Starrett No. 185 Drill and Wire Gauge

[Silverhair]

To this as a part of a $12 estate sale bundle (also included a Craftsman four-drawer portable too chest) and did my best to clean it up in evaporust. Question is, is there anything else I can do to restore its appearance (to make it more legible)? And, are these things still used? I see Starrett still sells this model though it has been changed a bit in format and such.

 

[RTM]

I have a few similar, and I think remarking the recesses is going to be the only fix. I can tilt it to make it more legible, but still not very readable

 

[slowtwitch73]

I have a number of gauges like those.. pretty antiquated. Lot easier to throw the digi calipers etc on whatever you need to measure.

 

[d42jeep]

Through the magic of evaporust and my 3M 220 rotary wheel this one has gone through a transformation.
-Don

 

[2oolhound]

That's night and day Don. Looks good.

I keep the drill index units mounted by my drill press so it's just a one hand operation and find they work great for putting away drills that have been left out or confirming a size. I tried painting over the numbers with a yellow paint pen and then wiping the surface off after a bit so only the paint in the stamped numbers showed up but it didn't work that well. Maybe I wasn't being careful enough or impatient. As long as the 1/16ths sizes show up it's easy to figure out the 32nds and 64ths in between when you're poking drills in. If I had one for those tap drill sizes I think I'd keep it in my tap drawer. I've bought those 120 drill kits for the numbered/lettered drills and they are all marked for sizes beside the sized slots in the metal cases so no real need there for these cards.

 

[leg17]

..... I tried painting over the numbers with a yellow paint pen and then wiping the surface off after a bit so only the paint in the stamped numbers showed up but it didn't work that well......

Use a paint stick. That's what they are made for.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

 

[senlow]

If the surface is not too pitted, I like to do a slow rust blue on the plate and then flat sand the surface. I expect that cold blue would work, but it's not as durable. I have better luck with this method than screwing around with attempting to wipe paint off the surface while allowing it to remain in the engravings. By the time I get the paint off the surface, I typically end up wiping it out of the engravings. Paint sticks work better, but still give me trouble.