The world renowned consumeter

To help keep me out of mischief I purloin early smiths car clocks and repurpose them.
In an effort to get more info I purchased a copy of Smiths 1910 spares catalogue.
I am particularly enamoured with the Smiths consumeter.
What a lovely word for a fuel gauge.
p.s. for anyone interested in car history its a wonderful publication.
   

That looks highly interesting and indeed what a very intersting hobby. What do you make of the sets of cheap replica Smith's instruments which turn up from time to time on Ebay?
Being a little into steampunk (try not to groan!) Id often wondered about buying a few to mount on oval shaped varnished wooden plaques as ornamental mock ups of early dashboards for man cave wall art

Not all the description is visible but from what I can make out the unit assess the number of fluid ounces consumed over a presets time / distance.
If it’s accurate & your passenger has his or he slide rule or Babbage’s sum & difference engine & a quality stopwatch to corroborate the figures, your fuel economy could be calculated in minutes.
With enough paper & a fountain pen, a chart could be drawn up over the following hours to indicate how you driving was ages ago, by which time you’ve lost interest.
Brilliant, I love old advertising leaflets like this.
Could you retake the picture with more text please, thanks.
M

Yes wooden plaques would work.
I machine out metal plaques and make mantle clocks from them, and wall hanging clocks.
Steam punk isnt a bad description.
The majority of advertised stream punk items are made from modern materials in China now, so I try to stick with old brass etc.
I would point out, it is getting increasingly difficult to get cheap working timepieces, they do pop up from time to time, but if you read the small print you will find most quoted as "untested," which basically covers the sellers backside and means you get a none working item that needs an expensive fix.
I have asked sellers to test the clock for me, wind it up and check it after 24 hours, but they don't, which of course means its a pup.
The other problem is people are convinced they have a valuable antique and are disappointed when they cant sell them, but having possibly paid a high price themselves will not sell at a perceived loss.
Even working items when supplied are running very fast or slow, so much so the governer cannot compensate.
It has been quite an education.
But, it keeps me occupied, in among all the other things that keep me occupied.


 

Old clocks, you say, I’m fairly sure I have a stately clock, which I believe was out of an Alvis or possibly a Frazer Nash. I’ll dig it out, it shouldn’t be buried too deeply & I’ll post a picture, if you are interested.
M

yes please do

This may be better still,  https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/827470
 

As promised a photograph of my venerable Smiths car clock. It has been sat adjacent to my ‘scope for years, I had every intention of finding a nice piece of mahogany on which to mount it & had eyed up a nice piece, so had my wife but she got there first, using it to start the fire!
I’m moving the window switches to the doors which is why the original switch is out alone in the wild. I placed it there to indicate scale. It’s 3&3/8 diameter, it’s ticking merrily away, the face is in good condition although the bezel is a bit corroded. 
M
 

Lovely.
3" dia seems to be a standard case size.
I don't know that model, but safe to say it is pre 2nd world war, probably 1920s, electric clocks started to appear in the 30's.
On ebay it would probably fetch £20-30.00 but it would be worth mounting on something and used in the mancave.
The acid test is to wind it fully and see how long it runs for, also to take a look at how much time it gains or loses over a period.
I cant see the back, next to the winder and dial adjuster there may be a governor with F and S stamped either side for fast and slow adjustment.
Given its age it will probably gain or lose 5-10 minutes over 24hrs.
We have forgotten over time (forgive me) that they were around that accurate when new anyway.
But well worth mounting on something.
Can you photograph the back, I am curious about that steel bar at the base with the screws in ?
As for your wife burning mahogany, sacrilege as a word simply isn't strong enough.