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28th July 2017, 09:25 PM #1
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Negretti and Zambra, What have I got?
What have I got?
Not very much really. Just a ruler. I was sorting through some old rubbish and found a ruler that looked like this:
Ruler 1.jpg
It is is fairly unspectacular, but I suspected it was brass and would clean up:
Ruler 3.jpgRuler 2.jpgRuler 4.jpg
Brass it is and lovely and shiny. Any bower bird would be pleased to own one. The scale is not quite what I expected:
Ruler 7.jpg
There is a reference to water:
Ruler 6.jpg
but also a liquid with a SG of 0.785
Ruler 5.jpg
The water reference is in conjunction with inches so I am thinking inches of water and consequently a pressure measurement. The SG of 0.785 must be a lighter liquid and could for example be alcohol. The elongated slits in the ruler would be to adjust the position on a fixed backing piece.
Any ideas on what it could have been part of? The best option I can think of is in the distilling industry perhaps to measure alcohol content, but this is just a guess.
Negretti and Lambra were in business from 1855 through to at least 1950 and possibly 1999 as I have seen references for both dates. They made a wide range of products primarily in the scientific and optical fields.
This is a link to their encyclopedic catalogue which is probably between 1887 and 1900.
http://ia802608.us.archive.org/27/it...00negrrich.pdf
However I think my ruler is much later. Probably post WW2 or between the wars.
Regards
PaulBushmiller;
"Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"
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28th July 2017 09:25 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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28th July 2017, 09:47 PM #2
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Just a ruler,
From what the modern and ancient world learned to measure the world around them by.
Great find Paul glad it didn't end up as land fill.
Cheers Matt
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28th July 2017, 10:03 PM #3
Woodworking mechanic
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Could have been used to measure pressure difference with the alcohol (Isopropyl has a SG of 0.785) as the measuring fluid.
https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/a...f-a3f60189ee84
Additional info
Found one with your scale on ebay
Vintage Antique Negretti & Zambra Industrial Differential Manometer Steam Gauge | eBayLast edited by Lappa; 28th July 2017 at 10:12 PM. Reason: added eBay link
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28th July 2017, 10:23 PM #4
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Gauge for a sight-glass perhaps?
Innovations are those useful things that, by dint of chance, manage to survive the stupidity and destructive tendencies inherent in human nature.
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29th July 2017, 12:52 AM #5
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I think Lappa is on the right track. My ruler has come from an inclined tube manometer.
The differences are in the scales. Mine reads from 0 - 4.0 while the other two read from 0 - 1.5. They all make reference to inches of water and the SG of 7.85. Also my ruler is brass while the others look like an alloy.
Regards
PaulBushmiller;
"Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"
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29th July 2017, 03:36 AM #6
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You could set it up on you basement Tiki bar as part of a drink dispenser.
Innovations are those useful things that, by dint of chance, manage to survive the stupidity and destructive tendencies inherent in human nature.
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29th July 2017, 07:55 AM #7
The Laird
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It's a differential pressure gauge. 0-4"H2O. The reading would be taken from the red liquid in the tube (alcohol with a SG of 0.785) It may not have been red but for the purposes of illustration...download.jpg
Edit: I just noticed that that picture actually vents but if you connect another pressure input to V you get a differential gauge
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29th July 2017, 08:03 AM #8
The Laird
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I have an awesome differential pressure manometer with two glass tubes and a brass sliding scale. Mounted on a large slab of, I think, oak. It's a flow meter. I'm going to restore it one day. I'd give you some photos but its in storage
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29th July 2017, 07:24 PM #9
Dehydrated Hydrographer
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Negretti & Zambra made a wide range of fluid measuring, hydrometric and surveying instruments. I've used N&Z pluviographs, probably made in the '60s. I'd guess that the slots were so that it could be adjusted. I'd say it's been attached to some sort of pressure guage, possibly a mercury manometer. How far between 2.0 and 2.2 on the H2O scale?
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30th July 2017, 09:19 PM #10
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The scale seems linked to the SG of the liquid:
Regards
PaulBushmiller;
"Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"
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31st July 2017, 12:15 AM #11
Woodworking mechanic
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Here's a link to the modern item by Dwyer. If you look at accessories, it mentions a red liquid to fill the manometer and it has a SG or 0.826 but the instrument scale is in inH2O
Series 250-AF | Inclined Manometer Air Filter Gages are virtually unbreakable and free of distortion. Applications include air filter gage. | Dwyer Instruments
I was looking at buying one of these with pitot tubes to measure my extractor airflow before I bought the anemometer. The scales, although in inH20, are set out to suit the SG of the measuring fluid in the manometer.
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