Thread: Very interesting Vintage Swiss Bench Micrometer

Anyone else notice

Vintage Micrometer Stand Watch - Honegger Golay & Co - Switzerland | eBay

Closed at a price far beyond my budget.

I have one of those!

Originally Posted by Screwmachine

I have one of those!

I certainly never saw one before.

Do you know what industry may have used one ?

The eBay Seller says it descended from Bulova Watch.

They were made in Neuchâtel, the same company made plug gages and I'm sure many other things. Certainly from a need in the watch industry. They aren't very common, I've seen maybe 3 in 20 years here; Cary made a more modern tool that performed the same function with more options which seem to crop up all the time.

These are beautifully over complex tools though.

Originally Posted by Screwmachine

These are beautifully over complex tools though.

Indeed. But what functions do they have over a more normal bench micrometer that warrant the extra levers and wheels?

Originally Posted by Milland

Indeed. But what functions do they have over a more normal bench micrometer that warrant the extra levers and wheels?

It' what I'd call a comparative indicating mic. The mic is a Johansson, the barrel has an index wheel on it with 50 notches. So say I want to check a 2mm plug gage, I set the mic to 2mm, then positively index it like in pic 1. The arm that fits around the mic barrel is loose up to this point, now we press the lever, which brings the arm to its 0 position on the indicator sector, and it's tightened. Lever is released, index arm backed off. Now with the little knob to the bottom right, and a piece of string, you can open up the mic as much as 0.5mm over the initial setting, then release the string tension and the counter weight visible in the side pic rotates the mic barrel to bring the spindle in contact with the piece to be measured. So there is some advantage in that you don't touch the actual mic when measuring, as you use the string to operate it, and the mic pressure is governed by gravity. But a pretty (and pretty) Rube Goldberg way of seeking out microns.

Good heavens! And I'd guess the string has to be a specific size and woven from a rare silk.

That is super cool, would have been frustrating had I seen it before the end of the auction. It definitely wins for Major Gismosity.

Originally Posted by Screwmachine

It' what I'd call a comparative indicating mic. The mic is a Johansson, the barrel has an index wheel on it with 50 notches. So say I want to check a 2mm plug gage, I set the mic to 2mm, then positively index it like in pic 1. The arm that fits around the mic barrel is loose up to this point, now we press the lever, which brings the arm to its 0 position on the indicator sector, and it's tightened. Lever is released, index arm backed off. Now with the little knob to the bottom right, and a piece of string, you can open up the mic as much as 0.5mm over the initial setting, then release the string tension and the counter weight visible in the side pic rotates the mic barrel to bring the spindle in contact with the piece to be measured. So there is some advantage in that you don't touch the actual mic when measuring, as you use the string to operate it, and the mic pressure is governed by gravity. But a pretty (and pretty) Rube Goldberg way of seeking out microns.

BTW, kudos on your very clean and organized shop.

It's something to aspire to !

Originally Posted by SalemRule

BTW, kudos on your very clean and organized shop.

It's something to aspire to !

Hoo boy if you saw the rest of the shop you'd take that back

This is just my little bench