Found in a box of layout tools (small compasses, dividers and small force like vise tweezers) from my great grand father (Swedish cabinet maker). He worked for several years during WWII at Mare Island Shipyard building scale models of the battleships built there. I suspect it had something to do with his model building...
maybe something to do with scaling things down to model size?
If you blow in the blunt end does it make a noise? I'm wondering if it is a pitch pipe. The markings look like a musical scale.
Tom is onto it. It is the musical scale. The "is" instead of sharp or #. For some reason, the "B" is represented by an "H". It is almost certainly a tunable pitch pipe, probably for tuning clavichords.
I have to confess, my grandfather was a collector of antiques and he had what he called a "What's-it" table where he placed unusual things and things for which that he did not know the use. As a child this table fascinated me. There was one of these on that table.
@Dana- Yea, that is my assumption, but how does it work?
The Whistle idea I had and it makes no more noise than blowing through a tube.
Also the vane part is relatively hard to move, though it is clearly intended to move from side to side.
Tom, if you follow the Vintage Tool Shoppe in NH, their weekly email has a Whatzit section and I have submitted this to them.
Bill, thanks for the tip. I just signed up. I bet this has been abused and the part that makes the sound has been dislodged. It also looks like the point that protrudes from the top has been modified a little. It looks like it has been sharpened.
This is the other end. Has the look of a whistle...
Very good! It is even the example on the Wikipedia page for pitch pipes!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_pipe
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