Nivellator

Can anyone identify this measuring tool? It seems to be some kind of gradient measuring tool, with a thin string on the winding drum which passes through a slot at the end of the black arm. The plated ring can be pulled against the return force of the very strong spring. The conversion dial is 'degrees to inches per yard, fall or rise', and 'degrees to proportion, fall or rise'. A spirit level bubble sits in the oblong feature at the centre of the 'nivellator' dial, which rotates with respect to the black casing.

I should say that having lined something up, the dial is rotated to set the bubble horizontal. More than that I cannot guess.

I wonder if it is for doing the fall angle on water drains. They use lasers now but had to be something like 1:100 fall.

Steve.

Nivellator

Found on Yahoo.

Steve

As I hoped ... There seems to be a big clue on the dial: CHUTE

Try here: **LINK**

MichaelG.

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Looks like Steve probably beat me to it

but I can’t be bothered rejecting all those Yahoo cookies

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 15/07/2020 18:39:08

I dont think it means parachute but chute as in coal etc.

I dont speak german, but if you google "gefälle steigung" and then translate the page you get this **LINK**

Which is a site that calculates the same things as the Nivellator

You both have got no further than me. Plenty of pictures on the net, but I can't see it being a parachute tester. Any idea of how to use it? DRPa is reference to a German patent application, but without a number that is another dead end.

It is a WW2 parachute

tester.Parachute tester on ebay.

Steve.

Sorry, Steve, must beg to differ. Parachutes descend(fall) but do not - generally - ascend. Parachute in French is literally translated as anti-fall

In French, chute is throw down or fall, elevation is rise or ascend. The scale labelling would fit in with the name 'Nivellator' Nivelle or Niveau is a level and that would fit with either drainage/roadworks elevation/descent
DaveD

Look at the one sold on e bay. The link is above.

Steve.

Guys, the french and german is simply a translation of rise and fall. I wonder if it can be used to estimate the hieght of, say, trees. Certainly the inclination can be set with help of the level bubble, but why the string and spring? A tape could measure base line, and give hieght using tangent tables. But why the complication?

more pics of parachute testers.

Lots of them on memorobilia sites.

Steve.

This just goes to show how one bit of bad information on the internet net propagted until it's the truth!

These are for setting small inclines or falls for drainss, trenches etc. NOTHING to do with parachutes. This example https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ww2-period-parachute-tester-1946447318

is clearly marked in inches per yard - inclination. The strong spring keeps the string ( running to a point higher or lower than the meter) tight and (mostly) straight. The arm the string runs through detects the angle of the string relative to the body which is levelled by the bubble.

What the heck would you test on a parachute with this!

Robert G8RPI.

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Or at least that not every ebay listing is completely accurate

... I only hope the buyer of the one I linked just wanted it as a curio.

MichaelG.

Parachute tester:-

Parachute

And the follow on clip !!

I think you are right Robert. The scale allows for 1-10 yards, which would fit with drainage works. The spring is very very strong; not sure why that is so, but suspended from the loop, the scale reads 0 degrees with the bubble level. Thank you.

ice-museum-scotland.hw.ac.uk/product/1973-016/

Nivellator (or Nevellator) comprising spool, adjustable bubble level and angle indicator tension indicator. New. Wire and one end piece missing. Instructions for use missing.

Used to measure rise or fall over the ends of a specified length of a wire.

An article on the use of a nevellator is provided on page 14 in the Weekly Building Reporter and Real Estate Review edition of 23 May 1931 (published in Toronto, Canada). The article states:

“A NEW LEVELLING INSTRUMENT. We have received details of a novel instrument known as the “Nevellator,” used for taking levels, which dispenses with the common straight-edge and spirit-level, and the expensive expert with his equipment. Its circular appearance somewhat resembles the ordinary measuring tape, and, like the latter, it can be carried in the pocket, thus eliminating all the usual inconveniences of tool carriage. Using it, workmen (minus professional aid) are enabled to prove the level over any distance up to 30 feet, and this distance can be extended up to 60 feet if so required by adding an ex-tension line and slightly increasing the tension. It is a simple and easily manipulated instrument, of solid, good-wearing construction. To use it, the line in the contrivance is run out, the ring at its end is attached to a nail or hook, driven into a post or wall, and the tension on the line is then applied by pulling the spring, as shown in the illustration here-with. There is no sag in the line, and the instrument accurately records the exact state of layers of brick or stone-work, indicating whether they are level, or how much they are out of level.

This “Nevellator,” we learn, will not only prove the level of walling, but will accurately determine grades on a run of 30 feet to a degree of ascent or descent in levelling building sites, areas, foundations, drain and pipe trenches, fencing, road construction, roof work, and innumerable other purposes in every-day life, associated with the many and varied branches of the building trade. All interested persons should write for illustrated particulars to the sole agent, Mr. John Seggern, 25 Harbury Road, Birmingham, England.”

To see the article and for a photograph showing its use click here (see page 14).

So my 1st guess was not far out. Just shows how you can be swayed by trolling the net. Good one Neil. .

Steve.

Anyone tried to change languages ? Chute in french is ‘fall’ in English. The opposite of elevation or rise. I guess the middle two are German?

See my post above about language. Thank you Neil