Unknown tool

[Heat Houser]

Any idea what this was used for?

 

[Harvey3]

Looks like some kind of scribe.

 

[gregk]

sure looks like a paper weight to me!

 

[Jg20601]

Looks like a tool I would use to check the depth of a drilles hole.

 

[poorfarmall1]

is it wood?
ebay discussion forums,under antiques...they would probably know

 

[JMS/.MN]

I thought it looked more like a Pharisee- especially with the pointy end.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Looks like a surveyer's tool

 

[jackinok]

yes,but i cant remember exactly what its called,basically its like a stand for a transit that a suveyer would use,but a architect,or builder would carry one of these to make sure building is built according to specs on plans as a building goes up.a transit would be set on a fixed position,or positions and used to lay out grades and such ,these would be more or less portable and moved from place to place checking to see if building was plumb ,lines laid out straight ,etc,as building progressed simply because if it was not level or plumb you could corrected it as a building progressed.I keep wanting to say theodolite but i dont think thats correct.

 

[Sam#3]

With no size reference I may be totally off base but I saw something on the History Channel once in a demonstration of surveyors tools that was nearly like this. He said it was used on hillsides where a tripod didn’t work so well.
The fellow called it something else but the modern name is a monopod. (Courtesy Merriam-Webster online dictionary.)

 

[Heat Houser]

It is less than 2 1/2 sheets of paper long.....

 

[Sam#3]

I didn't see the sheets of paper until I went back and looked today. If I'm eye-balling right today it's maybe 24"-26" long and adjustable extender another 18"-20" so something about 40+" then the telescope on top.
Also, I looked up 'theodolite' from the post below. That's defined as a 'surveying instrument’, which can be mounted on a tripod. In the picture it appears to be what I've always know as a transit. (Courtesy Merriam-Webster online and Encyclopædia Britannica online.)