Physical description
Invented by a member of the Abbott family of Bendigo, scalebuoys came in various sizes and had a variety of uses such as the mining industry to prevent scale build up in boilers, automotive for car radiators and domestic for water purification. Its essential part is a sealed glass bulb containing a small amount of mercury and a combination of gases.This particular variety was made to be connected to a water tap with a screw attachment and a small outlet pipe.
Scalebuoy sent to Alan Cowling from work colleague, Pat Curran in Tasmania. Pat Curran was working as the CEO of a retirement village and found the scalebuoys in the equipment there. Noting the Bendigo manufacturing logo, he decided to send it to Alan.
The original owner of the scalebuoys is unknown.