Another rescue from the Alameda Point Antiques Faire.
I passed up the sad looking set of layout tools in a busted up wooden box the first time I saw them because they were in such rough shape. Then I found myself returning to them for a closer look. One look at the Starrett logo on the box lid and I knew it just wasn't right to leave them in their abused condition. So, I paid more than I should have for the privilege of bringing them back to life. I was in such a hurry to get them cleaned up that I forgot to take any "before" pictures. Which is just as well...it would be sort of like rubbernecking at a bad accident on the freeway if you saw them that way. At this stage in the rehab, the box lid needed more work but I wanted to find the book that goes up there before I restored the wood brackets that hold the book in place. Then I could reattach the lid to the box. I had to rebuild the lid including undoing a botched glue repair from sometime in the past. |
As found, the set was missing the following tools:
"Starrett Book for Machinist's Apprentices, Vol 1"
No. 320 6" Flexible Steel Rule
No. 390 Center Gage
No 117B Center Punch
I decided to try to complete the set after I got the tools that were still there cleaned up. Here are some closer pix of the tools after clean up:
"Starrett Book for Machinist's Apprentices, Vol 1"
No. 320 6" Flexible Steel Rule
No. 390 Center Gage
No 117B Center Punch
I decided to try to complete the set after I got the tools that were still there cleaned up. Here are some closer pix of the tools after clean up:
Starret No. 11 6" Combination Square
No. 4 graduation. No trip to the derusting bath for this. I was concerned that either EvapoRust or electrolytic derusting* would harm the paint or the black markings in the scale divisions. So, manual methods only. The heads cleaned up pretty well by lapping on 220 grit and 400 grit 3M wetordry paper. 3M radial bristle discs did a good job on the scribe, nuts, etc *I'll do a separate page on electrolytic derusting next time I need to do some. |
No. 75 5" Fry Pattern Dividers w/ Spring nut
No. 73 6" Inside Caliper w/ Solid Nut No. 79 6" Outside Calipers w/ Solid Nut The dividers and inside calipers are still pitted after clean up with 120grit 3M radial bristle discs and 220 grit 3M wetordry sanding sticks. I haven't decided if I want to sand the pitted surfaces back to smooth or not. I started down that path on the outside calipers (staying off the business end, of course) but I'm not sure if I'll continue. |
Since I made the initial purchase and cleanup, I've managed to find the missing book, scale, and center gage. No luck on an old center punch at a decent price. The 117B center punch is still in production, so maybe I'll just get a modern one to round out the set.
No. 320 Flexible Steel Rule, 6"
Found in a mixed lot on eBay. I guess back in the early 20th century, apprentices didn't rate a two sided scale. |
No. 390 Center Gage
Found on eBay. The No. 391 Tempered Center Gage is easier to find because it is still in production. |
The Starrett Book for Machinist's Apprentices
Found on Abebooks.com. I've been an Abebooks customer since the mid-90s. I can't imagine how I would have built my library without them. It's too bad the site is now overrun with low quality scanned print-on-demand copies of most of the cool old books I'm interested in. A scanned pdf version of this 1917 edition is available from archive.org. |
On page 184 the Starrett Book (copyright 1917), there is an advertisement for the No. 901 set.
The contents of the set aren't quite the same as my set. The difference are: -no mention of the book being -the box is different (although this could simply be artistic license taken in the ad illustration) -No. 321 rule (No.11 graduations, 64ths and 100ths, still single sided) vs. the No. 320 rule -No. 77 5" dividers w/ solid nut vs. the No. 75 5" dividers w/ spring nut I guess 21 years of inflation and the addition of the book was enough to justify a 60%+ increase in the price. |
Starrett still makes the 117B center punch. $6.40 from McMaster. Might as well add it to the next McMaster order.
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After I had the book in hand, I was able to figure out how to fix the features in the lid meant to hold the book.
I made some small, thin rectangles of oak and glued them in place. But, I'm an idiot, and used red oak instead of white oak like the rest of the box. I'll be cutting out these bits and making new white oak pieces that match the rest of the box far better, even if they are new. |