Surveyor's chain | ||
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Posted 3 years ago
hotairfan
(388 items)
I picked this tool up yesterday at a tool auction in N.J.
It's a surveyor's chain, probably from the late 1800s. The surveyor used these chains to measure the property lines of their clients. This is a rather short surveyor's chain, only 30 feet long. They made some chains much longer.
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Haven't seen one of these in decades. Still used ?
Yes bb2, they are still used in lesser developed countries (India, Pakistan, and some European countries). These seem quite early by the handles that they have. Early chains (1850 and earlier) used the wire handles. Later chains used cast handles. A standard surveyor's chain was I believe 66 FT. this set of chains is called a half chain and is 33 FT.
With a surveyor's chain and a compass, one can survey most properties to a varying degree of accuracy.
I forgot to mention that every so often, I believe every 10 ft., the surveyor's chain had a little marker called a "Telly" that signified how far down the chain you were at that point. At each 10 ft. interval a slightly different shaped tellies were attached to the links.
This particular chain is missing the tellies. The loop, by which the tellies were attached are still on the chain and at the proper intervals, but it is missing the tellies.
Guess somebody has been yanking your chain.