- Joined
- Feb 1, 2015
- Messages
- 3
Found this thread searching for pictures of the "Lock Ring" assembly for a Vintage Starrett No. 230 that I recently purchased on eBay. Upon receipt of the micrometer, the spindle was a little tight to turn and the lock ring was frozen in place. I put a little oil on the lock ring and it freed up and began to work. Time to give it a good cleaning and some oil. Without knowing better, I moved the lock on and off while I had the spindle out and the locking mechanism closed down tight and the spindle barely moved without considerable effort. After seeing the pictures of the parts that are in the lock ring assembly it was time to disassemble it and remedy the problem.
I suspect that what I found is the same for most vintage micrometers, years of old dried oil that looked like varnish, with plenty of dirt and grit...no wonder the lock ring assembly was frozen. What you don't see in the picture is the inner split ring, it has a slit in the sidewall making it very weak. When you apply the lock without the spindle it will collapse and it did. I used an exacto to open the gap, then verified that the spindle would fit without drag and the inner locking mechanism would still fit the outer ring. Cleaned, polished and oiled everything... it works like new.
Thanks for posting the pictures and the details, made this an easy fix.
Robert
I suspect that what I found is the same for most vintage micrometers, years of old dried oil that looked like varnish, with plenty of dirt and grit...no wonder the lock ring assembly was frozen. What you don't see in the picture is the inner split ring, it has a slit in the sidewall making it very weak. When you apply the lock without the spindle it will collapse and it did. I used an exacto to open the gap, then verified that the spindle would fit without drag and the inner locking mechanism would still fit the outer ring. Cleaned, polished and oiled everything... it works like new.
Thanks for posting the pictures and the details, made this an easy fix.
Robert