- Joined
- Sep 14, 2017
- Messages
- 52
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.
I do a lot of research and have time to do it as I am both retired and disabled. What I can't do physically is compensated by a desire for knowledge. I think that is common for disabled people to help stay active and stave off the depression of the restrictions that disability brings. One aspect of ebay which I find useful in searches is the click the "NEWLY LISTED" button on a search. Often you can get really good deals by catching newly listed items at low prices with buy it now. Some things don't come up on searches because the seller lists it under the wrong category and often I find items by searching using the Bing search engine and the results will show items which are on ebay under some very awkward categories. That's how I found a new Kennedy 2 drawer riser box to place under my Kennedy 8 drawer machinists tool box. Used ones were selling over 100 bucks and new ones could be had for 278-350 bucks. A lady whose husband was changing jobs within his company had two new ones never used and they were both buy it now for 100 bucks apiece. I bought one and advised her she should raise the price of the other and sell it under a different category and it would sell fast. Three weeks later I checked and she still had it under the wrong category and unsold.
That is a nice gauge, and I can tell it was a high priced Starrett item. 200 bucks back in the time when that height gauge was made would be in today's dollars more like 500+ dollars. A lot of expensive older Starret and B&S stuff can be had for a steal today as so many shops have closed as industry is leaving the USA. Hopefully that trend is being reversed because if not this country is in trouble. Got to avoid politics discussions here so that is all I will say on that subject.
A lot of people do not like Vernier measuring devices. Back in my high school years a slide rule was the rage, before digital calculators came out. The slide rule had Vernier readouts which made Vernier reading something I learned at an earlier age. I have some vernier calipers, and vernier depth gauges and have little problem reading them as long as I have my magnifying lamp or a magnifying glass. Vernier calipers are surprisingly accurate and I read somewhere where they are more accurate than dial calipers but I am sure there are plenty of folks who will dispute that.
Recently I purchased a lot of nachinist's tools which had several items I wanted in the lot. Included in the lot was an item I wasn't that interested in, a Moore and Wright Micro 2000 digital micrometer (British) which was developed in 1974 and sold between 1978 and 1988 then replaced by more advanced technology. But the Micro 2000 was the first digital micrometer ever made and was a leader in the field at that time. They are collectors items today and I have listed it for sale on ebay. After it sat in a box for two months I decided to sell it and I checked it out. Surprisingly it works perfectly or at least according to the manual. Opening the jaws too fast can cause a zero error so you must touch the off switch to re-zero the scale and open the jaws more slowly. The jaws close on their own at a dampened speed like a cushion so it is quite an amazing instrument. I have about sold all my collection of pool cues and it's time to start selling some of the duplicates and unwanted machinists stuff too.