Vintage machinist's pocket scribe--ID?

[Beerhippie]

This was in an old KennedyKits 520 I traded a member here for this winter:



That is how I found it. Just an old scribe--cool pocket clip, 'though. I did clean it up quite a bit.

Then I dropped it the other day and got this:



Cool, I thought, it works like an old Bic!

I spent an hour trying to get it to lock open again. I worked a LOT of CLP through it while clicking it like mad. Occasionally, it would click into place, but maybe 1 out of a few hundred times--and it didn't want to stay there.

This morning I picked it up and was wondering how it might come apart. I gave the "stem" a twist CCW. Nothing--just hits a stop. I tried CW--DOPE SLAP! 1/4 turn CW locks it in place!

There are no markings on the scribe, but the pocket clip is proudly branded:







The clip was originally nickel-plated.

Could the entire scribe be made by Argus?

It now lives in one of my bib pockets. Scribe is still sharp and works just fine for pre-carbide.

 

[Mintgrun]

The fact that the clip is screwed in place leads me to believe that the entire scribe was made by Argus.

I've got a clip or two that look somewhat similar. They don't make clips like they used to.

 

[RTM]

Could the entire scribe be made by Argus

Based on this index of entries, which will not play nice on my phone, maybe not.

American Stationer and Office Manager

books.google.com

During the war the made radar chassis assembly, and something else too

Report of War Plants and Services in Urgency Rating Bands III Thru VII.

books.google.com

Tho later in life they made a bicycle

Hardware Age

books.google.com

 

[Mintgrun]

Here is the clip patent information.

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/4e/10/61/b37c5b3e645cb1/US1407474.pdf

 

[Beerhippie]

So, as I suspected, only the clip was made by Argus. Interesting that the clip pretty much had to be assembled in place.

I'm thinking the scribe was a "gimme" back in the day--like carpenter's pencils used to be. Nowadays, you drop ten grand on lumber and they want to sell you the pencils!

Anyway, it's a nice scribe and works very well. It has a place in my shop. It turned out to be just a little too long to comfortably carry in my front bib pocket. It kept snagging on stuff.

 

[AreBeeBee]

Company-branded giveaways have definitely come down in the world.

I have a Starrett 320 rule — a tempered #10 (32nds & 64ths), 6 inches long — that the Kempsmith Manufacturing Co. had engraved with its name plus Milwaukee, Wis. U.S.A. and PLAIN AND UNIVERSAL MILLERS on the rule's blank verso side. Odds are that it was a gimme item.