Mitutoyo Museum Virtual Tour

[Bakafish]

One of the things I've been meaning to do after covid hibernation is to get over to the Mitutoyo museum in Kawasaki just a short train ride from my house. While planning for my visit I came across their exhibits page and found that they have a surprisingly detailed and useful set of virtual walkthroughs that may be worth your time. The main site is I linked above is in Japanese, but the equipment labels of the exhibits are bilingual and are readable in most cases (on my display anyway.)

Here are the links for two of the building tours:

Mitutoyo Measurement Museum Numata Memorial Hall
Mitutoyo Measurement Museum Measuring Equipment Museum

 

[Pete Deal]

Wow that’s cool! Very nicely done.

 

[Milling man]

Thanks a lot. Very interesting done! I even shed a tear, how many familiar devices.

 

[Bakafish]

One of the other reasons I wanted to visit is I'm hoping to get more information on an old 'Mitutoyo' dial indicator I have, I saw they have several similar units equipped on machines on display there. I suspect it is actually German or Swiss made (based on the fonts and overall looks) and just re-badged, but couldn't find any markings internally as to where it was actually manufactured. Quite attractive design though I think, and micron accuracy must have made it a pretty good unit at the time (1962-1965 based on the script style logo.)

 

[neanderthal mach]

That's a pretty cool link Bakafish and one I hadn't known about before, thanks for posting it. And you might be quite correct about that Mitutoyo labeled indicator being made by another company. One example, my 524-524 indicator Mit. calls a Hicator II is a dead ringer for what Mahr calls there millimess indicators. At the time I bought it I'd assumed Mit just copied the Mayr design, or possibly did so with a manufacturing agreement with Mayr. Instead there's a tiny lable on the indicators back and one on the box it came in stating it was built by Mayr in Germany. Other than the slightly different front with that Mit. corporate logo on it, it's basically identical to what Mayr produces. So even Mit. isn't immune from rebranding products not built by themselves. And if the guess about your indicators age is correct it's in remarkable condition. Fwiw, yours has at least some similarities to one of the CE. Johansson indicators, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johansson_Mikrokator but enough differences it's still hard to be sure.

 

[Bakafish]

That's a pretty cool link Bakafish and one I hadn't known about before, thanks for posting it. And you might be quite correct about that Mitutoyo labeled indicator being made by another company. One example, my 524-524 indicator Mit. calls a Hicator II is a dead ringer for what Mahr calls there millimess indicators. At the time I bought it I'd assumed Mit just copied the Mayr design, or possibly did so with a manufacturing agreement with Mayr. Instead there's a tiny lable on the indicators back and one on the box it came in stating it was built by Mayr in Germany. Other than the slightly different front with that Mit. corporate logo on it, it's basically identical to what Mayr produces. So even Mit. isn't immune from rebranding products not built by themselves. And if the guess about your indicators age is correct it's in remarkable condition. Fwiw, yours has at least some similarities to one of the CE. Johansson indicators, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johansson_Mikrokator but enough differences it's still hard to be sure.

Yes, I know about and own the micron and half micron Mahr units that Mitutoyo pretty clearly relabels. I was looking for the Mitutoyo versions, but got a great deal on the originals which are not as well known over here. That fact that they relabel and the teutonic looks of the unit made me suspect Mahr made this, but I couldn't find any of their older stuff that looked similar to this aesthetic. But I think you are on the right track with that Johansson indicator, it looks like it is from the same bloodlines. The VR walkthrough isn't high enough resolution, but the label on one of the units I found displayed in the museum looked different, so I suspect it will show the original manufacturer's name.

This unit was new-old stock. The box had degraded into dust, but the meter is in great shape. I opened it up to clean and oil the clockworks (and look for clues about the maker) and it still works quite well, the size (100mm face) is really easy on my old eyes, but it is mostly destined to be displayed on my relic shelf.

 

[jccaclimber]

I wonder what percentage of mainstream metrology company items are made in house? I was surprised a couple years ago when I bought a Mitutoyo granite square and it came with a made in Germany sticker, along with an inspection report in German/English rather than Japanese/English.

 

[Bakafish]

Just an update, I believe one of our members definitively identified this indicator as an Feinmess Suhl GmbH product. As it was likely behind the Iron Curtain at the time this would have been made, it is interesting that Mitutoyo was able to source them. One of the examples at auction that looked identical down to the box it was packaged in (which was decidedly non-Mitutoyo to my eye) has manufacturing inspection paperwork dating it to the late 70's, so they really only look like they're from the 30's Seems like good examples can be had from European eBay for $50-100, and there appears to be an Imperial variant as well.

 

[diman]

Finally a good application for my occulus quest 2! This is mindblowing!

 

[ballen]

Here are the links for two of the building tours:

Mitutoyo Measurement Museum Numata Memorial Hall

Is there any way to read the text on the display cards? When I get as close as possible, it is still too blurry to read. I'd like to know what I'm looking at...

 

[Bakafish]

A lot of the really small ones are just too hard to read, although I found full screen mode on a high resolution display helps.