Vintage tape measures

[Provincial]

Gov't types like their acronyms!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Unless someone posted photos only without using the terms "Craftsman" and "3919" in their text, evading the search engine, this may be the first of these mid-50's Craftsman jobbies we're seeing on the thread. No OEM on the tape, just the COO and "PAT PEND" marking (see Pic 3). That could be used to discover the OEM and narrow down the date, but I am not that motivated.

What I don't understand is the four stars at the top of the front side (see Pic 1). We know they were fond of adorning things with four stars in 1936, the 'Golden Jubilee' (50th anniversary) year (you guys may remember my Crescent-made Golden Jubilee hacksaw find a few years ago...), but this thing has a plastic case and a (R) Registered TM symbol, which can't be older than 1946. And I'm pretty sure it is no older than 1955. It appears in the 1957 catalog (see Pic 4), and does not appear in the 1954 catalog.

 

[RTM]

Unless someone posted photos only without using the terms "Craftsman" and "3191" in their text, evading the search engine,

Your 3919 will evade the search engine now too.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Haha. Dyslexia strikes again! Fixed. Thanks.

 

[Mintgrun]

I posted a 3919 on page one of this thread, but did not type the numbers out; so it did not come up in your search.



I think you've posted the first grün example!

Tom

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I posted a 3919 on page one of this thread, but did not type the numbers out; so it did not come up in your search.

I think you've posted the first grün example!

Haha. Looking at the condition of yours puts mine to shame, Tom!

 

[RTM]

Here is my vintage tape finds from a few weekends back, a Lufkin Leader 50', 3/8" wide, Patent 2,314,915 (3/30/1943 for the legibility of the marking on the tape) on the winder lever, marked with the "instantaneous reading" (1 ft 3") as it goes along. (Can't find it in a catalog)

Walsco 6', 1/2" wide, (possibly a #378 from a 1955 Hardware Retailer buyer's guide), push and pull, no lock, marked Serial +R.12 on the tape at inch 5, gotta dig that one up.

 

[d42jeep]

The Lufkin I found up the street today looks kind of familiar. Maybe it’s a Bay Area thing.
-Don

 

[wrenchguy]

Lubrication by the DROP plastic ruler.
Gifted to me, was told it was used as bookmark for many decades. Logo/trademark ended in late 40's. Not known when that logo started.

 

[Macduf]

three recent finds. didn't know Mayhew made tape measures.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

didn't know Mayhew made tape measures.

Me neither.

 

[RTM]

three recent finds. didn't know Mayhew made tape measures.

Make it, or just had their name put on it (3rd party mfg) is always my question when weirdly out of the normal style tools show up.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Agreed. I don't know what Macduf meant, but my agreement was treating "make" much more generically, because I didn't even know they sold them.

 

[misterbill]

These two came in a box of goodies I picked up off of CL.



Bill

 

[Username already in use]

That West German tape is sharp!

 

[Old Radar]

Interesting post-war influence--50 foot tape when Germany went to the metric system in 1872.

 

[Moldyjim]

Does anyone recognize or can tell me about these tape measures? The first one says "Made in Germany, and "Keep clean lightly oiled. It's a 72 inch tape that comes completely out of the case.
The little button in the middle unclamps it to allow the tape to be reinserted or pulled out of the case.

It has no logo or mfg. The back side is painted blue, with the name Ruiz crudely engraved in it.

The second one is a Lufkin 50' that almost looks like a fishing reel. The orange cap turns with a ratchet to preload the return spring. Pulling the side knob releases the tension. I've seen a couple of these, feel like they might be logging related.

Let me know if any details are known.
Thanks

 

[Moldyjim]

A 12" craftsman like one I had when I first started in machine shop. A heavy metal body. With stud diamonds on the tape. A 50 ft Diston Star Chief and a 25 ft Irwin Comet with a chrome blade. Last, a 25' Lufkin Wizard Junior, with a chrome tape.

 

[Provincial]

Moldyjim, the Lufkin in the first post seems a lot like the current Spencer logging tapes. A search of the internet for Spencer logging tape brings up links to exploded parts diagrams which help compare.

 

[Yankee2bbq]

Here is my old tape measures:

 

[RTM]

The second one is a Lufkin 50' that almost looks like a fishing reel. The orange cap turns with a ratchet to preload the return spring. Pulling the side knob releases the tension. I've seen a couple of these, feel like they might be logging related.

Let me know if any details are known.

Looks like Provincial knows better than I. I looked in the 1931 and 1935 catalogs, and didn’t see it. Suspect you may need to go older.

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

archive.org

 

[bbbarracuda]

This isn't a tape measure, but I wondered if anyone can help me ID this metal (aluminum) folding rule 6' ?
The only markings i can find are Zig Zag Rule So. Bend Ind. I tlooks there is the remnants of a round stamp to the right of Ind. but I cant make it out.
Any help is appreciated. Or if there might be a better place to post, any suggestion gratefully accepted! Forgot to add pic of whole ruler.

 

[BFBOB]

16 footer. That’s an odd size, isn’t it?

Not really...

 

[Arne73]

Here's a Lufkin 16' W9316 from my pop's workbench. Odd clip/ brace arrangement on the back, looks like a modification.

 

[RTM]

This 1982 catalog shows several different clips available, so maybe its factory. These are Y9xxx, so maybe yours is a few years older. Big gap to 1963 catalog.

Lufkin : The Cooper Group Catalog No. 55171 : Cooper Industries, Inc. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

50 p., illus., 27.3 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

 

[2oolhound]

Does anyone recognize or can tell me about these tape measures?

The second one is a Lufkin 50' that almost looks like a fishing reel. The orange cap turns with a ratchet to preload the return spring. Pulling the side knob releases the tension. I've seen a couple of these, feel like they might be logging related.

Let me know if any details are known.
Thanks

That is a cool loggers tape. These are some pics of some of my Spencer (whom I thought originated them until now).

I bought these new from the early 70's up to the 90's. In around the 80's Spencer quit embedding the cool logo of the logger measuring a log in favor of a simple decal. They were available in 50' or 75'.




Funny you should say they resemble a fishing reel because I came across an old fishing reel that looks very close to these tapes and I wonder if that isn't where the original design came from. I'll post a photo of it for interest's sake.

Here are some pics of the fishing reel. It's a Martin Aut' and it looks so much like the loggers tapes I can't help but thing it was copied. I think these reels originated in the early 1900's.



Thanks for the input Provincial and RTM, that catalog is a great find.

 

[bbbarracuda]

Picked up this Walsco 6' tape today. It says serial # R12. I assume it means model #? Actually in good shape except for a rusty spot about 30"
How old about is this vintage?
Thanks

 

[Private Lugnutz]

First thing I bought at the flea this morning was a little leatherette pocket case with a flap (see Pic 1). I didn't really care what was in it, and I didn't look too hard, quickly calculating in my mind what I was willing to spend on the contents (see Pic 2) to get the case, which I had plans to re-purpose. There are people who collect vintage pencils (see Pic 3), believe it or not, and the one inside the nifty holder with 'The Lord's Prayer' on it (see Pic 4) is kind of special. I saw the compass and the pencils, figured the PO was a draftsman, stuffed them back inside, and when the seller said, "Five bucks," I was sold.

It wasn't until I got home that I found 'The Golden Rule' rule inside. It's copper.



That made my day! I have to admit I'm not too familiar with the stilted language of the KJV, which kind of makes Matthew 7:12 sound way more aggressively vengeful than the homilized version. Not so much, 'Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You', but 'If Others Do You Bad, Do them Bad Right Back!'

 

[2oolhound]

That made my day! I have to admit I'm not too familiar with the stilted language of the KJV, which kind of makes Matthew 7:12 sound way more aggressively vengeful than the homilized version. Not so much, 'Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You', but 'If Others Do You Bad, Do them Bad Right Back!'

Well whadaya know, now I finally understand why my teachers always used to wrap my knuckles with those yard sticks.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Snerk.

 

[Provincial]

Catholic School, right? Teachers=Nuns.

 

[Moldyjim]

That is a cool loggers tape. These are some pics of some of my Spencer (whom I thought originated them until now).

I bought these new from the early 70's up to the 90's. In around the 80's Spencer quit embedding the cool logo of the logger measuring a log in favor of a simple decal. They were available in 50' or 75'.




Funny you should say they resemble a fishing reel because I came across an old fishing reel that looks very close to these tapes and I wonder if that isn't where the original design came from. I'll post a photo of it for interest's sake.

Here are some pics of the fishing reel. It's a Martin Aut' and it looks so much like the loggers tapes I can't help but thing it was copied. I think these reels originated in the early 1900's.



Thanks for the input Provincial and RTM, that catalog is a great find.

I wonder if they were also used for bow fishing, on mine the spring can be released with the little knob on the side. Then the spring would be re-tensioned by winding the cover.

Not sure how it would work though without a crank. I take it the little spring on the finger would be for string drag?

 

[Old Radar]

Picked up this Evans & Co. 100' steel tape today. It wouldn't rewind so I got it for $1.

When I got it home, I pulled out all the tape and found the leader that is attached to the case had snapped off and was unusable. Next step was to take apart the case--well, to consult google to find out how to take apart the case... Google was surprisingly unhelpful. Plenty there about taking apart the more modern cases but nothing about reel types.

In hopes of saving others the trouble, here is what I did and what I found to be the solution.

I couldn't see any way to take apart the winding mechanism without damaging it--and I tugged and pulled and pried and twisted it for all I was worth--to no avail. Then I decided the case must split in half around the perimeter so I pried off the mouth rollers so I could get the trim band off. Once I did that I saw the case halves were securely spot-welded together. Dead end.

At that point I decided I may as well go for broke and got a sturdy screwdriver and pried the inner piece (not the escutcheon) on the back of the case (Pic #2) that holds the push rod that pops the crank out of the stowed position. Once I wasn't trying to be careful, it was pretty easy. Anyway that released the entire winding mechanism. From there it was a simple task to gently bore out the two very small rivets that clamped the tape leader to its bracket. I cut the tail of the tape square, drilled two holes to line up with the bracket, cut the heads off two small brads to use as replacement rivets and peened them into place.

Going directly to the proper method, without all the trial and error it would have taken no more than 20-30 minutes.

 

[Macduf]

Odd tape with no "made in usa" or pr number. Any idea when pr numbers started?

 

[RTM]

The P.R. number is a cert to sell in Puerto Rico. From a friend who contacted the mfgr : "P. R. APP"D NO 339 TC printed on our blades is our certification approval (Issued by the Govt. of Puerto Rico) number issued to Stanley Tools allowing us to sell Tape Rules in Puerto Rico. Issued in the late 1960's.

Edit: Funny, that same message was quoted here before, from the same source

Tape measure marking

What does the p.r. appd mean? Seems to be on most of the tapes.

www.garagejournal.com

The number is consistent across companies:

Stanley 339
Lufkin 252
Evans 262
Starrett 262 (after took over Evans)
Disston Carlson 258


So you can say it's Pre 60s, or wasn't EVER going to be sold in PR. The note below should give you a low end


Carlson & Sullivan ran from 1944/5 until bought out in 1955 by J K Porter, who then made it a division of Disston, taken over earlier that year.

 

[Macduf]

Just trying to find when pr numbers started, not what they stood for.

 

[RTM]

Figured if I left some bread crumbs, someone might be able to finish. Took a while, but I still got nothing.

I’m googling

puerto rico tape measure specification

trying this didn’t help either

especificación de cinta métrica de puerto rico

 

[d42jeep]

Here is one I hadn’t seen before so I grabbed it on Saturday. Unfortunately the label is loose but the crank has a tiny Mack bulldog on it. it was made by Lufkin for Mack.
-Don

 

[piehammer]

Not the best photo, but picked up this Craftsman Black & White with matching leather holster earlier this year at an estate sale.

 

[Stillgottimefor1]

This one looks standard made with promotional name, guessing.