Interapid 310-B2 Test Indicator - "The Phoenix" Saved From the Fire

[dr_clyde]

Some of you may or may not know, last February, my good friend had a fire, and his machine shop burnt to the ground. It was a total loss, not much survived, especially the more precision tools and CNC equipment.

He has since rebuilt, and is back in business. His insurance was good, and between that a just plain good fiscal sense he was able to be better than it used to be.

I was at his place a couple weeks ago, and he had this test indicator sitting on his box. I asked if he wanted it, he said no, the insurance bought him a new one. Besides, how good can a burnt indicator be?

I looked it over, and the needle still moved inside the crystal, so I figgered there was hope. These are expensive, a couple hundred bucks at the minimum, so I thought if I can get it repaired for half price, then I'll have a nice indicator with a cool story.


Before Pictures

You can see some bubbling on the crystal, and its covered in soot and this sticky, black, tar-like smoke residue. Fortunately, this didn't get too hot. Structure fires are strange. 2 lathes next to each other, one had the castings start to melt, and the aluminum knobs melt right off. The one 2 feet away barely had the paint blister. Go figure.

According to John at Indicator Repair out in Bethel Park, PA, this thing was old, could be at least 60 years old. He said they couldn't replace the faces with OEM ones, because they don't make them anymore.But other than a little heat distortion on one edge, these would be ok. He said I could replace them with new versions, but they wouldn't be "correct". I told him to keep the originals.

After:

It works like new now. It is silky smooth, and everything was cleaned, broken parts replaced, and calibrated and tested. I'm a happy camper.

Thanks for looking.

 

[davethorik]

Interapids are some of the best indicators around. I like how the built in stem flexes, I was never a big fan of dovetail mounts. Nice score!

 

[jeeper46]

When I became a Diemaker apprentice in 1979, I needed an indicator . I paid $100 for a very similar Interapid back then, but it was the best one I could get, and even after acquiring a bunch of Federals, Mitutoyos, and Starretts, it was still my go-to indicator all the time. I was later given a Brown and Sharpe indicator that was obviously made by Interapid.

 

[Cahark]

Very cool. I have a few myself. Best indicators I have.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jeeper46]

Back in the day, When I was doing layout inspection of part dimensions on a surface plate, I would sometimes need those dovetails to make some oddball dimension check that could only be reached like that-they were sometimes very useful.

 

[dr_clyde]

Back in the day, When I was doing layout inspection of part dimensions on a surface plate, I would sometimes need those dovetails to make some oddball dimension check that could only be reached like that-they were sometimes very useful.

I quite like the dovetails. I find them more universal than the stems. My vertical Interapid was the first indicator I bought when I started doing machine work, and I've been addicted ever since.