Last weekend, I went to "The World's Largest Yard Sale" in Hamburg, N.Y. 
This was my first time but the event has been on the fairground site for 
about 12 years.  I was expecting mostly flea market dealers an was 
presently surprised that about half the vendors were locals getting rid 
of stuff.

There weren't many tools.  But I did manage to find a Stanley #5 (jack 
plane, Jeff), a wooden architect's rule, a protractor, a pair of 
compasses (german), a well made coping saw frame, and two marking 
gauges.  All for $17.

I have a few questions I am hoping someone can help with.  One of the 
compasses has an point that looks like a bird's beak.  It looks like it 
should be held closed with a small bolt.  (Photo #5).  What is this 
tool?

The marking gauges were the real find on this hunt.  One is clearly user 
made.  The ends are roughly cut but the gauge shows clear wear.  The 
name Chandler is stamped into it twice.  The other mortising gauge is 
the one I am wondering about.  There is no company name visible any 
where.  It is an all wood (beech) construction with the first three 
inches marked off.  Two brass pins hold the ends of the gauge together 
while the rest of it slides apart.  Does anyone know who made a gauge 
like this.  I am used to seeing brass centre sections on gauges not 
wood.

I did see a Stanley #7 ( big jointer, Jeff) but the guy wanted $45 for 
it and I already have one.  So the trip was worth the drive and the $3 
admission.

If I did this right.  The link below should go to pictures in my 
Dropbox.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wtk9jpvw8gf6erv/WwNaiHmEWj/Tool%20Acquisitions

Michelle 

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Drafting and Mechanical drawings sometimes used ink instead of pencil.
What you see there is how the ink was applied.

You are correct, there is a bolt that holds that beak open, and you
could adjust the gap to adjust the width of the line you drew.

Matthew Groves

On May 14, 2012, at 10:28 PM, "Michelle Cox" <storm@2...> wrote:

> I have a few questions I am hoping someone can help with. One of the>
> compasses has an point that looks like a bird's beak. It looks like
> it> should be held closed with a small bolt. (Photo #5). What is
> this> tool?
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MC;
The "beak" is actually a pen nib. Drawing sets could include both (pencil)
leads and ink dispensers. On your example, there should be a small
thumbwheel and "T" headed bolt that adjusts the size (width) of the line
formed by the point of the "beak". The gap between both points serves as the
ink reservoir-dip the point into a bottle of ink and the gap collects a
small amount of ink that is dispensed as you draw the line. Often, the ink
dispenser is interchangeable among the different pieces, which almost always
included a straight tube that could be used with the ink dispenser as an
instrument for drawing straight lines (with a raised-edge straightedge or
writing freehand).

A veritable cornucopia of questionably useful information am I

Ed in Ottawa

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In response to Michelle Cox's question:
One of the
 >> compasses has an point that looks like a bird's beak.  It looks like it
 >> should be held closed with a small bolt.  (Photo #5).  What is this
 >> tool?

Matthew Groves wrote:
> Drafting and Mechanical drawings sometimes used ink instead of pencil. What
you see there is how the ink was applied.
>
> You are correct, there is a bolt that holds that beak open, and you could
adjust the gap to adjust the width of the line you drew.
>
> Matthew Groves

  I still have the drafting set with a couple of those that I used in 
college drafting classes as an engineering student in 19...well, let's 
just say it was when JFK was the U.S. President.  I was told by the 
instructor that my work was pretty good but I was too slow to earn a 
living as a draftsman.  Need I say it was in pre-CAD (heck, 
pre-computer) days.
   I actually used the set just yesterday, along with a rule like the 
one in the background of Michelle's photo, when looking at some house plans.
Charlie Rodgers
Clinton, Maryland

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On May 14, 2012, at 20:33 , Michelle Cox <storm@2...> wrote:

> The other mortising gauge is the one I am wondering about.  There is no
company name visible any where.  It is an all wood (beech) construction with the
first three inches marked off.  Two brass pins hold the ends of the gauge
together while the rest of it slides apart.  Does anyone know who made a gauge
like this.  I am used to seeing brass centre sections on gauges not wood.

I believe that is a Stanley #67 mortise gage, which has a beech body and boxwood
screw.  I have a (marked!) #68, which has the same body, but with Traut's
moustache wear plate, and the brass screw and gib.  The wooden slides on the #67
and #68 are neat, IMO, and if the slide on yours is as straight as it looks,
it's a good find!  Ralph Brendler noted both as "scarce" (one star).

-- 
Adam
Port Angeles, WA

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Does anyone know if Ralph's gauge site is still available anywhere? I found some
bits of it on the Wayback Machine, but couldn't figure out if it was navigable
(I'm a complete neophyte to the WM).

I got an unmarked #68 at a yard sale seven or eight years ago, and I remember
how full and interesting the information was on Ralph's site. Unfortunately I
didn't download any of it. My memory is that the #68 was one of their
lower-priced lines and was available for many decades in the late 19th and early
20th centuries; I had forgotten the "scarce" rating. I really like it, though I
don't often have a need for a mortisig gauge.

Tom Conroy

On May 14, 2012, at 20:33 , Michelle Cox <storm@2...> wrote:

 "The other mortising gauge is the one I am wondering about.  There is no
company name visible any where.  It is an all wood (beech) construction with the
first three inches marked off.  Two brass pins hold the ends of the gauge
together while the rest of it slides apart.  Does anyone know who made a gauge
like this.  I am used to seeing brass centre sections on gauges not wood."

And Adam Maxwell replied: "I believe that is a Stanley #67 mortise gage, which
has a beech body and boxwood screw.  I have a (marked!) #68, which has the same
body, but with Traut's moustache wear plate, and the brass screw and gib.  The
wooden slides on the #67 and #68 are neat, IMO, and if the slide on yours is as
straight as it looks, it's a good find!  Ralph Brendler noted both as "scarce"
(one star)."
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On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 1:11 AM, Thomas Conroy
<booktoolcutter@y...>wrote:

> Does anyone know if Ralph's gauge site is still available anywhere? I
> found some bits of it on the Wayback Machine, but couldn't figure out
> if it was navigable (I'm a complete neophyte to the WM).
>

What I have found works best with the wayback machine is to find a link
to the 68 page, and enter that.

So, googling site:swingleydev.com brendler 68 gauge

Get's the the first hit of

http://swingleydev.com/archive/get.php?message_id Which, when thrown
into the WM, gets this

http://web.archive.org/web/20000622103809/http://www.mcs.net/~brendler/-
oldtools/gages/67.htm

I think I should go through and try to grab these to a PDF when I
get a chance.

Kirk in HMB, off to the shower
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On May 16, 2012, at 01:11 , Thomas Conroy <booktoolcutter@y...> wrote:

> Does anyone know if Ralph's gauge site is still available anywhere? I found
some bits of it on the Wayback Machine, but couldn't figure out if it was
navigable (I'm a complete neophyte to the WM).

try this:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36690878/gages/gagepage.htm

Strangely enough, this set of pages is missing the same images
as archive.org...

-- 
Adam

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