Item SUR9 - W. & L. E. Gurley Surveyor’s ½ Chain. 50 feet, 33 links
With
the advent of electronic transits and modern GPS, surveyors now eschew the
older means of linear measurement that involved chains of specified lengths and
numbers of links that, in the case of “Gunter’s Chains, facilitated the
conversion of linear measurement to area measures (acres, hectares, etc). So
today the old chains are sought after by those interested in the “old ways” as
well as museum pieces for collectors. The connoisseur is particularly
interested in American-made examples. These have become very scarce, and I can
attest that you are likely to find many English, and European metric examples
before turning up one made by an American Company. The chain offered here is an
American one, produced by the W. & L.E. Gurley Company of Troy, New York in the
early 1900s. While the typical Gurley surveyor’s Gunter’s Chain contained 100
links having a total length of 66 feet, some old time surveyors preferred a
smaller chain that was half the length(50 feet), with half the number of links
(33). These were usually made of lighter gauge steel or iron wire, and were
less cumbersome to work with in the field, But not being universally desired,
the “half” chain is even more rarely found than the normal Gunter’s chain, and
much less often found than “engineer’s, or metric chains. This chain is 33
feet long with 50 links made of No. 12 gauge steel wire. The chain is marked
every ten links with distinctive brass tags. The brass D-shaped handles are
marked, W & LE Gurley, Troy, NY on one, and ’66 feet, Steel, No. 12” The “66
links” is a misnomer, for the chain has 33 links. With only some light storage
rust, the chain is in Fine Condition.
Price - $300.00
RETURN to forsale list.