Super rare mike

Not being a mic collector, I won't be buying one, but I am curious about them. Keep us posted, there may be others here who would love to add them to their collections.

About the oddest mics I have is a couple of ultrasonic thickness mics.
 
You really have to wonder what the story is there. It's "really rare" but he has eight of them and they are not made from what the known originals are made of. Possibly someone making repos to take advantage of the less knowledgeable collector?

Curious,

-Ron
 
Something is wrong. These mikes were produced between 1944-54. That means the highest the last two numbers of the serial number can only go as high as 54. The seller gave me three of his serial numbers. A554/66, A557/66 and A660/69. All my info tells me this is incorrect.

I am reporting this one to ebay, let them handle it.

"Billy G"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You'd think that anyone capable of building knockoffs would know that the S/N's had to be in a certain range. Would be interesting to follow the rest of the story.
 
It's to bad people try to take advantage of unsuspecting buyers. I did not know these existed until now. A very nice find. Now you will have to learn to read braille !
 
Well i have one of those, not the "stainless" drum type but the alloy drum ones. Going by Bill's information mine is a 1964 (456/64) ? I'm not a collector so i have NO credible information on these mic's. What i do have in front of me is a braille micrometer, its condition is what you'd expect for something made in 1964. If someone had gone to the trouble of making "knock-offs" they would certainly not be selling them for £35 each ? I haven't stripped it down but even the work involved in the gearing of the three tumblers must be quite something, for £35 ? No, in my opinion Bill's information may be right but may apply to the "stainless steel" drum ones. I suspect that the alloy ones were made by some company, not necessarily by M & W but perhaps some other company ? I'm not interested enough to become a detective but perhaps Bill could help.
Actually if Bill has a drawing showing the mechanism i think it would be very interesting, i don't feel confident enough to strip this one.
Anyway if i can help just shout ! if needed i can take some pictures of my one so you can "verify" details.

Mike Young
 
I contacted the Bowers Group who now own Moore and Wright. This is straight fro the horses mouth.

The Braille Mike was made all the way to 1969, only the Stainless Steel version was stopped in 1954. Mike you have indeed got a Moore and Wright Braille Mike. They stopped the SS version because of costs involved. They just became too expensive to produce for profit.

I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong. It was a pleasant journey to get this extra info. Thank you all.

Mike, they are going to post the info to me to take these things apart. I will gladly share it here.

"Billy G"
 
Wow Bill as my wife would say "that was quick" LOL ! Thats great, as i said i'm not a collector but interested. I am curious of its "workings" but while dis-assembling it would be easy i'm not sure about re- assembling it ! so any help would be most appreciated as i'm sure a clean and lubrication wouldn't do it any harm.
Out of curiosity how would you say this new information affects the desirability ( ? ) of a braille micrometer from a collectors point of view ?
Regards

Mike Young
 
The desirability will always be there. With the new ones showing up you can bet the price of the SS models will go sky high. I will however buy one of the others in light of the new info. OK, it's official, I own an original. My hands are still shaking.

"Billy G"

102_1287 (650 x 488).jpg
 
RandyM said:
I would like to add my congratulations as well Bill. But, what has me REALLY intrigued is the type of person that would have used it. I would have never imagined a blind machinist. Do you suppose he had special mods to his machines as well? Fascinating.
Click to expand...

It surprising what trades a blind person get's into. I have a real good friend that I first met when I was 16. He was born premature and when in the incubator, the nurse back then turn up the oxygen too high resulting in him going blind. Later on he had both eyeballs removed due to them watering on a constant basis. I was at a test track one day and I thought I saw a person that resembled him. He walked over to a pop machine and got a can of pop. I looked and sure enough it was my buddy. I asked him what he was doing over there at the test facility and he told me that he had been working there for a few years. Of all things, he was their transmission specialist, working on rebuilding transmissions.

A few years later I ran into him again and he told me that he was now the head person over the tool and parts room. Way back in my teen years, when CB's were the big thing, he was very well known among the HAM Radio and CB crowd for building Linears and repairing and building CB radios. He also played in a band, playing the keyboard and also played a guitar. He is a truly amazing individual that never let a handicap get him down or stop him from doing anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top