What is this mysterious mechanical device found in an Air B&B cottage?

[sophiecentaur]

I found this on a dusty shelf in an Air B&B cottage. It looks 'mechanical' so do any of you Mech Engs recognise it? It looks like it could be some sort of tensometer ??

 

[Baluncore]

Maybe it was used for winding under-thread, with a preset tension, onto the bobbin of a sewing machine.

 

[dlgoff]

I found this on a dusty shelf in an Air B&B cottage. It looks 'mechanical' so do any of you Mech Engs recognise it? It looks like it could be some sort of tensometer ??
View attachment 315199

Can you read anything on the scale?

 

[DaveC426913]

The gear mechanism is interesting.
The top device has a screw clamp at its business end and has a ratio of 20:1-ish with the crank.

The bottom device is more mysterious and has a ratio more like 1:20-ish with the crank,

but I can't even tell where the business end of it might be.

 

[Tom.G]

Maybe ask the owner?

[edit]
(has been moved to following post with minor addition to 'graduations'.)
[/edit]

 

[Tom.G]

Need more photos/details, can't see enough of the 'bottom device' to tell what the crank ultimately turns.

The Red strip below the crank mechanism on the right has some printing on it. Using Photoshop, I can just make out the first 3 characters as 'Z&U', although the '&' is backwards from the American character; that may provide a clue to country-of-origin.

Too bad those are .JPG images. (darn digital cameras!)

Pure speculation here!
Tensile strength tester? Stretchability of a yarn?

​

There are graduations on the arc - the 2nd-from-left seems to be either '9' or '2'.​

The 'attachments' on the left may mount on the hub of the pointer to supply a torque (note the protrusion at 10 o'clock on the pointer hub)​

Cheers,
Tom

 

[sophiecentaur]

The object was high up on a shelf and I couldn't get it down to see any detail. That long vertical arm is obviously for magnification.
I have returned from the cottage and can't approach the owner (it was such a dump, aamof, that I don't really want to talk with him).

I was hoping that someone would just look at the image and say "Ahh, that's an XYZ machine". But speculation on flimsy information can be fun (one of PF's styles of choice.).

 

[Baluncore]

The bottom device is more mysterious and has a ratio more like 1:20-ish with the crank,

But it also has a worm gear with something like a 60 to 1 reduction, possibly for a counter.

 

[Rive]

Maybe it was used for winding under-thread, with a preset tension, onto the bobbin of a sewing machine.

I think we have a winner with that
Too many common points
Kind of an early or cheap piece, maybe?

 

[Baluncore]

"Hand Yarn Twist Tester", made in China ...
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/325117213756?
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/164749199309?

https://textilelearner.net/twist-measurement-of-yarn/

The OP instrument does not test tension, it measures the small change in length of a spun yarn as it is twisted. Procedure: The spindle counter dials are set to zero. The yarn to be tested is clamped at the spindle and at the length gauge, with a weight beyond the length gauge, to apply a constant tension. The spindle is then turned to remove the twist, which lengthens the yarn, but turning is continued until the length gauge shows the yarn length has reduced again to the same reading as initially set, (but with the twist now reversed). Half that spindle turns counter reading is the number of twists per length tested. No magnifying glass is needed to examine the yarn to determine the average point of zero twist at different positions along the sample.

 

[sophiecentaur]

"Hand Yarn Twist Tester", made in China ...
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/325117213756?
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/164749199309?

https://textilelearner.net/twist-measurement-of-yarn/

The OP instrument does not test tension, it measures the small change in length of a spun yarn as it is twisted. Procedure: The spindle counter dials are set to zero. The yarn to be tested is clamped at the spindle and at the length gauge, with a weight beyond the length gauge, to apply a constant tension. The spindle is then turned to remove the twist, which lengthens the yarn, but turning is continued until the length gauge shows the yarn length has reduced again to the same reading as initially set, (but with the twist now reversed). Half that spindle turns counter reading is the number of twists per length tested. No magnifying glass is needed to examine the yarn to determine the average point of zero twist at different positions along the sample.

Well dang mah hide! Like I said, there's always someone who knows the answer to any question I choose. Thanks a lot @Baluncore .

 

[Baluncore]

The prize should go to @Rive who found the "M. Defraine, old thread and yarn precision instrument, pull meter, yarn tensioner"; that was wrongly described as a tensioner by the seller.

That gave me a lead to search the web for the current technology, then google images to find the operating procedure for the indicator type instrument as shown in the OP.

 

[Rive]

The prize should go to @Rive

Not really. On my own, I've been searching for antiques related to torsion wires

Without you identifying the industry first (right at the start!), it was completely hopeless for that 'M.Defraine' to pop up.

 

[sophiecentaur]

You guys are like when you're walking with your dog in the park and it spots a squirrel. (Correction "We guys")

 

[Baluncore]

Think yourself lucky, that you are not the squirrel.