starrett verniers

got a 12" 123 starrett. all thumbscrews were rusted. cosistently .002 off. inside scale way off. ground a custom screwdriver bit to fit the adjusting screws(i think theyre gunsmithing screws). soaked thumbscrews in crc and wire-wheeled off rust with dremel and a brass wire brush. this also removed all bluing. heated screws cherry red and quenched in peanut oil. this restored bluing to factory. knurling on the now harder screws feels like it 'bites' better. cleaned with micro-teflon spray.(the suspension cleans everything leaving a microscopic teflon film) calibrated with gage block set. found out that .2935 is the actual width of jaw prongs to be added for inside measurements. not the .300 starrett says. used a .1005 block, put in jaws and adjusted 'inside' scale to read .494". Verified with micrometer. They look and work brand new. incredibly so. The new bluing is beyond tenacious, unlike trying to blue a zinc plated nut. used micrometer to set jaws .0005" open and checked light gap. theyre flat to .0005 at most. but i'd love to get the jaws on an optical flat and see how flat they are in microinches. i really really like my gage blocks now. and grade3 is great. they say longitudinal stability is now .000001"*L per decade. cool. and i always thought bluing was a chemical process. (maybe for gunsmiths, but not for watchmakers):-)

Reply to
Ben
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snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Ben)

A Starrett vernier? lol Or two dowels in a C-clamp?

Frank Morrison

Reply to
Fdmorrison

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