with a sticky bearing, I got it all working. * the case is
brass painted in that black wrinkle paint that used to be so common.

Ok, so that is WHAT it is, the question is, on what were these things used,
and how old is it really? *It is Model 1-1000. *If I try Google, this time
Google is not my friend - vibrometry has acquired a new meaning and is done
by lasers, and is used in search and rescue. *This looks like the kind of
thing that might be mounted against a huge bearing to warn of failure, but I
just don't know.

any of *you have a clue? * Would a photo in the drop box help? *if yes, I
can post one.

--
Billwww.wbnoble.com

From Google Patent search:
http://www.google.com/patents?scorin...broscope+davey

wrote in message
...
On Jan 31, 3:35 pm, "Bill Noble" wrote:
went to a swap meet today, and I picked up a thing called a "Davey
Vibrometer" made the the Vibroscope Company - it says "made in USA", the
calibration sticker says "do not use after July 6, 1981" - this definately
looks much much older than that - if i had to guess, I'd say 1940s or
older.

so, what is it (yes, I know what it is, keep reading)

The face is a ground glass, with calibration marks. there is a mirror
inside that is fixed, a small 6V light bulb and a slit to form a bean that
is directed through the instrument to a small mirror in the back. The
mirror pivots laterally, reflecting the beam of light back to the ground
glass. The mirror pivot is held in two bearings (needle type). The shaft
is wrapped with a piece of thread. One end of the thread goes to a spring,
the other end goes to a lever which is in a housing that protrudes from
the
back. Moving the lever rotates the shaft by pulling on the thread, and
this
moves the beam back and forth on the ground glass. The ground glass area
is
about 4 inches long, full scale deflection is about .004. After some
flailing around with a sticky bearing, I got it all working. the case is
brass painted in that black wrinkle paint that used to be so common.

Ok, so that is WHAT it is, the question is, on what were these things
used,
and how old is it really? It is Model 1-1000. If I try Google, this time
Google is not my friend - vibrometry has acquired a new meaning and is
done
by lasers, and is used in search and rescue. This looks like the kind of
thing that might be mounted against a huge bearing to warn of failure, but
I
just don't know.

any of you have a clue? Would a photo in the drop box help? if yes, I
can post one.

--
Billwww.wbnoble.com

From Google Patent search:
http://www.google.com/patents?scorin...broscope+davey


excellent - good work - I hadn't thought of a patent search - and amazingly
, it is almost exactly as described. But, though the patent describes using
it with flashing lights to uncover phase relationships, it still isn't clear
who was buying these things and what they were being used for. But the
October 1928 patent date does at least clarify when it was most likely
built.

thank you so much.

On Jan 31, 11:31*pm, "Bill Noble" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Jan 31, 3:35 pm, "Bill Noble" wrote:





went to a swap meet today, and I picked up a thing called a "Davey
Vibrometer" made the the Vibroscope Company - it says "made in USA", the
calibration sticker says "do not use after July 6, 1981" - this definately
looks much much older than that - if i had to guess, I'd say 1940s or
older.

so, what is it (yes, I know what it is, keep reading)

The face is a ground glass, with calibration marks. there is a mirror
inside that is fixed, a small 6V light bulb and a slit to form a bean that
is directed through the instrument to a small mirror in the back. The
mirror pivots laterally, reflecting the beam of light back to the ground
glass. The mirror pivot is held in two bearings (needle type). The shaft
is wrapped with a piece of thread. One end of the thread goes to a spring,
the other end goes to a lever which is in a housing that protrudes from
the
back. Moving the lever rotates the shaft by pulling on the thread, and
this
moves the beam back and forth on the ground glass. The ground glass area
is
about 4 inches long, full scale deflection is about .004. After some
flailing around with a sticky bearing, I got it all working. the case is
brass painted in that black wrinkle paint that used to be so common.

Ok, so that is WHAT it is, the question is, on what were these things
used,
and how old is it really? It is Model 1-1000. If I try Google, this time
Google is not my friend - vibrometry has acquired a new meaning and is
done
by lasers, and is used in search and rescue. This looks like the kind of
thing that might be mounted against a huge bearing to warn of failure, but
I
just don't know.

any of you have a clue? Would a photo in the drop box help? if yes, I
can post one.

--
Billwww.wbnoble.com

From Google Patent search:http://www.google.com/patents?scorin...broscope+davey

excellent - good work - I hadn't thought of a patent search - and amazingly
, it is almost exactly as described. *But, though the patent describes using
it with flashing lights to uncover phase relationships, it still isn't clear
who was buying these things and what they were being used for. *But the
October 1928 patent date does at least clarify when it was most likely
built.

thank you so much.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Glad to help. My guess is that it might have been used to measure RPM
and/or balance rotating machinery, but I haven't used one. Seems like
it could be an interesting tool.

On Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:31:41 -0800, "Bill Noble"
wrote:

snip
excellent - good work - I hadn't thought of a patent search - and amazingly
, it is almost exactly as described. But, though the patent describes using
it with flashing lights to uncover phase relationships, it still isn't clear
who was buying these things and what they were being used for. But the
October 1928 patent date does at least clarify when it was most likely
built.

A few more bits of info can be gleaned via Google book
search:

http://books.google.com/books?client...Search+B ooks

None of the promising entries have more than a snippet view
though...

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

The text at the bottom of the patent page says"

Wheel Balancing Machine

Pete Stanaitis
------------------

Bill Noble wrote:
went to a swap meet today, and I picked up a thing called a "Davey
Vibrometer" made the the Vibroscope Company - it says "made in USA", the
calibration sticker says "do not use after July 6, 1981" - this definately
looks much much older than that - if i had to guess, I'd say 1940s or older.

so, what is it (yes, I know what it is, keep reading)

The face is a ground glass, with calibration marks. there is a mirror
inside that is fixed, a small 6V light bulb and a slit to form a bean that
is directed through the instrument to a small mirror in the back. The
mirror pivots laterally, reflecting the beam of light back to the ground
glass. The mirror pivot is held in two bearings (needle type). The shaft
is wrapped with a piece of thread. One end of the thread goes to a spring,
the other end goes to a lever which is in a housing that protrudes from the
back. Moving the lever rotates the shaft by pulling on the thread, and this
moves the beam back and forth on the ground glass. The ground glass area is
about 4 inches long, full scale deflection is about .004. After some
flailing around with a sticky bearing, I got it all working. the case is
brass painted in that black wrinkle paint that used to be so common.

Ok, so that is WHAT it is, the question is, on what were these things used,
and how old is it really? It is Model 1-1000. If I try Google, this time
Google is not my friend - vibrometry has acquired a new meaning and is done
by lasers, and is used in search and rescue. This looks like the kind of
thing that might be mounted against a huge bearing to warn of failure, but I
just don't know.

any of you have a clue? Would a photo in the drop box help? if yes, I
can post one.

On Feb 1, 2:44*pm, spaco wrote:
The text at the bottom of the patent page says"

Wheel Balancing Machine

Pete Stanaitis
------------------

Hi Pete,
I think that that is the title of Patent # 5831152 -- "Wheel Balancing
Machine". Patent # 5831152 references one of Davey's patents (#
2004270) as prior art.
Denis G.

On Jan 31, 9:31*pm, "Bill Noble" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Jan 31, 3:35 pm, "Bill Noble" wrote:



went to a swap meet today, and I picked up a thing called a "Davey
Vibrometer" made the the Vibroscope Company - it says "made in USA", the
calibration sticker says "do not use after July 6, 1981" - this definately
looks much much older than that - if i had to guess, I'd say 1940s or
older.

so, what is it (yes, I know what it is, keep reading)

The face is a ground glass, with calibration marks. there is a mirror
inside that is fixed, a small 6V light bulb and a slit to form a bean that
is directed through the instrument to a small mirror in the back. The
mirror pivots laterally, reflecting the beam of light back to the ground
glass. The mirror pivot is held in two bearings (needle type). The shaft
is wrapped with a piece of thread. One end of the thread goes to a spring,
the other end goes to a lever which is in a housing that protrudes from
the
back. Moving the lever rotates the shaft by pulling on the thread, and
this
moves the beam back and forth on the ground glass. The ground glass area
is
about 4 inches long, full scale deflection is about .004. After some
flailing around with a sticky bearing, I got it all working. the case is
brass painted in that black wrinkle paint that used to be so common.

Ok, so that is WHAT it is, the question is, on what were these things
used,
and how old is it really? It is Model 1-1000. If I try Google, this time
Google is not my friend - vibrometry has acquired a new meaning and is
done
by lasers, and is used in search and rescue. This looks like the kind of
thing that might be mounted against a huge bearing to warn of failure, but
I
just don't know.

any of you have a clue? Would a photo in the drop box help? if yes, I
can post one.

--
Billwww.wbnoble.com

From Google Patent search:http://www.google.com/patents?scorin...broscope+davey

excellent - good work - I hadn't thought of a patent search - and amazingly
, it is almost exactly as described. *But, though the patent describes using
it with flashing lights to uncover phase relationships, it still isn't clear
who was buying these things and what they were being used for. *But the
October 1928 patent date does at least clarify when it was most likely
built.

thank you so much.

One possible use would be in balancing a dynamo in a hydro electric
generating plant, ie. a dam on a big river. The flashing phase lights
could identify the armature winding that had more weight than the
others. Or at least get close to the overweight point.

These things run for decades without stopping for service, so balance
is very important. It also occurs to me they might also find an out of
balance position in the impeller driving the dynamo.

An electrical engineer working for your local power company may be
able to help with the story behind your unit.

Paul

" wrote in message
...
On Jan 31, 9:31 pm, "Bill Noble" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Jan 31, 3:35 pm, "Bill Noble" wrote:



went to a swap meet today, and I picked up a thing called a "Davey
Vibrometer" made the the Vibroscope Company - it says "made in USA", the
calibration sticker says "do not use after July 6, 1981" - this
definately
looks much much older than that - if i had to guess, I'd say 1940s or
older.
snip----------------------
From Google Patent
search:http://www.google.com/patents?scorin...broscope+davey

excellent - good work - I hadn't thought of a patent search - and
amazingly
, it is almost exactly as described. But, though the patent describes
using
it with flashing lights to uncover phase relationships, it still isn't
clear
who was buying these things and what they were being used for. But the
October 1928 patent date does at least clarify when it was most likely
built.

thank you so much.

One possible use would be in balancing a dynamo in a hydro electric
generating plant, ie. a dam on a big river. The flashing phase lights
could identify the armature winding that had more weight than the
others. Or at least get close to the overweight point.

These things run for decades without stopping for service, so balance
is very important. It also occurs to me they might also find an out of
balance position in the impeller driving the dynamo.

An electrical engineer working for your local power company may be
able to help with the story behind your unit.

Paul

Well, I rejected the flashing light part because THIS unit had a T5 type
(looks like a little bullet) 6V bulb - and unless the frequency was really
low, even this little filament won't flash on and off very well due to
thermal inertia. And I think that incadescent lighting is original because
the nameplate says "6V" on it. In 1928, a xenon strobe was not unknown, but
the more likely lamp would have been neon.

This thing was mixed in a huge load of surplus stuff that one regular seller
brings to the swap meet - most of his surplus stuff is cell phone and
communications related, this thing clearly has nothing to do with that. all
in all, a great mystery so far....