Darlician construction

[fuzzyedges]

Your guess is as good as mine 

A form of regulator ? but it looks neat 

[JamesT]

Not much idea either, but a lot of those apparently ornamental swirls and curves are actually very much functional, in that they mean that even if something gets a little out of alignment, the machine keeps working and is effectively self-adjusting.

[colinb]

Steampunk Optick Valve 

 

 

maybe 

[johntwo]

Are the veins on the body to aid cooling?  Weird but interesting.  Where did you find it fuzzy?

[fuzzyedges]

Bradford industrial museum 

I can deduce certain bits of it 
a) the ribs are for containment so I would expect it to contain a volatile substance  
b)It feeds from top to bottom maybe as the top pipe is less in diameter than the bottom and looks gravity fed 
c)The weight on the arm will move the linkage after a determined amount is in the ribbed container, this is adjustable 
d) In this position the weight will move down operating the valve at the top either open or closed depending on internal linkage which I cant see 
e)The hooked linkage on the left is a mystery it obviously works off the weight linkage and would suggest a rocking movement but I cant see how that works 
Anyone any ideas ?

 
 

[Phil]

23 hours ago, fuzzyedges said:

Your guess is as good as mine 

Not good enough... I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT IS!

[Denis]

10 hours ago, fuzzyedges said:

a) the ribs are for containment so I would expect it to contain a volatile substance  

Or pressure ?
 

 
 

 

[fuzzyedges]

Yes it could be a pressure 
my first thought was gas but it is too much heath robinson I think for that (unless it is pre H & S )
The hooked arm that puzzled me looks to rock upwards when the weight that sticks out goes down, then the metal roller travels down its length to the other hook and holds the shafts in the shut position (I assume ) by its weight 

[Denis]

The size of the bolts holding the two halves of the vessel together are very strong, maybe not Gas, but steam. The only other Victorian (if that is the era of course) energy source was steam.

I seem to remember when I worked in a  grain dryer that was originally steam powered, all the old pipes were painted silver.

[fuzzyedges]

could well be, the next room was all layshafts and belt driven machinery

[ChrisD]

I've a suspicion its a Water hammer arrestor for a high pressure system. Self regulating.

[Ryewolf]

I'll leave it to you technical guys to work out it's use, I'm not very mechanically minded I'm afraid. I always find it interesting that something can be built and used - probably for decades - and then it's use forgotten...

[vanguard]

I think  it’s a steam pressure vessel. It opens at a certain pressure which matches the weight of the ball. Steam releases and weight of the ball closes the valve, ready to start the cycle again.

[Denis]

Maybe a steam pressure regulator then rather than a vessel, keeps the pressure at the correct level ?