LS STARRETT CO (and not a vise)

[Motochick]

Few more.

 

[Motochick]

Here are the rest of the stuff inside the boxes.

 

[Motochick]

Last little bit.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Nice updates all.. Motochick.. nice tools.. good classics amongst them...

 

[davethorik]

Best small tap handles, imo. 91-A, 91-B, 93-B, 93-C. Now I just gotta round up a 91-D and I will be set!

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Forgot I had this...

View media item 86129

 

[leg17]

These Starrett T-handles are the best with the replaceable collet and all.
The straight ones, not so much.
Greenfield and their competitors are stouter.

 

[davethorik]

These Starrett T-handles are the best with the replaceable collet and all.
The straight ones, not so much.
Greenfield and their competitors are stouter.

I've personally never had one problem with a Starrett 91 series (straight) and I've done a fair bit of tapping with them profesionally. Ive owned all of them except the 91C. My only gripe was they didn't make larger sizes, had to get an SW Card tap handle for large NPT taps (usually this size is around 19" long). GTD did make good tap wrenches as well, I had a big one (4' IIRC) with tubular steel handle, sold it at a tidy profit however.

 

[davethorik]

Recently snagged some Starrett in a trade with GJ member ducksface. I traded him a Starrett 72" rule, and this is part of what I got.

No. 453A diemaker's square
No. 476 thread pitch gage
lastly, a Starrett belt buckle...dont think there has been one in the thread yet...

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Love that buckle.... very throw back......

 

[Toolmaker65]

Dave, nice buckle; forgot all about mine

Also found a couple other interesting Starrett marketing or promotional items. Photo 2 has two varieties of pencil clips, a 1955 money clip (75th Anniversary?), and a digital caliper tie clip.

Photo 3 is a close up of the tie clip, as it is hard to make out the detail on it

Next is Catalog No. 25 from the 50th Anniversary, 1930. This one came from Washington Hardware Company in Tacoma, Washington - all the way across the U.S. from where I live.

There are a few items that are not Starrett, but thought I would share them anyway for those machinists and tool & die makers who walk amongst us.

First is a rather colorful machinist belt buckle. Next is a micrometer tie clip - made by Swank for sale in stores, not for a tool company. Last is what was termed a 'money clip'. It has what appears to be a Starrett logo on it, but the rest of it is kind of "cheesey". The material is a dense black foam that reminds me of drawer liner material for a tool box and it is held closed by two strips of magnetic tape roughly 3/8" wide by 1" long. It cant stay closed with more than 3 bills in it, so I don't think 'money clip' is what it was supposed to be....

The intersting thing that caught my eye was the piece on the front. It appeared to be the Starrett logo. I thought it may have been re-purposed from a broken old watch fob. Closer examination found that the solid square is opposite that of the actual Starrett logo. On this one, the left leg goes under the outside caliper and the right goes over. Not sure what to make of that..

 

[Toolmaker65]

Also dug out a No. 174 straight and a No 93 A T tap handle (Zippo lighter for size comparison)

 

[Toolmaker65]

Forgot to upload photo

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Realizing that I don't have a decent 6-inch tempered steel No. 4 rule for my latest WWII-era GMTK project, I've been picking up and inspecting a lot of 6-inch rules at flea markets lately.

This morning I ran into an L.S.S.CO. 6-inch tempered steel No. 7 (Model No. 407). I had never seen one before. I like it!

It's graduated in 16ths and 32nds on the flip side...

...and 64ths and 100ths on the top side. Additionally, the 100ths edge is beveled.

 

[Toolmaker65]

Nice scale Lugz I have not seen one like that until your post. It is nice how the one edge is beveled from the factory. Any idea of when that one was in production?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The bevel was the first thing I noticed. Very handy for precise reading, especially of something shallower than the edge, and for precisely marking your work material!

Looking through the 1917 and the 1938 catalogs, several rules are offered in a single beveled edge option in both catalogs. In the 1917, the #407, a #400 (No. 4 graduations with the 64ths edge beveled), and a #402 and #403 (variations on the #400). In the 1938, those plus a #352 (which is metric and English scale).

As for when this particular #407 was made, I am no expert on Starrett markings - but, it looks 30's or 40's to me. I have some very early rules. It's not early. I've also collected what I think of as WWII era rules and they look like this. I don't think it's modern. So my guesstimate is sort of default.

 

[davethorik]

The bevel was the first thing I noticed. Very handy for precise reading, especially of something shallower than the edge!

Exactly, lugz. Called parallax, in machinist terms from seeing two lines match from the wrong angle, inducing error. Common occurrence with dial indicators and vernier calipers. The bevel should theoretically eliminate it.

 

[akasrick]

Here is a large set I just recently got. 18"

I see there is one shown here, another, 12" with some information.
LS Starrett Co.
Athol Mass USA
Pat May 21 1895

Have at least a one time use for the homemade compass(Buds) were on the same table for 2 dollars, total of 5 dollars for both.

akasrick

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Exactly, lugz. Called parallax, in machinist terms from seeing two lines match from the wrong angle, inducing error.

Right. The same principle can be frustratingly seen every time you try to show someone exactly how long your just-found pliers or ratchet or hammer is - with a photograph posted on GJ. EDIT: No matter what mark on the rule the tip of the tool ends right next to in real life on your workbench, the tip of the tool will end right next to a different mark on the rule in the photo, and it will invariably be a mark that makes the tool look longer or shorter than it actually is!

 

[MShaw]

I just looked in a 1976 Starrett catalog I have and the only beveled graduated "rule" is a straight edge in 12" and longer sizes

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, M. Interesting. So it seems to have ended its run before then. I wonder why that is. Digital readouts? You're a machinist. What's your take on its obsolescence?

 

[MShaw]

I would bet it was a combination of manufacturing expense and low demand. Gut feel, no factual basis

 

[duddly]

I have a soft spot for the old Starrett 87 machinists plumb bobs that were filled with mercury to give a better weight in a small size and some say to stop sway faster. I used one in the early 80s to finish my basement.

http://www.plumbbobcollectors.info/...R_105701/f9e8b6ea79ca755cffff80a0ac14422e.pdf

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Picked this up at an estate sale... amazing what people have and others dont recognize as interesting... Set goes from .0015 to .015" in a portable holder that maybe is 1/8" thick.....

View media item 89365

 

[Private Lugnutz]

This surface gage was in rough shape when I found it a few days ago. Rusty and gummed up with grime. It's been soaking in pieces and I just oiled and re-assembled it. Came out okay.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Dividers were commonly used in machine shops before the war. You can split a line on a rule. I have some that are nicely stamped Geo. Hodges. I bought them off a fellow who had 8 or 10 years on me, ( I'm 5 years retired) He had bought them as a apprentice when George was retiring.

When I see a rusty divider at the fleamarket, I pick them up for pocket change, clean and oil them. Those old Starretts are still fine instruments .

 

[paulm12]

found this recently at garage sale for $2. Was just looking for a good straightedge, was surprised when I cleaned off the grease and gunk that it was a Starrett. And I have not seen that mark before, just "Starrett".

 

[RedVise]

Picked up a dial indicator , with the wood box !

Brian

 

[davethorik]

found this recently at garage sale for $2. Was just looking for a good straightedge, was surprised when I cleaned off the grease and gunk that it was a Starrett. And I have not seen that mark before, just "Starrett".

That's because Starrett does not mark their tools with COO any more.

 

[paulm12]

thanks Dave, so it is newer, not older then.

 

[INSP380]

A few of my Starrett....

Steve

 

[Mintgrun]

This just seemed like too much tool to pass up for four bucks.


In fact, I'd pay that for a C-lamp this size.

The other side looks a bit nicer, without all the markings.


So far my googling has not come up with any that have a rectangular body like this one. They all seem to be the round back style.

Based on recent posts I've read here, it is hard to date Starrett tools, due to the lack of serial numbers. I don't even see a model number on this one. I'm sure it qualifies as vintage though, so I figured I'd share.

Tom

 

[d42jeep]

This 172A feeler gauge arrived today. The Starrett marking on the box is pre-trademark. These are a march for the wartime federal specifications.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Picked up these NOS maintenance wrenches at the flea today. No older than 1946.

 

[leg17]

For adjusting micrometers to 'zero'.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I always find homemade jobbies. Nice to find the packet.

 

[MShaw]

"So far my googling has not come up with any that have a rectangular body like this one. They all seem to be the round back style."
My 1976 catalog shows that style in larger sizes starting with 12" - 18"

 

[Mintgrun]

Thank you for that information, MShaw. It seems a bit older than that, but I guess it depends on what sort of life it has lived. I am tempted to make a new box for it, since the one it came with is a bit clunky and crude. Not today though.

A while back, I tried looking up this dial indicator and had some trouble finding one online. I tried again today and it's right there on the Starrett site and still available new.






I've stuck the magnetic back on top of the table saw and used it to adjust the fence, but a standard dial with an inch of travel works fine for that as well and that's what I usually use. I suppose this would be useful if I wanted to move back and forth between settings, within the four inch range... or something.

Tom

 

[MShaw]

Or you could mount it in a bar gage like this that has a collet to hold the indicator, set the indicator to zero with the rod fully retracted and have a 0 to 4" dial depth gage. Starrett and others ell the collet adapters.

 

[Mintgrun]

That seems like a nice way to use it. Thank you for the suggestion.

I've got another Starrett measuring device that I'd like to share. It is a 1939 101C transit that I found in an antique store a while back. It's been a very useful tool.




This shows the telescope screwed all the way out.



The box does a nice job of protecting it.







Unfortunately, it did not come with the legs, but I drilled the ID of three pieces of bamboo to match the pegs' OD and that works okay. Some day I might make some nicer legs, but my some-day-list is pretty long.