What's this for?

Hopefully 3 images should appear with this post. Its something that I can remember seeing in my fathers toolbox 35+ years ago, its now in my workshop. It's a top hat shaped bit of metal with a rubber sucker in the middle.

I've googled "Dagplate" and "Buck and Hickman" and when I've been able looked at their catalogues and found nothing. I've even asked B&H reps if they know what it is.

So, its over to you to satisfy my curiosity.

John

I think it's for holding a glass blank during some sort of optical process like polishing. DAG might stand for 'Diamond Abrasive Grinding'

Except you wouldn't use diamond to polish glass.

....and it's clearly meant to be used as in the last picture, otherwise the Buck & Hickman plate would be upside-down.

Or would you...

Does the rubber insert remove, and does it reveal anything interesting - like a thread?

What, approximately is the major diameter?

Mike

Dag is used in some circles as short for Daguerreotype the early photographic technique. It is quite possible it was a device (or part of) to hold photographic plates for polishing. As pointed out by Mike it must have been used that way up. I suggest if the rubber is slightly proud of the surface it would grip a plate placed on it while the top surface of said plate was being polished.

Sorry, should of given some indication of size. The two diameters are 100mm and 75mm, height is 30mm.

The small rubber sucker gives very little holding force. When "sucked" down on to my glass surface plate the device moves around quite easily but stays in contact with the plate.

Removing the rubber sucker reveals nothing more than a cavity to accommodate it.

John

There's no mention of it in the 1958 B&H catalogue.

Looks like something off a metallurgical sample lapping machine,you dont say the size of it??

A Google on "patent dagplate" produced a possible answer.

A Daguerreotype or Dag plate was a silver coated copper plate used in early photography to capture the image. The plate needed to be very flat and smooth..

The Dag Plate holder was used (in several forms, some of wood) to hold the plate whilst it was buffed and polished.

I suspect that John's Dagplate, marketed by Buck and Hickman, was such an example and is probably a very rare beast.

Mike

Edited By Watford on 15/10/2017 10:59:55

The daguerreotype was the first successful commercial photographic process, and was well within the timescale for Buck and Hickman to be producing such kit.

Daguerrotypes were current from 1839 to around 1860. B&H started around 1830.>>

Mike>>

Edited By Watford on 15/10/2017 11:17:06

It says patent applied for, is it possible to search for that sort of thing on line?

Ian S C

It says patent applied for, is it possible to search for that sort of thing on line?

Ian S C

I just dont think this thing is any older than the 1960s ,1950`s possibly , so daguerreotype is doubtful.

Also they didnt open any branches until 1901.

Edited By mark smith 20 on 15/10/2017 11:49:10

Many thanks for the replies. I think the daguerreotype connection unlikely, the process was more or less forgotten about by the mid 19th century.

The "hammerite" paint finish would probably date it to the early 1960's.

John

Could it be the top of some kind of test tube shaker? It does look a bit too "heavy" for that but who knows? The idea of the shaker is that you put the base of the test tube in the "sucker" and an eccentric causes the whole metal lump to vibrate thus stirring the contents of the tube.

the patent i can find is for some sort of pressure instrument but cant see the full patent.

I thought the same

Buck and Hickman very clever ladies. Also known as Bing & Grondahl in the US. Produced to save space in the shop the customer simply soaks the item in water overnight to get one of these:

**LINK**

Honest !!!!!

Rik