I can't believe how much better a good dial indicator is!

[waynecuefix]

Wayne I like your roller rests. Did you make those rollers?
Mark

I got those from ebay. I don't remember who it was but it may have been the guy who is selling them now... sharpshooterbilliards-com . When I bought mine the guy advertised that he would custom make one for what height you need but I see this guy has different types. I bought mine and built rails to meet the height. When I want more height I use an aluminum 1x2x6 hollow bar under it. They are made for cues and when I bought mine there were narrow rollers and fat rollers. I see only fat rollers now and they are white instead of black. I did like the narrow ones best. Also they used to have allen socket adj screws and I liked them best. I got one with slotted screws which I replaced with socket screws. I think the rollers are Delrin which is pretty tough. That is what I make my cue collets with and you can buy those on ebay also. The picture shows the current ones offered and he has three different heights, but the pic is just demonstrative as there should be painters tape wrapped around the cue under the rollers. Wayne

 

[waynecuefix]

oops

 

[waynecuefix]

I'm still really green to machining as most my career I was a car mechanic. I did a lot of engine rebuilding and used mic's and DI's and other gages. But the old stuff like what you have I'd never seen till the Steam Powered Machine Shop. There are several antique stores and every once in a while an estate sale and more often than not I'm totally stumped by some tool. Maybe somebody like Mr.Pete could have your indicator on his channel and somebody could chime in who made it and how it was used. I have a tendency to think things would have been crudely made back then, but then I find something like this Darling, Brown &Sharpe angle gage. It was a somewhat pitted, but it works perfectly and smoothly. Check out the date, and I'd never seen Darling, Brown & Sharpe, just Brown & Sharpe. How'd they do that?

I have seen those of various periods on ebay. As for yours, patent 1887, Mr. Darling joined Brown and Sharpe and then left so that also dates your protractor. I saved the history to wordpad and I will paste it here.....
FROM WIKIPEDIA
""Brown & Sharpe was founded in 1833 on South Main Street[3] in Providence, Rhode Island by David Brown and his son Joseph R. Brown. The elder Brown retired in 1841, and the younger Brown formed a partnership with Lucian Sharpe in 1853, giving the company its name.
The early years were full of innovations and inventions, including the first automatic machine for graduating rules (1850) and the precision Gear Cutting and Dividing Engine (1855).[3]
The company was incorporated in 1868. In 1866 Samuel Darling joined the partnership and the firm changed its name to Darling, Brown and Sharpe until Darling's interest was bought out in 1892.""
So DB&S or Darling Brown and Sharpe markings are from 1866 to 1892. And with a patent date 1887 (I can't read the other pat date) that narrows your protractor down to 1887-1892 unless they continued to stamp the name after Darling left. I have a couple of DB&S machinists squares. Also according to the history if a piece is marked J R BROWN AND SHARPE it is 1853 - 1866. There was a center finder on ebay J R Brown and Sharpe but I was outbid at 124.00 when I tried to snipe it. I do have a later center finder square just like it with B&S which would be post 1892, see photo.
I too am relatively green at machining. I worked as an auto mechanic during summer between college sessions because I did that kind of work as a poor boy necessity just to keep a car under me that I could afford. After college and military service I ended up being an electrician simply because I got a decent job in it and though mostly self taught combined with OJT I was able to fix stuff at a mill and it paid the family well. I have only been machining about 5 years and mostly limited to cues and making what I need for that. Since I am walking disabled it is a great enjoyment to me. I can walk with a cane a few feet but must sit soon or fall. I use a rollator to shoot pool, that is how much I love the game.

 

[waynecuefix]

Interesting you mentioned being a mechanic. Maybe you used a bore gauge. There was one with a dial that went too high on ebay but I was able to get one that was more antique which used an old mechanical type non-dial indicator. It was very reasonable and I was surprised it didn't have more bidders. Old but I have no idea how old. Marked....
FLEMING MACHINE CO.
Fleming
WORCESTER, MASS., U.S.A.

 

[C-Bag]

When I'd been a mechanic for about 5-6yrs in the '70's there was a old guy who'd come into the shop that lived by going to swap meets. He saw my box and saw I was doing all the engine work and asked if I had any metrology tools. I already had 3 Starrett mic's and he asked if I had a bore mic. I didn't but needed one badly. He had this old Starrett set and I'm not sure if you would just call this an inside mic, but the price was right and it has served me well all these years. I think it's from around the teens or 20's because it has that smell old instruments and their cases from that time have. I think it's missing the piece you'd screw into the anvil retainer so you could drop it down in a hole. Luckily I don't have large hands and was always able weasel it in there. When in college I checked it against the dial bore gauge in the engine machining crib and it was right on.

 

[C-Bag]

Interesting about the rollers in your rest. I would have guessed they were skateboard wheels as they are also used for bead roller dies too. During my last wage slave tour making fruit packing equipment they had a bone yard full of bad designs that sat outside. I was told to strip all the rollers off a driven roller conveyor. I got two 5gal buckets of them and they just sat there because we never used that design. I asked the boss for them one day and he said help myself. They are some kind vulcanized rubber on an aluminum hub with a sealed bearing. I use them for everything, and will use them for my version of a steady rest.

 

[waynecuefix]

When I'd been a mechanic for about 5-6yrs in the '70's there was a old guy who'd come into the shop that lived by going to swap meets. He saw my box and saw I was doing all the engine work and asked if I had any metrology tools. I already had 3 Starrett mic's and he asked if I had a bore mic. I didn't but needed one badly. He had this old Starrett set and I'm not sure if you would just call this an inside mic, but the price was right and it has served me well all these years. I think it's from around the teens or 20's because it has that smell old instruments and their cases from that time have. I think it's missing the piece you'd screw into the anvil retainer so you could drop it down in a hole. Luckily I don't have large hands and was always able weasel it in there. When in college I checked it against the dial bore gauge in the engine machining crib and it was right on.

That looks like the Starrett 124 series they had A and B and maybe more versions. I think it is a better set than my 124 and like you I do not have the 124H handle used by unscrewing the plug and screwing in the handle end. I did a search on ebay and found several 124 H handles that ranged from 17.50 plus tax to 25.00, most were free shipping. I have been putting off getting one because I only paid 14.00 for the set and the same seller had another for 10.00 but the wooden box lacked the Starrett decal.. It didn't appeal to me to buy a new handle for more than the price of the set and get a bright new handle to place in the antique set which I got as a collectible and will rarely use. But I am still looking for an old one. I remember seeing one in a large lot of machinist tools and wondered what it was but at the time I didn't need it. I also need a wrench and another device for this set. Wayne

 

[waynecuefix]

Interesting about the rollers in your rest. I would have guessed they were skateboard wheels as they are also used for bead roller dies too. During my last wage slave tour making fruit packing equipment they had a bone yard full of bad designs that sat outside. I was told to strip all the rollers off a driven roller conveyor. I got two 5gal buckets of them and they just sat there because we never used that design. I asked the boss for them one day and he said help myself. They are some kind vulcanized rubber on an aluminum hub with a sealed bearing. I use them for everything, and will use them for my version of a steady rest.

That is a great idea. I am not sure if the background template is one inch squares but if it is then these are about 3 inches diameter? And they should have a much heavier weight load than the ones I use, maybe could even be used for turning metal shafts. Making a frame should not be a problem and you can build frames heavy or light depending on what application you have. Send photos and let me see one when you get it done. Wayne

 

[C-Bag]

I think I've been bitten by the machining bug for 5-6yrs too. My brother worked as a machinist for most of his life and I referred to him when I got stuck.

You are a veritable font of knowledge about tools! That Wiki on Brown&Sharpe was facinating. I do small scale manufacturing here in my garage and am a one man show. So I don't often have time research but I do spend a lot of time on eBay periodically. It is really odd what gets mobbed and what gets ignored. So I can't get too attached and like a virtual vulture just have to sit, wait and watch. One of those handles would be useful, but I've not used my set since the late 80's while still a car mech. After I went to packing house equipment it's just sat. Now that I know what I'm looking for I'll add that to my search. If I remember right I paid $15-20 for that old set.

One of my last scores on eBay was a 14" Starrett vernier master height gage. I was also looking for snugs for my DI's and TI too. All the dial and digital height gages were going out of sight but vernier's were just sitting. This one came up with a ton of snugs and doodads and I didn't even notice it had a BestTest in the lot. All for $110+ something like $30 shipping. I had no problem using a vernier(just got to put on my high powered glasses and not until recently somebody in the trade pointed out it was a "master bar" and those things go for over $2,000 new! It has been so used the paint on the base is worn off, but it was well taken care of and works and measures perfectly. No case, but my wife made a cover for it and it is protected.

 

[C-Bag]

Sorry Wayne, I'm just not getting the hang of this forums quote format. The rollers I've got are exactly 2 1/2" in dia. I've given a bunch away to friends and my brother. Used them everything imaginable and still have that drawer full.

I also have a some 80/20 left over from a great score off of Craigslist. I got a total of 75ft. of 10 series 2"x2" 80/20 plus corner angles, hardware and all kinds of fittings. They had decided to scrap an old DIY CNC router table and it was made out of that 80/20. I've been busily repurposing it and will use it for the frame along with those rollers for my version of your steady rest.