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Old Gauge in my Father's Garage - Can Anyone Tell Me What It Was For?

mangorunner

Plastic
Joined
Aug 17, 2017
I found this large and very heavy gauge in my father's garage after he died. It is ten inches (10") in diameter and 2.5 inches thick. Printing at the bottom is "U.S. Gauge Co. N.Y". Gauge measurement range is 0 to 5,000. The silver plate in the center of the dial doesn't seem to have anything at all written on it (so what is it's purpose?) Please see attached photos.

I have spent a lot of time researching this gauge on the internet, but have not come across another one like it. Therefore, I really don't know anything about it.

Would appreciate knowing what this gauge was used for, around what time period it was used, and anything else you can tell me about it. I would grateful for any information.

IMG_9134 (Large).jpgIMG_9135 (Large).jpgIMG_9137 (Large).jpgIMG_9138 (Large).jpgIMG_9139 (Large).jpg

Thanks very much,
Carol
 
I found this large and very heavy gauge in my father's garage after he died. It is ten inches (10") in diameter and 2.5 inches thick. Printing at the bottom is "U.S. Gauge Co. N.Y". Gauge measurement range is 0 to 5,000. The silver plate in the center of the dial doesn't seem to have anything at all written on it (so what is it's purpose?) Please see attached photos.

I have spent a lot of time researching this gauge on the internet, but have not come across another one like it. Therefore, I really don't know anything about it.

Would appreciate knowing what this gauge was used for, around what time period it was used, and anything else you can tell me about it. My ultimate goal is to try and figure out what it is worth as I may like to sell it. I would grateful for any information.

View attachment 206070View attachment 206071View attachment 206072View attachment 206073View attachment 206074

Thanks very much,
Carol

Redline hand is set for typical "dry pumped" Nitrogen - if he had anything to do with industrial gas production or use. Fourth stage, Chicago-Pneumatic, PB-44, 120 CFM @ 3600 PSIG of an Air-Products A1 or A2 1 ton per day field-mobile Liquid Oxygen/Nitrogen plant had the same US gage, but smaller and about the same redline setting. USAF 5 Ton per day DELON 500M as well, but had some larger gages as the very size of it needed reading from further away. Field mobile it was NOT!

Military used a lot of US Gage. Well made goods, and rock-reliable. Should be able to find a FSN/NSN for it.

Artillery filled big-tube recoil "equilibrator" cylinders with that, Nitrogen gas over hydraulic, no Oxygen wanted, thanks!

Otherwise, hydraulics, but the size is way too large, generally.

Gases weren't commonly worked at pressures that high, nor steam. Hydraulics were and are. Even basic jacks, remote units especially having gages. Higher pressures, yet.

All assuming it was even PSIG, not some Metrifuckated units. Age makes that less likely, though.

Not that it can ever be used again, FWIW. No one who wants to keep head on shoulders would dare risk it. New ones are not that dear. We stocked spares, even at 518th Engineer Detachment (GG), Long Binh, RVN, ditto Base Fuels, Bin Hoa AFB.
 
I have seen such on test/calibration equipment. Note the gauge should not be used without disassembly, cleaning, testing and calibration. The working pressure of the gauge is about half the range. The gauge may have more value as a display item than a working item.
Donald
 
You guys are wonderful! Thank you for the replies!

I hate to admit it, Monarchist, but I only understand about half of what you wrote (even though I have three college degrees). My father was a doctor in Jacksonville, Florida but he loved to tinker in the garage (boats, fishing, restore old cars, make furniture, etc) and he loved to go to junk yards and shipyards. (Here in Jax, we had old shipyards where you could search bins for scrap items). He made beautiful lamps from old tugboat brass-caged lights and from giant wooden pulleys he got at the shipyard. So this may have come from one a junk yard or shipyard. He made a gorgeous mirror from a heavy-as-hell solid brass porthole. He could fix anything. I would give anything to know what in the world he planned to do with this big, heavy meter. It weighs 11.2 pounds.

Donald, I agree about a display item. I'm sure my Dad didn't intend to use this as an actual measurement tool. I have no plans to use it, either, (LOL!) and hopefully, no one else that acquires it would.

So if I understand correctly, it was maybe a nitrogen gauge or hydraulic gauge?

How would I go about finding the FSN/NSN (Federal Stock Number/National Stock Number)? Just more Google research? What would that provide... more info to help value it, I'm guessing?

Joe, I'm excited but a little nervous about rubbing through the paint... I know you can devalue antiques by messing around with them... I see on Antique Roadshow all the time: "If you hadn't repaired this, it would be worth $3,000, but with the replacement (part), it's only worth around $300." Do you think it would be ok to test a place on the back for brass underneath? What to use - acetone? Sandpaper? (I hate that I'm so dumb in this department.)

Thanks again for your valuable time! I appreciate all of the help!

Carol
 
I just came across these two eBay listings for eleven-inch (11"), early 1900’s USG steam ship pressure gauges. (Mine is definitely ten-inches, measured rim-to-rim.) These two eBay gauges are incredibly similar to mine - one measuring to 0-2,000 and the other, 0-4,000 - but they both have three hands/needles - two of them being red. They are both made by USG and look just like mine (except for the incredible clean-up). I wonder if this thing could be from an old steamship? Opinions?

ANTIQUE VTG. 11" US GAUGE CO SOLID BRASS NAVY STEAM SHIP PRESSURE GAGE-STEAMPUNK | eBay

ANTIQUE 11" US GAUGE CO SOLID BRASS NAVY STEAM SHIP PRESSURE GAUGE STEAMPUNK

Thanks again for your time,
Carol
 
Carol, you sound like a person worth helping.

In the absence of any further concrete data identifying the meter, it might be worth saying more about what your father's specific interests were. Sometimes, that sort of mindset info provides a clue as to the identity of a mystery item that has enough special appeal to cause one to acquire it.

-Marty-
 
Marty, you are so kind! After ya'll got me headed in the right direction, I did some more research and found two almost identical gauges (but 11 inches rather my 10-inch) on eBay. I wrote up a nice reply along with links to the items and I've been awaiting Moderator posting ever since. I keep refreshing... I don't know how often the Moderator strolls through here...

Anyway, in the meantime, both items are early 1900’s US Gauge Company steamship pressure gauges. One measures 0-2,000 and the other 0-4,000. They both have three needles: one black and two red. In both cases, there is a number just above the USG logo/trademark and both listings say they are possibly from Navy steamships.

Dad was interested in anything related to boats, fishing, maritime. He also loved woodworking, tools, fixing things (anything), he fully restored an 1952 MGTD, he did medical missionary work in Haiti for over 30 years... he had his interests all over the place... he made a beautiful solid walnut cradle and rocking horse for the grandkids... and funny as could be... loved a good joke. Miss him like crazy. Anyway, it's always fun to try and get inside his head as I deal with his things, one by one!

Thanks again,
Carol

PS. He would laugh his head off that on this forum, I'm "Plastic"! That is hilarious!
 
A lovely old gauge. Size of dial and fineness of graduations suggest to me that it was a "test gauge", for use in a lab-type setting, not as an operating gauge on equipment. The sliver plate in the middle would be engraved with calibration date, etc.

The thread on end of stem looks odd to me, perhaps near 1/4" standard pipe-thread, but I can't see the taper that such should have. If you could get a nearby machinist to identify the thread, that might offer a hint to the original application.

It would go well, with a snubber, on a hydraulic press to allow close control of force applied. I would not disturb the black paint.

(Your being characterized as "plastic" only means you have made fewer than a certain number of posts here.)
 
Quoted for posterity...

You guys are wonderful! Thank you for the replies!

I hate to admit it, Monarchist, but I only understand about half of what you wrote (even though I have three college degrees).....



You just have to scroll past his posts. I can't read them either, and not worth the time to try. He writes paragraphs of gibberish for what could be said in a sentence or two. That's just what he does, and I'm convinced he's :drink: when he posts on here. ;)
 
You guys are wonderful! Thank you for the replies!

I hate to admit it, Monarchist, but I only understand about half of what you wrote (even though I have three college degrees).
IIRC, Commanding Officer of a Corps of Engineers Gas Generating Detachment was meant to have an MS Chemical Engineering, sub specialty Chemical Process Engineering, and the enlisted operator course was 26 weeks. That included Acetylene and CO2 production, different mobile equipment, same staff.

If you had even HS Chemistry, it would take about 30 minutes to understand what was up. Liquifying air, caustic leaching of CO2, then fractionally distilling liquid to separate out the rare gases, select whether to save and pump either Nitrogen or Oxygen, not both at once. Memorizing 115 valves and their safe sequencing was what took the time.

Submarines are even more challenging, I am sure.

Nothing mysterious. Commercial industrial gas plants are in major cities all over providing Oxygen for hospitals or welding.

this may have come from one a junk yard or shipyard. He made a gorgeous mirror from a heavy-as-hell solid brass porthole. He could fix anything. I would give anything to know what in the world he planned to do with this big, heavy meter. It weighs 11.2 pounds.
Navy is possible. Submarines use very high pressure air or they just could not work, and the USN carriers have need of breathing Oxygen for pilots.
So if I understand correctly, it was maybe a nitrogen gauge or hydraulic gauge?
I'm coming down on the side of high-pressure gas, not hydraulics. Could be ordinary air as-had, or one of its components.
How would I go about finding the FSN/NSN (Federal Stock Number/National Stock Number)? Just more Google research? What would that provide... more info to help value it, I'm guessing?
Standard Noun Nomenclature, as in GAGE, pressure .. more modifiers in descending order, Type 1, Class 2, and such. There are specific search tools online. Here's the general gist of how it works:

Federal Stock Number - Wikipedia

NATO Stock Number - Wikipedia

Joe, I'm excited but a little nervous about rubbing through the paint...

Don't do that. It will be brass. They still make Brass. That part is not rare.

They still make the gages, too. That size may be a special order item, but the drawings are still on-file:

General Equipment Gauges

Photos and such sent off with a note to Ametek US Gage, and they can tell you more about it, quote repairs, or sell you a brand new one.

"Collectors" get all excited when they see 'old and grubby' and forget 'still being made, brand-new, and in common everyday use - somewhere' may equally apply!

Let a collector who has found a righteous need else paid you for it decide about that rubbing through the finish part.

Who knows? It might be someone restoring a vintage submarine? We have a few on display. I crawled through a WWII fleet boat at Pearl Harbour on one tour years ago meself. Too busy trying not to knock myself unconscious to take note of all the dials and gauges. There are quite a lot of them!

There are far more interesting things to put up for display around your own residence.

Or so I hope and trust!

:)
 
When I lived in Baltimore, I visited the Torsk once or twice. USS Torsk - Wikipedia

Downright scary to think of going to war in one of those things. I have nothing but admiration and awe for the men who did. A number of years back, there was a bunch of hooraw about making it ADA accessible, or closing it to the public if they couldn't. I believe that proposal was scotched pretty quickly.
 
When I lived in Baltimore, I visited the Torsk once or twice.
Got to eyeball it a few times. Inner Harbour was a favoured spot, back in the day. Never went aboard.
making it ADA accessible, or closing it to the public if they couldn't.

Now THERE is about the stupidest of positions heard of until an election campaign gets rolling.

WTF were they thinking?

Run a hatch-sized flexible clear Tyvek tube, strip naked and butter the poor f*****s, insert at one end, then blow them slowly through and around the curves with b****y compressed air?

Torpedo gang cudda rigged that, I suppose, magical resourceful lot, they can be.

But who would want to smell of butter the rest of the day for the privilege? Harbour Gulls would carry you off for a midnight snack!
 
Interestingly there are no units listed on this gage. Could be anything really, no reason to believe
PSI.

Could be atmospheres, or maybe inches of water.

Clearly a precision unit as the zero set of the needle is done by shifting the scale behind it, see
the clamping screw?

Did your dad do any scuba diving?
 
You guys are wonderful! Thank you for the replies!

I hate to admit it, Monarchist, but I only understand about half of what you wrote (even though I have three college degrees). My father was a doctor in Jacksonville, Florida but he loved to tinker in the garage (boats, fishing, restore old cars, make furniture, etc) and he loved to go to junk yards and shipyards. (Here in Jax, we had old shipyards where you could search bins for scrap items). He made beautiful lamps from old tugboat brass-caged lights and from giant wooden pulleys he got at the shipyard. So this may have come from one a junk yard or shipyard. He made a gorgeous mirror from a heavy-as-hell solid brass porthole. He could fix anything. I would give anything to know what in the world he planned to do with this big, heavy meter. It weighs 11.2 pounds.

Donald, I agree about a display item. I'm sure my Dad didn't intend to use this as an actual measurement tool. I have no plans to use it, either, (LOL!) and hopefully, no one else that acquires it would.

So if I understand correctly, it was maybe a nitrogen gauge or hydraulic gauge?

How would I go about finding the FSN/NSN (Federal Stock Number/National Stock Number)? Just more Google research? What would that provide... more info to help value it, I'm guessing?

Joe, I'm excited but a little nervous about rubbing through the paint... I know you can devalue antiques by messing around with them... I see on Antique Roadshow all the time: "If you hadn't repaired this, it would be worth $3,000, but with the replacement (part), it's only worth around $300." Do you think it would be ok to test a place on the back for brass underneath? What to use - acetone? Sandpaper? (I hate that I'm so dumb in this department.)

Thanks again for your valuable time! I appreciate all of the help!

Carol

Hi, Carol,

As may be seen in the photos, you have a phenolic-cased gage, probably built in the late '30's to late '40's. You can use any mild cleaning product to remove the dirt and grime, then polishing it with a soft rag, and any good furniture oil, will make it look nice. It won't have anywhere the 'antique value' of a brass-cased gage, but it is a bit of a historical artifact in its own right. (try a search on the internet, and have a look at the photos of the engine rooms of 1940's ships, you'll see literally dozens of gages with the same style of case.)

added on edit......you can do a search on 'Bakelite' to learn about phenolics. There is no paint on phenolic gage cases, and only a reasonably smooth finish, not a high polish.

cheers

Carla
 
Clearly a precision unit as the zero set of the needle is done by shifting the scale behind it, see
the clamping screw?

Did your dad do any scuba diving?

Jim, thanks for the reply. I do see the clamping screw - right between 4,700 and 4,800. Pretty cool!

Yes, Dad and I did lots of scuba-diving together: off-shore Jacksonville, Florida Keys, Caribbean and some of the Florida springs.

As may be seen in the photos, you have a phenolic-cased gage, probably built in the late '30's to late '40's. You can use any mild cleaning product to remove the dirt and grime, then polishing it with a soft rag, and any good furniture oil, will make it look nice. It won't have anywhere the 'antique value' of a brass-cased gage, but it is a bit of a historical artifact in its own right. (try a search on the internet, and have a look at the photos of the engine rooms of 1940's ships, you'll see literally dozens of gages with the same style of case.)

added on edit......you can do a search on 'Bakelite' to learn about phenolics. There is no paint on phenolic gage cases, and only a reasonably smooth finish, not a high polish.
Carla

Hi Carla, thanks for your reply. I can tell both by the weight (11.2 pounds!) and feel that this is metal, not a bakelight or phenolic case. Tap it with a screwdriver and you can also hear that it is metal. I had to prove it to myself and took it down to the bare brass on an area on the back. And knowing that, it doesn't surprise me one bit that Dad bought it. He loved brass and I'm sure he knew it was brass as there were some worn areas where I thought I could see brass peaking through the paint. Please see photos.

IMG_9738 (Large).JPG

IMG_9739 (Large).JPG

IMG_9740 (Large).JPG

IMG_9741 (Large).JPG

Thanks again to all who helped me with this!

Gratefully,
Carol
 
Did your dad ever build, or own, his own rig for filling tanks?

No, he never did... we had to take tanks to the local dive shop to be filled. But I see where you were headed with that, LOL...

He did keep a filled scuba tank around in the garage for filling car and bike tires!

Carol
 
No, he never did... we had to take tanks to the local dive shop to be filled. But I see where you were headed with that, LOL...

He did keep a filled scuba tank around in the garage for filling car and bike tires!

Carol

It was a natural guess, given where the red line was set on that gage.
 








 
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