Planer gage : what called in Britain?!

[M.B. Naegle]

It does not harm a planer gauge if your SG is fairly accurate, you are just touching up the gauge place.
Find this tip in my not yet finished book Surface Grinder Tips and Technics

I'm looking forward to that book!

 

[michiganbuck]

QT OP (I never thought a lot about 123 blocks, but I admit that I now have a set and use them occasionally.)
123 blocks are the quick fixture for SG squaring parts and blocking in. Two set on a chuck make an angle plate. Even for a quick tram check on a mill to just bump the side of the extended quill.

 

[rklopp]

They can also be used like an adjustable parallel.

That's how I mostly use mine, as an extra-large adjustable parallel. I am not sure how lived so long without one.

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

I love these things. Let's say you have an embarrassing machine not allowed to be discussed here. It just has a column and quill. You can set the gauge up with mics or whatever, then use it to set the cutter height. You'll be within a couple thou every time if you're careful. If you own two of them, the possibilities in terms of supports or parallels are endless. It's the tool most modern machinists don't know exists or what to do with.

 

[Georgineer]

I love these things. Let's say you have an embarrassing machine not allowed to be discussed here. It just has a column and quill. You can set the gauge up with mics or whatever, then use it to set the cutter height. You'll be within a couple thou every time if you're careful. If you own two of them, the possibilities in terms of supports or parallels are endless. It's the tool most modern machinists don't know exists or what to do with.

I'm getting happier and happier that I was given mine, considering that I had no idea what it was when I accepted it. It's a thing of beauty, hand-made by a long-dead toolmaker.
George

 

[Cyclotronguy]

A planer gauge is pretty handy to set up sine bar as opposed to a gauge-block stack; and frequently exact enough for the job at hand.

 

[M.B. Naegle]

I have one that was made from scratch by the gentleman my dad learned machining and bought his shop from (was probably old apprentice project). It looks like a copy of the Starrett ones, but not sure how it compares dimensionally. It's missing the threaded post(s) which I want to make someday, but otherwise gets used mostly on the surface plate. I hope to put it to official use when my plainer is back up and running.

The nice thing about them is that between the steps, the adjustments, and the posts, you can adjust it to any height from 1/4" to 6". Most adjustable parallels I've seen don't have that range, and their thinner cross section means they don't sit upright on their own (but then they're meant to be just a parallel).

 

[Booze Daily]

In Britain it’s called Ye Olde Planer Guage.

 

[boslab]

You can also substitute a boring bar micrometer over here, something I’ve ordered for the workshops by the dozen, planer gauges are called just that in my world
Step guage turned up a bit
Mark
A thing I learned ( when schools were that) Ye, is the old world letter of the alphabet called the “tree” it’s pronounced “th” by extension Ye is tree “e” or “th” e
Or the ( thee) modern the
Fascinating I thought,

 

[EPAIII]

I will offer a word of caution about purchasing a planer gauge. I have two of them, one is a Starrett and the other one is an imported knockoff. And they both have threaded holes which allow the attachment of accessories.

HOWEVER, the Starrett model has a totally NON standard diameter and thread. It is not an English (inch) thread and it is not a metric thread. It is a proprietary, Starrett thread: non-standard diameter and non-standard pitch. I confirmed this with a Starrett technician. He, rather reluctantly admitted to this fact.

My Starrett is well over 15 years old but I believe they still make them that way. If you want to mount anything on it, you need to buy a Starrett accessory or an adapter from Starrett or make a custom thread to fit it.

The imported one has a standard thread. I don't have it at hand, but IIRC, it is a 4-40 or a 6-32. It is a lot easier to add accessories to it. I can not remember where I purchased it. Perhaps from the now defunct Enco.

The Starrett one has a fine adjustment screw which the imported one does not. As you would expect from Starrett, it is better in the overall sense. But the imported one is also quite useful.

MSC has five different models:

https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn?searchterm=planer%20gauge&hdrsrh=true&rd=k

I would ask about the size of the threaded holes before buying any of them.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

In Britain it’s called Ye Olde Planer Guage.

Nah, in the UK we can spell gauge.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[TGTool]

Booze Daily said:


In Britain it’s called Ye Olde Planer Guage.

Nah, in the UK we can spell gauge.

Regards Tyrone.

You can't really complain. His screen name told you all you needed to know.

 

[Georgineer]

You can also substitute a boring bar micrometer over here, something I’ve ordered for the workshops by the dozen, planer gauges are called just that in my world
Step guage turned up a bit
Mark
A thing I learned ( when schools were that) Ye, is the old world letter of the alphabet called the “tree” it’s pronounced “th” by extension Ye is tree “e” or “th” e
Or the ( thee) modern the
Fascinating I thought,

It was much smaller when I was at school, Mark. In those days it was called "thorn" . It must have been later that it grew into a tree.
George

 

[Mark Rand]

Þe olde planer gauge.

 

[michiganbuck]

You can also substitute a boring bar micrometer over here, something I’ve ordered for the workshops by the dozen, planer gauges are called just that in my world
Step guage turned up a bit
Mark
A thing I learned ( when schools were that) Ye, is the old world letter of the alphabet called the “tree” it’s pronounced “th” by extension Ye is tree “e” or “th” e
Or the ( thee) modern the
Fascinating I thought,

REF: https://www.amazon.com/VAN-NORMAN-BORING-MICROMETER-105MM/dp/B09RWSVQD3

 

[4GSR]

I have two Lufkin one's with most of the extensions. I'll have to check the threads on them. I suspect they match Starrett's thread to a tee.

Edit: One is a Lufkin, the other is a no name brand. The Lufkin has a fine thread of some sort, where the no name one has a 32-pitch thread that is about .008" smaller OD than a 8-32 screw is. A 8-32 nut is very loose on the pin threads.

 

[TGTool]

My Lufkin uses 8-36 UNF threads. Not common but not a non-standard.

 

[M.B. Naegle]

My home-made one uses 8-32 threads, but I've run into Starretts proprietary threads before. Stuff like that isn't uncommon when dealing with a 100+ year old machine or tool lines. When those companies first came around, "standards" were still developing, and shops didn't buy machine fasteners from a supply house, they bought them from the oem or made them themselves. Sure we have standardized threads today, but when do they change threads, and how do the legacy customers know what they have or need?

 

[FredC]

My home-made one uses 8-32 threads, but I've run into Starretts proprietary threads before. Stuff like that isn't uncommon when dealing with a 100+ year old machine or tool lines. When those companies first came around, "standards" were still developing, and shops didn't buy machine fasteners from a supply house, they bought them from the oem or made them themselves. Sure we have standardized threads today, but when do they change threads, and how do the legacy customers know what they have or need?

Just measured the screws on my gage extensions and they are .147 (#7.5?) in diameter and 30TPI. Thirty TPI was a popular number back in the late 1800s. Rear sights on a Krag are close to #8-30 with rounded crests and valleys. The Starrett accessories do fit in the Krag barrels but are a little loose. Krag rear sight screws are a little too large to fit the Planer gage.
Seems like they could have upgraded the threads easy enough when they went to the new "Precision Gage". Makes making sacrificial buttons a little harder now. (post #19)

 

[boslab]

Ye is thorn sorry, don’t think my memory is working too good anymore I’m afraid, oh well it was good while it lasted!, sorry
Mark