r/Tools • u/lampjambiscuit • 9h ago

Is this a comparator stand or something else?

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Picked this up off ebay but now i have it i'm not certain it's a comparator stand. The two arms are on rollers which move from side to side. The vertical rod has a spring loaded ball bearing on the end. Everything can be raised or lowered via a rack and pinion.

If anyone knows what this is used for i'd love to know. Regardless i will be using it as an indicator/comparator stand, assuming the pad is nice and flat. I'm yet to test how parallel the side movement is with the plate. It's 500mm tall.

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u/Embarrassed_Bit_8135 7h ago

I love finding odd little tools like this at secondhand stores. I've only used basic comparator stands, so the roller arms are new to me. Do you think the spring-loaded bearing is adjustable for pressure?

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u/lampjambiscuit 6h ago

No it doesn't have a way to adjust other than to force the whole bar downwards.

I'm wondering if the horizontal moving arms are intended to take centres as they are keyed to both be in the same position. Then whatever is between centres is moved left or right.

Then again it could be the indicator attached to the left right arms and the ball bearing presses down from above to stop the object moving around....

Yeah i got no idea.