Interesting stuff

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ray_parkhurst
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Interesting stuff

Post by ray_parkhurst »

I went to an estate sale of a man who had some very interesting stuff. He was a machinist, watchmaker, woodworker, and perhaps other, though very little had to do with optics unfortunately. Anyway, he had a bunch of precision steel rods in varying diameters from 21 mils up to 45 mils in 1 mil increments. Would anyone have any idea what these would be used for? I don't normally take things home I don't know about, but these were just too interesting.

Sym P. le
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by Sym P. le »

They sound like gauges of some sort. How long are they?

rjlittlefield
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by rjlittlefield »

Google "pin gauge" and expect to also get a lot of stuff about "pin gage" -- same thing different spelling.

--Rik

ray_parkhurst
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by ray_parkhurst »

They are about 5-1/2" long.

Some info I forgot to mention...they are stored in cigar tubes, and each tube has hundreds of them. They seem more like material for some purpose rather than measurement tools.

rjlittlefield
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by rjlittlefield »

Interesting. In that case I have no idea.

--Rik

bralex
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by bralex »

My thought would be just organized metal stock, since they are kept in cigar tubes, but an outside possibility is thread measuring wires. They're usually a bit shorter, though.

https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/Mea ... d=12107674

PeteM
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by PeteM »

Could be drill rod, given the length. If so they would be in the same sizes as drill bits, but without the flutes, and likely made of tool steel. Might try a "spark test" to get a rough idea of the type of steel.

khw
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by khw »

Of potential use as axel material for the various moving parts (gears and related elements) in watches and clocks. Just a guess since you mentioned he was a watchmaker along with a number of other interests.

Keith W

ray_parkhurst
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by ray_parkhurst »

Could these be used by dentists for root canals? I remember seeing some dental burrs in the mix of things.

lothman
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by lothman »

could be raw marerial for repivoting worn watchparts. Cut off old pivot, drill, press-fit or glue in a piece of wire, turn to dimensions, polish and reinstall.

ray_parkhurst
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by ray_parkhurst »

I don't remember who requested pics (their post has been deleted) but I did go ahead and take the pics, see below. Glad I did since I had misremembered the markings/sizes of these rods, which are metric rather than inch. Instead of starting at 21mil, they start at 0.21mm, much smaller. This may change people's thinking about their usage...
DSC_4190_A.JPG
DSC_4189_A.JPG

rjlittlefield
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by rjlittlefield »

The deleted post was from a spammer who happened to pick your thread as a vehicle for his against-the-rules signature. His account is gone now.

But these new photos of yours are very interesting anyway. I have no idea what these wires are for.

--Rik

ray_parkhurst
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by ray_parkhurst »

rjlittlefield wrote:
Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:48 am
The deleted post was from a spammer who happened to pick your thread as a vehicle for his against-the-rules signature. His account is gone now.

But these new photos of yours are very interesting anyway. I have no idea what these wires are for.

--Rik
Hmm, his request seemed so sincere.

Indeed I am still puzzled by these wires. For now they will remain a mystery.

rjlittlefield
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by rjlittlefield »

ray_parkhurst wrote:
Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:54 am
Hmm, his request seemed so sincere.
I agree. In fact every individual piece of the fellow's behavior looked plausible, for a few days. What finally tipped us off was the general pattern of comments, eventually followed by the appearance of a link in signature, to a bicycling website, where popups written in Romanian also said (after translation) "The process is as simple as possible: sign up for the program and share links on youtube, facebook, social media, websites, forums, reviews of various products".

It's quite possible, of course, that the fellow really was interested in your wires, independent of his interests in spamming. But the spam aspects are enough to get him tossed out. If he wants back in as a legitimate member, of course we'll be happy to have him.

--Rik

lothman
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Re: Interesting stuff

Post by lothman »

ray_parkhurst wrote:
Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:54 am
Indeed I am still puzzled by these wires. For now they will remain a mystery.
hardened and then blued steel, I'm rather sure it was made for replacing worn pivots, but I wonder of the fine steps in size and the large quantity. That's enough for 10 watchmaker careers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p6yjtDA99E

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