dc:identifier=httphdllocgovlocpnphec45047

Identified! [Daniel W. Kessler of the National Bureau of Standards with device used to test slabs of marble over long periods of time] ? (LOC)

from The Library of Congress

• 10 older comments, and then…
• oldoinyo said:

  Some obscure orchestral noisemaker?

• Ross said:

  The pensive guy is holding a small slab of marble, or some other veined stone. It looks like the big wheel is designed to clamp a whole series of slabs of the same size into a rotating jig. In the high-res view you can see the slabs are a few different varieties of stone. It's a little hard to see what those roller-like things underneath are doing; but perhaps there's a spinning drum to grind or polish the surfaces of the slabs.

• Ross said:

  Perhaps someone was testing and comparing types of stone for abrasion-resistance. Selecting which one to use for stair treads in public buildings?

• oldoinyo said:

  The slabs look mostly like marble (which is not a great choice for stairs btw.) Nonetheless, perhaps they wanted to find the hardest batches. Maybe one of the rollers underneath is in fact some kind of abrasion tester. Floors could be another application.

• swanq said:

  A Bureau of Standards publication from 1933 is titled Wear Resistance of Natural Stone Flooring nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/11/jresv11n5p635_A2b.pdf A quick skim suggests this report shows and describes different equipment and tests but does confirm that the agency did related work.