nadogail
Well-known member
I am of the opinion that Starrett is the "Gold Standard" in measuring tools. I don't own any Starrett tools, as good as they are I can't justify the expense for my personal use.
LS STARRETT CO (and not a vise)
- Thread starter Shelbylex
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RoninB4
Well-known member
-They make decent instruments but avoid buying the series 711 "Last Word" indicator, especially if it's used. There are often problems with the 711 Last Word and there are better choices than that one model.
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NORTON'S SHOP
Well-known member
When I attended trade school we called them "Last Time" indicators. The first time you'd use one was probably the last time you'd use one. By time everyone graduated, most had replaced it with an Interapid or a B&S.
Old Radar
Well-known member
You should look for them at estate sales for a fraction of the price. Then you can join the Garage Sale Thread and show off your buys!
RoninB4
Well-known member
-I don't like to knock that model but it was an old design where Starrett bought out the original company (H. E. Lowe) to continue producing it. There's a lot of older machinists that own these, have great sentimental attachment to them, and might find my comments to be offensive. Should any of you take offense bear in mind that the complaints about this model are legion and easily found on various websites from professional machinists. If yours still works that's great, you do you. For the Starrett collectors, there's better designed offerings from them than this one. For the beginning shop wanting to add to the unending tooling list, don't waste your money. I own a lot of different indicator brands but never considered this one for purchase after the ones I'd seen that others owned.
DetailSeeker
Well-known member
Found today in the ReStore, a Starrett 3/32" punch. I didn't even know they made those.
It didn't look like that when it was new.Found today in the ReStore, a Starrett 3/32" punch. I didn't even know they made those.
d42jeep
Well-known member
Here is a Starret set in a wooden block belonging to gpw_42. I‘m always looking for one of those. 
-Don
-Don
INSP380
Well-known member
Todays grab… all vintage Starrett
Steve
Steve
RTM
Well-known member
Found today in the ReStore, a Starrett 3/32" punch. I didn't even know they made those.
I'm sure it looked a lot like a nail set when it was new. The 3/32" is a common nail set size. As a punch it will probably be fine, but it probably broke when someone tried to pry with it. It may now be beyond the heat treated zone, so it may not hold a point as well. But for making center marks in wood, or other softish things, should be fine.
RTM
Well-known member
I have a bunch of mismatched punches in the base of a box. One of these days I'm gonna turn and steam bend a lid for it. SomedayHere is a Starret set in a wooden block belonging to gpw_42. I‘m always looking for one of those.
RTM
Well-known member
What's the little thing(s) in the center above the depth gage?Todays grab… all vintage Starrett
Steve
INSP380
Well-known member
genog
Well-known member
Found a useful set of Starrett Jeweler's screwdrivers today
The Chinese set goes into the Recycle Bin.....
The Chinese set goes into the Recycle Bin.....
Burt Shaver
Well-known member
Purchased these 3 Starrett calipers and one M&W caliper today at the flea market.Burt Shaver
Well-known member
I can’t even figure out how to use these?Todays grab… all vintage Starrett
Steve
RTM
Well-known member
Funny, my auction lot from Saturday included the left sized one in a wooden box. With extra parts. One of the reasons I paid up a little for the lot.
It's for doing relative measurements, how far off a surface things are. Used off a surface plate, shaft, or even from an edge. Mine is a Starrett 257, see it here.
It's for doing relative measurements, how far off a surface things are. Used off a surface plate, shaft, or even from an edge. Mine is a Starrett 257, see it here.
Starrett Tools 50th Anniversary : Catalog No. 25 : L. S. Starrett Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
388 p., illus., 18.7 cm, trade catalog
archive.org
RoninB4
Well-known member
-The one in the middle is a depth micrometer. The other two are sometimes for scribing lines a set distance off a surface plate in laying out geometry on metal. They are often called a surface gauge. What those two are more commonly used for is holding a dial indicator, usually a lever or plunger type, to check dimensions (used with gauge blocks), to check flatness of a surface, measure location of a construction hole, check top/bottom for parallelism, spindle concentricity, or to check perpendicularity of top/bottom to the sides of a square or rectangle like a thick plate. A surface gauge with a mounted dial indicator is also used for setting other fixtures (Harig type head, radius dresser, etc.) to exact locations that require it. Surface gauges are mostly used with surface grinders or small OD grinding. There's other uses but this is probably more than you wanted to know already. I'll go sit down now....
Burt Shaver
Well-known member
Thank you, I can’t say I understand everything you said but I do appreciate you trying to explain it. It does give me somewhere to start searching.
RoninB4
Well-known member
-It's machine shop gobbledygook, doesn't mean anything outside of a machine shop
-I can further explain things....but you'll be sorry you asked.
-Searching for what? If you're not in a shop why will you search? Just curious.
Burt Shaver
Well-known member
I just like learning and moving ahead slowly when it comes to stuff like this. I may never use any of it, but I like to know how things work. I’m all ears, so if you’re up to explaining more, I’m listening but I wouldn’t expect it.
RoninB4
Well-known member
-So pick out what you didn't understand about what I wrote/typed in my reply. Evaluate which one(s) you might apply to what you're currently doing so you can use it. If none of it applies then pick the ones with familiar geometric terms. I need to bore someone else besides my own social circle.
Pretty sweet onesI have posted this feeler gage in the KR Wilson thread. Enjoy.
Attachments
d42jeep
Well-known member
I found this divider at an estate sale on Thursday.
The evaporust minimized the rusty areas. It has the quick adjust feature 
-Don
The evaporust minimized the rusty areas. It has the quick adjust feature -Don
d42jeep
Well-known member
Starrett inside caliper I finally got around to making more presentable from the last estate sale. 
-Don
-Don
INSP380
Well-known member
Picked this up a few months back…. Not too often these pop up. Plexiglass dealer display sign. Fits my shelf perfectly.
Steve
Steve
Recently, I went through my dad's tools looking for a Craftsman cotter pin puller that he had when I was a kid. I never found that, but I did find this drill and tap slide chart from what looks like 1955.
The supplier advertised on the front (J. M. Tull Metal & Supply Co.) is no longer in business, but a charitable foundation set up by that supplier is: https://tullfoundation.org/history/
The supplier advertised on the front (J. M. Tull Metal & Supply Co.) is no longer in business, but a charitable foundation set up by that supplier is: https://tullfoundation.org/history/
WisJim
Well-known member
I found a Starrett 462 two foot folding brass ruler at a thrift store last week.
genog
Well-known member
Found a No.4 Thread Gauge today
I've got a couple of thread gauges, but.....since this is a Starrett, it moves into first place
I've got a couple of thread gauges, but.....since this is a Starrett, it moves into first place
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RTM
Well-known member
That is the only Starrett tool I bought at retail, many years ago. Desperately needed it for a restoration project. Not sure if mine was the same model number tho. Still keep mine in the original box.Found a No.4 Thread Gauge today
I've got a couple of thread gauges, but.....since this is a Starrett, it moves into first place
INSP380
Well-known member
Here a pair of my “Last Words”. …you don’t see these larger ones that often…
Steve
Steve
RoninB4
Well-known member
-No they are rather uncommon. I don't think I've ever seen one in 35+ years of machine shop work. The "Last Word" indicators aren't very well thought of but those are kinda cool because they're not often seen.
INSP380
Well-known member
Bingo! I really wish I had the box to go with them. The box in the pic is waaaaay too new, but Will suffice till I come across the real deal. My love of the 711 is in part of it’s age. I have a few vintage Gems I like better. Very similar. Now if I’m using a test indicator, my Interapid or B&S are my go too…decisions decisions..
Steve
RoninB4
Well-known member
-A dual faced inch/mm Gem was my first indicator in the later 70's.
-I've had a number of different makes/models of indicators from B&S, Federal, Mitutoyo, Ames, Mauser, and some disposables from China. Never really liked the dovetail mounting on some brands and they aren't all the same, requiring a dovetail clamp for JUST that brand. Too fiddly, too clumsy, too much time setting up some of them. My preferred make has always been the Interapids with the swing post. It also had a dovetail for mounting but I seldom needed to use it. No direction reversing lever needed, solid construction, with options for resolution, dial size, and orientation. They were always on the expensive side but were a daily/multiple time instrument for me. Never had a Compac, wish I'd had one. There are some other exotic brands but I stayed with Interapid for parts availability if repair was needed.Now if I’m using a test indicator, my Interapid or B&S are my go too…decisions decisions..
RTM
Well-known member
I read on some other forum or website they were often called Last Reading (or something similar) because they died so easIly and unpredictably. Of course i can’t find that link now.
So maybe that’s why it’s so rare.
RoninB4
Well-known member
-You could be right in your speculations. I had some thoughts from the perspective of someone choosing/using it daily. To start with there's the resolution that narrows the customer base. Working to .0001's is a smaller percentage of work than most where you'd use an indicator, that cuts down on who needs one for what. If these indicators were made in the 60's - 70's there was even less machinery capable of holding that tolerance than there is today. Less machinery means less components designed with tight tolerances, less components means less demand for indicators with .0001 resolution. "If we build it they will come" isn't always true.
-My second speculation is the physical size of the dial. Without something for scale it's hard to determine the size of the dial but they do appear to be much larger than the standard Last Word I've seen for decades. That size, while it does make reading easier, makes it more clumsy/difficult to use for a lot of applications. There's plenty of times I needed to get into a narrow opening to indicate a small surface where the physical size of the indicator was a factor. Indicating something in a jig borer/jig grinder can present a limited amount of swing, which is why the extended probe (contact tip) on the "lever" type are offered.
-I very much like larger dials but the 1-1/2" is about the largest dial I'll go with unless the indicator is going to be used in an inspection/QC setting where it's used on the surface plate and there's nothing getting in the way. These indicators from @INSP380 may have been aimed at the inspection/QC segment of the market. Inspectors almost never buy their own instruments for the job and I doubt many company buyers would opt for the deluxe model of the Last Word as a company owned tool.
-My second speculation is the physical size of the dial. Without something for scale it's hard to determine the size of the dial but they do appear to be much larger than the standard Last Word I've seen for decades. That size, while it does make reading easier, makes it more clumsy/difficult to use for a lot of applications. There's plenty of times I needed to get into a narrow opening to indicate a small surface where the physical size of the indicator was a factor. Indicating something in a jig borer/jig grinder can present a limited amount of swing, which is why the extended probe (contact tip) on the "lever" type are offered.
-I very much like larger dials but the 1-1/2" is about the largest dial I'll go with unless the indicator is going to be used in an inspection/QC setting where it's used on the surface plate and there's nothing getting in the way. These indicators from @INSP380 may have been aimed at the inspection/QC segment of the market. Inspectors almost never buy their own instruments for the job and I doubt many company buyers would opt for the deluxe model of the Last Word as a company owned tool.
-There was a member here that called them something like that and it made me chuckle a little. Last Word indicators had a strong following because there weren't many domestic choices for indicators in the dark days of pre-internet. Starrett brand was also a "standard" of sorts for machine shop equipment and brand recognition carried some weight of opinion. I met more than a few older men that had those Last Word models and they were rather loyal to them. That may be because they were purchased early on in their career and the expense at that time created a certain level of buyer satisfaction. Toolmakers often get an opinion about equipment they use that is rather rigid. Last Word fell out of favor due to problems with sticky movement and crud getting into the delicate innards of the open body design. That was a problem, you might not know the inner mechanism was having trouble until after you ruined a workpiece because of a faulty reading. Repair facilities weren't big fans of the Last Word either. So when other brands like Interapid became more available with a better, more robust, design the Last Word was regarded by the younger generation entering the trade as a relic not to buy. That's how I regarded the Last Word, never considered buying one even when a retiring co-worker offered his at an attractive price. Never liked the non-adjustable tip, the reversing lever, or the way it had to be held either.I read on some other forum or website they were often called Last Reading (or something similar) because they died so easIly and unpredictably. Of course i can’t find that link now.
-They do have a certain aesthetic styling to them reminiscent of another era with the needle and the font used in the dial. I can see the attraction for some but I needed my indicators to earn my daily crust so I had a more pragmatic opinion. My entire post is just my opinion and preferences, I'm not the last word on much of anything.
INSP380
Well-known member
I was thinking it was 1.5” in Dia. But it’s actually 2”. They only read in one direction unlike the usual 711’s . Both units were previously used in a Tool Room prior to acquisition. Now they sit in my Starrett collection…Certainly unique indicators!
Steve
Steve