feeler gauges

[paulm12]

stopped by a garage sale near home, not much there, picked up a few consumables. But also grabbed these feeler gauges. I really don't need them, already have a dozen or so, these were greasy, but otherwise looked in good shape. They cleaned up well with just a wipe of spirits. One thing of interest was the Craftsman, the thicknesses are noted with just the thousandths, but in whole numbers. I haven't seen this before (maybe I just never paid attention).

 

[Toolmaker65]

Using the whole number to indicate the thickness is the old school way of labeling feeler gauges. I have seen this on older gauges from manufacturers such as Starrett, Lufkin, Brown & Sharpe, as well as others. I think that it was assumed that if you were using these tools you knew that it meant thousandths from your training. Move ahead a few years to when the average guy or gal shuffling papers in the local real estate office tries to do some stuff on their own....it is easier to match up the decimal thickness on the gauge to whatever is printed in the manual or whatever. It takes alot of advanced mathematical knowledge to divide 15 by 1000 to get .015 (and that isn't even considering tenths). That means your Craftsman is the oldest of the four and was probably made before the 1960's. A Starrett catalog that I have from 1954 shows whole number markings while a later catalog from 1968 shows decimal markings.

 

[paulm12]

Toolmaker: yeah that makes sense. Now can you explain why I would possibly need a dozen or so of these?

 

[Stadger]

Now can you explain why I would possibly need a dozen or so of these?

To make a nice compact set of lockpicks!

 

[Toolmaker65]

Because they are there I probably have about 3 dozen or so. Various ages, styles, and makers (Lufkin, Brown & Sharpe, Starrett, Kastar, Union Tool, Dunlap, Craftsman, K-D Tools, General Hardware, etc.), so you are not alone in picking them up when you see them.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Different shapes, different applications. Some valve tappets and governor boxes are in pretty constricted spaces, others you can run a round nose blade into... I have a .006 gauge that's 14" long, allegedly it's for some aviation application, but it worked really good on my VW westy...

Seriously, tho... you have to ask why? If one is good, then 5 are better! It's the GJ way!

 

[leg17]

Toolmakers will dis-assemble older sets and use them for shims around the shop.
Handy

 

[DTE]

I use a long bent blade from a set to hold the push rod up a V8 Chevies when changing the fuel pump.

 

[Jim C.]

........That means your Craftsman is the oldest of the four and was probably made before the 1960's. A Starrett catalog that I have from 1954 shows whole number markings while a later catalog from 1968 shows decimal markings.

Agreed. That Craftsman logo alone provides some clue as to its age. The pointed “A” in the word CR”A”FTSM”A”N started to disappear somewhere around 1967, so it’s safe to say the feelers are definitely pre-1970. But looking closer, the letter “C” in “C”RAFTSMAN is in a style that I think dates from the 1940s to 1950s. Couple that info with Toolmaker’s comments and I think you can confidently say it’s a 60 to 70 year old tool. Nice find.

Jim C.

 

[ssdave]

Toolmaker: yeah that makes sense. Now can you explain why I would possibly need a dozen or so of these?

cut them up to make shims when you need specific thickness shims.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The geometric CRAFTSMAN logo is pre-1947. "SUPER-QUALITY" was an Indestro brand. It preceded the "SUPER" line, which came out in 1945.

 

[nbpt100]

Interesting thread! I like having both a flat set and a round wire gauge set. It is good to have a few extra, especially in the sizes under .008 as they can get damaged much more easily. I have a .0015 in my Starrett set and I am always afraid i will wrinkle it or tear it.

BTW the whole number unit designation for thousands of inches is referred to as MILS in some industries.

Does anyone have any labeled out to 4 decimal places to indicate half of thousandths? I could see how some precision machining/grinding may have a need for that.

 

[davethorik]

I have Starrett feeler stock 12"x1/2" in .0005 and .0015, and my old Lufkin feeler gage has .0015 and .0025

An old timer taught me the cellophane from cigarette packs is about .0005 thick, in a pinch can be substituted.

 

[CTyankee]

An old timer taught me the cellophane from cigarette packs is about .0005 thick, in a pinch can be substituted.

IIRC someone told be a matchbook cover could be used to set the points on old Kohler engines. 'Course I can put my hands on probably 5 sets of old feeler gauges before I could find a book of matches.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

'Course I can put my hands on probably 5 sets of old feeler gauges before I could find a book of matches.

A book of matches wedged under an 8-track tape cartridge was also good for keeping the tape from going whacky in the car's 8-track tape player back in the day. (Nobody under the age of 50 knows what that means.)

 

[2oolhound]

I've used the striker pad of a book of matches to clean the points but never to set the gap. That I did by eye

I pick feeler gages up all the time too and like the idea of using them as shims when needed. The problem is deciding which set to cut up for shims when you need to....

 

[Jim C.]

I was looking through my sets of feeler gauges and did come across one that belonged to my grandfather. It's an older Starrett version with numbers (5 - 25) stamped on the individual leaves.

Jim C.

 

[Jim C.]

..........I pick feeler gages up all the time too and like the idea of using them as shims when needed. The problem is deciding which set to cut up for shims when you need to....

Hopefully you're picking the newer ones and not the older vintage sets.......

Jim C.

 

[davethorik]

Hopefully you're picking the newer ones and not the older vintage sets.......

Jim C.

I've found a lot of scraps (in old machinist chests) and made some, but mine are almost exclusively made of feeler stock strips.

 

[d42jeep]

I have two Starrett 172As with the old numbering system in my WW2 toolsets. The numbers can be seen in early images and catalogs.
-Don

 

[DadsTools]

Found this unusual set recently, and was told these were used on Pratt & Whitney rotary airplane engines during WWII. Is there anything to that? Or are they just scrap metal?

 

[Mintgrun]

I'd like to know what this set was designed for and who made it. It doesn't have any maker's marks, just the sizes stamped into the gauges.



There are little flanges on the rod they clip onto and there is room for a few more on the left side, so I am guessing it is missing some of the flat-style feelers. The numbers jump from .007 to .010", with the smallest (2) being .002".

The round style gauges go from .006" to .080", mostly in increments of .005".



It's a neat little box, with a piece that slides along the base of the feelers, so they'll pop out when you lift them up. You can just pull them out, but that's a nice feature.









Has anyone seen a set like this before? Any idea who might have made it?

Tom

 

[Private Lugnutz]

No, and no, on your questions, but that's the coolest never-been-seen-before thing I've seen here in a while. Nice find!

 

[Modern Garage]

Those are way cool, right down to the hinges on the box. You didn't include much for size reference (except the gauges themselves) but unless you have a work bench with HUGE woodgrain I'm guessing this is a fairly small form factor. Like fingertip size?
Joe

 

[RTM]

Our local CL had a set similar to that pop up from time to time. It had a name on it. Will see if I can dig it up somehow. Have not been doing to much looking there lately.

Oops not as similar as my mind's eye thought. Hartig Products feeler gauges. Not been able to find much in the past on these. Need to check @four.cycle list. (nope, not there)

Vintage Feeler Gauges Hartig Products For Auto or Engineering...

If interested please refer to pictures for particulars. Some are Missing. Please call or text Four,Zero,Eight, Four,ZeroSix, Seven,Three,Two,One to view, buy and pick up. This is located in North...

sfbay.craigslist.org

 

[Mintgrun]

No, and no, on your questions, but that's the coolest never-been-seen-before thing I've seen here in a while. Nice find!

Thank you, Lugs. I was pretty excited to find it and see that it's fairly complete. Question number three, when was it made?

Our local CL had a set similar to that pop up from time to time.

Thank you for the research. The feeler widths look similar in that set. These are .060" wide.

Those are way cool, right down to the hinges on the box. You didn't include much for size reference (except the gauges themselves) but unless you have a work bench with HUGE woodgrain I'm guessing this is a fairly small form factor. Like fingertip size?

Thank you. Sorry about the lack of scale. Here you go, Joe.

 

[no704]

Put the grease back on them, you will be happy when u need them.

 

[Mintgrun]

Put the grease back on them, you will be happy when u need them.

Good idea. They're in as-found (dry) condition. I bought a machinist's box once that had a little tube of white petrolatum grease. I've rubbed that on some tools and like the way it softens my skin.

 

[2oolhound]

Those are way cool, right down to the hinges on the box.
Joe

The construction of the box and specifically the hinges is what struck out to me 1st off too. What a great find! I wonder if there are any old timers that work or worked at places like Starretts etc who would recognize the set or know the maker.

 

[Ricky Joe]

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[Ricky Joe]

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[MarkH]

Match books worked well. We had lots of them laying around in glove boxes, etc. We would have points wear out and break in the field on the road, never in the yard. Get a new set of points and realize you did not have a gauge. Take out the matchbook and the engine would always start and get back to work. Had a lot of old gas combines that would be gauge set a number of days later.

Had an old truck go down and one of the kids who had never seen points before had to replace them. He had forgotten or did not know you needed a feeler gauge. So he was just standing their looking befuddled when I came up. I reached in the box and pulled out a matchbook and set the points as well as I could. Engine fired right up as he had a very amazed look on his face going how did that work.

I would have loved to see how he would have handled it if I could have used a dwell meter. Just like the feeler gauges are collectors so are a number of the matchbooks we find when we decommission a vehicle.

 

[Leviton]

A book of matches wedged under an 8-track tape cartridge was also good for keeping the tape from going whacky in the car's 8-track tape player back in the day. (Nobody under the age of 50 knows what that means.)

NOW you tell me!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

NOW you tell me!

Snerk.

 

[Mintgrun]

belzer zundkerzen werkzeug translates to belzer spark plug tool (according to Google)





Both of the tips are broken off of the plug strap adjuster. That part was originally on the other side, but covered up the stamped information, so I moved it to the back. The screws are tapped into the first plate, to keep them from spinning when the knurled nuts are turned, so it worked better the way it was. I'll put it back.