A nice machinist's Christmas (for my Dad)

I had bought him a nice Brown & Sharpe 26" Vernier Height Gauge from a member here last week. I did receive it today (thank you, BTM) and am very happy with it. Perfect shipping, perfect condition.

The interesting thing is that while it was in transit, I attended a Christmas Dinner held by my part-time employer. I was greeted promptly by the owner, and engaged in a conversation to compliment his long-retired toolmaker dad on an inspection-room block I've been using. Really well-made and perfectly flat and square everywhere. I commented how my Dad is also a retired toolmaker, and has a small (but growing) shop in his walk-in cellar. I told the guy about the height gauge that was on it's way.

Without any hesitation, the shop owner asked "Would he like to have a Cadillac Gage too? I've got one we haven't used in years and he can have it."

I brought home tonight a perfect condition 1974-vintage Starrett Digi-Chek No.258, with a matched 10" riser block. I was in shock when I searched the interweb tonight and saw what they go for on Ebay, and even more-so when I saw the current list price.

Dad, you got yourself one hell of a load of good Christmas presents!

P.S. - There's a slight bit of dingyness (staining?) to the satin chrome micrometer handwheel. Any suggestions on how to clean it without degrading the blackened lines and numbers?

Cleaning stainless

Cleaning stainless

Use soft clean clothes or rags. One to clean and one to dry and buff. Use white or cider vinegar to wipe clean your stainless steel surfaces. You can also use a mild detergent and water for cleaning I like Dove it's easy on the hands, for stubborn stains use a paste made with baking soda.

After cleaning try rubbing the surface down with olive oil and then buffing.

An other mixture to clean stainless steel is 3 parts cream of tartar to 1 part hydrogen peroxide. Use a damp cloth and rub gently into the surface, covering the entire stain. Let it dry, and then wipe it off with another damp cloth. Wipe it down with rubbing alcohol, then buff with a soft dry cloth.

Hopes this work for you Marci

Thank you Marci, I'll try some of those things tomorrow though this isn't stainless steel, but satin chrome plated steel. I just need to be careful as I don't want to lose the black on the marked graduations.

PixMan:
Good for you and especially your DAD--Have a great Christmas!

For that stain You might try a pencil eraser, or rub the stain with a paste of fine ash and tooth paste. (burnt grass works best due to the silica content ;-)

Happy Happy. May all your heights be true!

As I understand it, Satin Chrome is made using a mild blasting (plastic beads?) followed by chrome plating. So you probably don't want to use anything acid. Perhaps a soak in ammonia, followed by a brushing with an old toothbrush?

If the stain is in the underlying steel, I'd say clean it as best you can, dry it, and put some LPS or Boeshield on it to keep it from getting worse.

Pixman, now you're in trouble: not only are you gonna have to find a used 36x48 Grade A Crystal Pink surface plate, you're gonna have to figure out how to get it into Dad's basement!

Jim

CalG said:

For that stain You might try a pencil eraser, or rub the stain with a paste of fine ash and tooth paste. (burnt grass works best due to the silica content ;-)

Happy Happy. May all your heights be true!

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Thanks CalG. FWIW, before I brought the Digi-Chek home I carefully cleaned the 3 "feet" it sits on and put it on the shop's giant Grade A surface plate. Using their recently-recalibrated 600mm Trimos digital height gauge, I checked the Digi-Chek to see how the two (1974 vs. 2008) tools would compare.

The old Digi-Chek was dead-on. From zero-ing out the Trimos on a good 2" chromium-carbide Webber gauge block, every step on the Digi-Chek showed 6 zeroes after the decimal point on the Trimos' display. I them cleaned up the 10" riser and re-checked the unit. Still right on.

I think this thing is very-nearly as good as a set of high-grade gauge blocks!

Dad already has a 24x36 Grade A surface plate, now he'll have a couple cool tools to use with it. I may leave him my new Interapid 312-B4 indicator and Starrett No. 57 surface gauge to accompany the Digi-Chek.

Now to find him the Brown & Sharpe Micromaster he's been lusting for.

PixMan said:

Now to find him the Brown & Sharpe Micromaster he's been lusting for.

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B & S make a digital micrometer by that name, and used to also make a surface grinder under the same name. Which are you looking for?

If it's the surface grinder, maybe I can help. . . . although mine is an older model. . . .

Oh definitely the surface grinder. I was unaware of anything else they'd named with that moniker.

Back when I worked for a smaller ceramics division of Norton Company, I had the distinct pleasure of going down to Brown & Sharpe to see the last of the those surface grinders being built. We had bought an 8x18 PLC-controlled version of it, and it was the very nicest surface grinder I have ever used. I even got to meet Henry Sharpe, great great grandson of one of the founders when we went to sign off on the machine. He was in his 80's, but still pretty darn "sharpe" at that time (1991 or so.)

If you have a MicroMaster grinder for sale, I can't buy it right now. Check back with me in about 3 months, after I've recovered from this holiday (disposable income-wise.)