weird Stanley Level...

[John T]

Going through some old Stanley stuff.... passed on from my grandfather who worked in New Britain in the 70's

The level is aluminum... or magnesium (not sure) It's got double bubbles on all ends.....

on a level surface.... bottom bubble reads level.... top is off....

same on all ends...

any info?


Damn,,,, forgot to take a pic of the long side.... but here it is laying flat...

 

[larry_g]

You have a curved glass vials so only one will read correct. A lot of the newer vials are fat in the middle ans taper to the ends so whatever the orientation of the vial the bubble will go to the high spot.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[dutchgray]

That type of level because it has curved tubes with the bubbles in, those only work one way up, hence why each vial has two bubbles in, so it can be used in all directions.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Yea turn the level over the other bubble will be correct.

 

[readhead]

Univials had not been invented when that was made.

 

[Skiff Builder]

Those type levels were manufactured to be used both north and south of the Equator. The upper bubble will read correctly in Brazil.

 

[John T]

Univials had not been invented when that was made.

What year do you think this Level was made?

 

[readhead]

I had one back in the early seventies.

 

[Shiftless]

John:
That level is in amazingly good condition. Did you restore it?

 

[RTM]

What year do you think this Level was made?

1929 - 64

Patent by E A Schafer 5/6/1924

1929, had a vertical Victor trademark on one end

1929-37 orange enamel top and bottom, sides unfinished aluminum.

1938 - 60 same but sides painted black

1960-64, sides painted blue.

From John Walter’s Stanley Bible.

 

[seber]

Mine is red. Bought in 61.

 

[John T]

John:
That level is in amazingly good condition. Did you restore it?

No, it's original.

my grandfather was an engineer at SW. in NB, CT.

I've got a nice set of machinist levels also..... safe to say never used.

 

[Shiftless]

No, it's original.

my grandfather was an engineer at SW. in NB, CT.

I've got a nice set of machinist levels also..... safe to say never used.

Amazing!
Great heirloom tools.

 

[tom coffey]

I have only one double bubble level in my collection. I'll dig it out and post a pic or two.

 

[crguy]

No, it's original.

my grandfather was an engineer at SW. in NB, CT.

I've got a nice set of machinist levels also..... safe to say never used.

Those aren't really machinist grade levels. I have one of the aluminum levels I bought years ago. I learned to check levels in the store to see if they were true. Many were not, and the vials on those aren't adjustable.

 

[RTM]

I've got a nice set of machinist levels also..... safe to say never used.

Those aren't really machinist grade levels. I have one of the aluminum levels I bought years ago. I learned to check levels in the store to see if they were true. Many were not, and the vials on those aren't adjustable.

Here are the 36, 37 levels, and #34 machinist levels, description on the following page.

Stanley Tools Catalogue No. 34 : 1914 : Stanley Rule & Level Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

149 p., illus., 18.7 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

 

[crguy]

Here are the 36, 37 levels, and #34 machinist levels, description on the following page.

Stanley Tools Catalogue No. 34 : 1914 : Stanley Rule & Level Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

149 p., illus., 18.7 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

I realize the "machinist" term was thrown out to impress buyers, but I'm also sure you know they weren't that accurate. Davis called their inclinometer levels machinist levels also.

 

[isb cornbinder]

Going through some old Stanley stuff.... passed on from my grandfather who worked in New Britain in the 70's

The level is aluminum... or magnesium (not sure) It's got double bubbles on all ends.....

on a level surface.... bottom bubble reads level.... top is off....

same on all ends...

any info?


Damn,,,, forgot to take a pic of the long side.... but here it is laying flat...

.I bought this same level at a garage sale. It was $5 and worth that much.
Someone had broken the level between two of the viewing ports. The repair looked just OK. The repair appears to have been in a surface grinder, I have been using this level for 20+ years.
I have Starrett levels because the prices were very low. The local Starrett dealer prices these levels around $1000cdn.

 

[danielbuck]

I have an old Sands level that looks like that with double curved vials, it's always worked well for me.