Old tool catalogs

Hy guys,
I´m looking for old tool catalogs from Starrett, Lufkin and the like from the 30ies to the 60ies. Does anyone know a PDF source, a yahoo group or something like this?

Cheers,
Johann

I think many of us have quite a few of these in their original paper form. I know there are some on-line but not sure where.

Do you know of any German catalogs of machinist's tools from 1880 to 1920 online? Or do you have extra paper copies you would want to trade for American catalogs?

I have been collecting for quite a few years and after finding most of the American things I wanted I started to branch out to the European things..... I have seen, and have some Starrett catalogs printed in French or part of a larger French (and English for that matter too) tool distributors' catalog. My question is..... did Starrett sell in Germany before WWII?

Thanks

Johann,

There are some available online. Perhaps not the era/time you wanted, but a search of sites such as Google could turn up some old catalogs.

Starrett catalog 16 and 26 in PDF form are on Rose Tool here:

< Rose Antique Tools old tools and history >

Just to give you the background why I ask: 15 years ago, I bought a planer gage at a yard sale in Cleveland without knowing what it was, out of sheer magpie attraction for ground finish and fine craftmansship.
I had it sitting in my tool cabinet for ages but always thought it was some kind of jig that was not complete because of the many holes that have no parts that mate. Recently a friend stopped by with a few parts he wanted to have reworked for his bike. He´s a sales guy who bought a russian bike with a sidecar and he has no idea of machine work. To mitigate this problem, he brought along his neighbour who´s a trained tool and die maker and a superb engineer with more than 35 years of experience under his belt. We measured a few parts and Mr. Toolmaker spotted the gage, asked me where I got this fine piece of equipment and after seeing that I was totally ignorant of it´s use, proceeded to explain how it is used in measuring and setup work on a surface plate or with my shaper. Since this planer gage lesson 101, I use this nifty device quite a lot.
That got me to wonder how many more fine tools and useful jigs there are out there that I´ve never seen or heared about because they never made it from their niche into mainstream catalogs or because they got obsolete with the demise of certain machine classes like shaper and planer.

Cheers,
Johann

That is very interesting. One theory I have come too is there are a lot less early technical type tools in areas that have had wars cross there land than places that have not. For many years I have collected antique machinist tools...... and say 25 years ago the magpie in me would go crazy at flea markets because there was so much of this sort of thing laying around for so cheap........ I'm sure I have seen hundreds if not a thousand or more of these planer gages.... I'm sure there is at least a dozen that followed me home. Now when I have shopped at markets in Europe I find very few pre WWII tools laying about....... I feel they either used this stuff up as in wore it out till totally useless, here in the USA it is easy to find perfect condition 80 year old tools with little use. Also Europe tends to to reuse metal products a bit more than we do, melt them down and turn the steel into something else....... we are about the only country I have seen where it is not unusual to let cars just sit out in the weeds for decades rusting away.

I have also found that from the French tool catalogs that many of the more specialized machinist tools were imported from the US...... or some cases the designs were copied.... some catalogs list "American style" calipers and squares. I wonder if Germany did the same?

I think the difference is that over here, the company gives the tools to the employees. In the US, you have to bring your own stuff. Therefore, metrology equipment that belongs to single persons that retire lands on the free market.
Over here, the tools stay mostly inside the plants and are sorted out when the plants introduce new technology or new tools. But that´s just a wild guess from my point of view.
Concerning American tools, there´s a divide between the US/English toolmakers and the German/continental ones and how things are done. My guess is that it split up with the DIN and the introduction of the metric system in the 20ies. As an example, noone over here knows 1-2-3 blocks, they are just not usual. Yet everyone who used a pair of mine tries to snatch it from me. Next, they ask me where to buy them and I have to point them to an english supplier. Odd, but that´s the way it is.

Guten Tag.
The Rose link also has Lufkin and other tool catalogues in pdf form. Very useful link.

Johann That is a very interesting thought, Thank you. I will have to study that some. I think it would be very interesting to learn more about what cultures use what tools and why. I teach classes on making small things in the US, EU and Japan, I have always found it interesting what my students have in their tool boxes..... one story that is kind of funny and shows how not to assume anything is.... I was doing a wood working class in Japan, I often try to buy the tools and supplies in country because it is better for the students to use what they can get and solves shipping problems for me. I planned the project with a 6" combination square as the main layout tool........ went tool shopping in Osaka and to my surprise no sliding head type square was to be had...... they do make them in Japan for export but the Japanese do not trust them to be square (I spent two days talking to tool dealers and craftsman)..... so something as common as that tool which is the most common layout tool in the USA and has been for a 100 years simply does not exist in this other culture...... the funny thing is I did manage to get a whole bunch of them sent to Japan in time for the class and the students just loved them! I wonder how many other tools fall in this category and how many things other people use that we have never seen?

Interesting discussion between you two on reginonal differences, thanks.

Hi guys, I am new here and doing research on the Starrett tool catalogs. I have a modest collection but am looking for numbers 1-14, 16,17. If you know of anyone interested in selling theirs to be recorded, well preserved and cared for or do any of you know if there is a museum with such physical or digital copes of these older hard to find articles? I have never seen physical copies and am beginning to wonder if they have survived? Thanks for your help. I have a vision of creating a digital copy of the full catalog set from 1882 to present for all of us historians and Starrett tool enthusiasts out here. Your thoughts and opinions are greatly valued.

rivett608 said:

That is very interesting. One theory...

I have also found that from the French tool catalogs that many of the more specialized machinist tools were imported from the US...... or some cases the designs were copied.... some catalogs list "American style" calipers and squares. I wonder if Germany did the same?

Click to expand...

This shows a number of US-made tools in a German tools dealers showroom: http://www.lathes.co.uk/schuchardt&schutte/ Some are identified - how many others can be named? Over to you, gentlemen.

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