Show and/or tell your obsolete science/engineering accoutrements

[mhardy6647]

I was in the basement this afternoon... with a camera...








This one gets somewhat regular use for refoaming woofer surrounds. Like brain surgery, it's nice to operate on a responsive patient, which makes it easy to tell if anything goes wrong!

 

[mhardy6647]

 

[xanalog]

I was in the basement this afternoon... with a camera...

I had an old RF mentor, who loved saying "kilomegacycles" [say it fast, and like 'icicles'] just to throw people off.

 

[JeffS7444]

My little homage to relics, mostly photographic equipment.

 

[mhardy6647]

My little homage to relics, mostly photographic equipment.
View attachment 494971

Don't get me started...

 

[rdenney]

Don't get me started...

Yeah, me, neither. Plus, it's not engineering or scientific equipment, which I think is apparatus used for engineering or scientific purposes. It's just like my tubas, the apparatus of art.

Rick "going back to the still-functional Rolleiflex from 1953" Denney

 

[xanalog]

My little homage to relics, mostly photographic equipment.

You could be DQ'd for posting those cameras... unless -of course- you are a professional photographer!

 

[xanalog]

Tried to use the dang thing ONCE and the battery was NFG!
Cussed it out (NY style) and went back to my oldie Mitutoyo vernier caliper.

 

[respice finem]

View attachment 495137
Tried to use the dang thing ONCE and the battery was NFG!
Cussed it out (NY style) and went back to my oldie Mitutoyo vernier caliper.

Exactly.

 

[xanalog]

The old-man, being a dyed-in-wool gear-head, would not speak anything but Starrett.
Then, the Japanese invasion of late '60s opened the gates of competition.
I could not afford Starrett prices, when I worked as a machinist (paying college).
More he bad-mouthed Mitutoyo; the more of their measuring devices I bought.... just because.

 

[mhardy6647]

Got a couple of Starrett squares here of fairly substantial vintage.

 

[Doodski]

I was in manufacturing building oil and gas industry heavy wheeled and tracked machinery and huge humongous drills. I did all the electrical and electronics assembly stuff and that included all the metal working required. I was using and buying many metal working tools and found some interesting stuff. Using cobalt drill bits saved huge time and money because I was working with several grades of hardened steel stock and stainless steel too. Starrett was too expensive but... but I did find Starrett 25 foot tape measures that cost a very reasonable amount and so I bought them in quantity of 6 at a time. I gave them to my workmates as gifts because some workmates where very very helpful when I was getting started before I had a comprehensive rolling toolbox and they opened theirs and gave me free access until I could get my own. I gave them Starrett tape measures, Xcelite wire cutters of 2 sizes, a handy stainless steel depth gauge ruler vernier measuring pocket size tool and hemostats. They absolutely had glossy lit up eyeballs when I placed Starrett tape measures onto their palms. Totally surprised and where very impressed and appreciative. Starrett has such good brand recognition.

 

[Audionaut]

Here the original Wankel rotary engine Car Ro80 which I owned around 1975.

Two automotive legends in one photo: Citroën DS and NSU RO80
The RO80 was decades ahead of its time—unfortunately, it was also ahead of its customers' tastes. The drag coefficient was an incredible 0.355 for that time.

It also suffered from many teething problems with the Wankel engine. An ingenious engine concept, but not yet fully developed in the 1960s.

My father drove one of the first models delivered at the time. I loved it, but my father hated it after several visits to the repair shop. NSU took it back – my father switched back to Mercedes Benz.

 

[rdenney]

The old-man, being a dyed-in-wool gear-head, would not speak anything but Starrett.
Then, the Japanese invasion of late '60s opened the gates of competition.
I could not afford Starrett prices, when I worked as a machinist (paying college).
More he bad-mouthed Mitutoyo; the more of their measuring devices I bought.... just because.

Mitutoyo is well-respected even by old machinists these days, especially when the competition is Amazon junk. And so is Starrett. But a lot of my stuff is old Brown & Sharpe (their dial test indicators are Swiss and excellent) and Lufkin (whose micrometers of old took second seat to no one). Old machinist respect those brands as well.

But Mitutoyo is a risky brand to buy, because they are very frequently counterfeited. I have a metric vernier caliper that turned out to be a clear fake. Amazon refunded the money and told me to destroy it (which I did—that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). That one was calibrated by whacking one blade with a hammer—the yield points were obvious. Side-by-side with a real Mitu caliper was enlightening.

I have a number of dial indicators from both Starrett and Mitutoyo, and they are all excellent.

Rick “prefers Starrett over all others for things like precision squares, machinist precision levels, and adjustable squares like planer gauges” Denney

 

[somebodyelse]

The RO80 was decades ahead of its time—unfortunately, it was also ahead of its customers' tastes. The drag coefficient was an incredible 0.355 for that time.

If you think that drag coefficient was incredible for 1967 you should check out the Lotus Type 14 - 0.29 in 1957

 

[Audionaut]

If you think that drag coefficient was incredible for 1967 you should check out the Lotus Type 14 - 0.29 in 1957

Apart from sports cars, coupés, and experimental vehicles, the RO 80 was quite unique in my opinion as a four-door car in which you could sit upright.

Otherwise, there were of course earlier sports car designs that achieved a drag coefficient of less than 0.3

In the field of production vehicles, the Rumpler Tropfenwagen, a German automobile produced between 1921 and 1925, achieved a drag coefficient of 0.28

In the field of experimental vehicles, the Schlörwagen achieved a drag coefficient of 0.15 in 1938

 

[respice finem]

7 seats, in a <4,5 m car, wow. But probably too expensive, 1937...

 

[xanalog]

...I have a number of dial indicators from both Starrett and Mitutoyo, and they are all excellent.
Rick “prefers Starrett over all others for things like precision squares, machinist precision levels, and adjustable squares like planer gauges” Denney

If no photos, it didn't happen!
Went back many pages to refresh my mind... but I don't see any photos of your cache of 'obsolete science/engineering accoutrements', as proof.

...But a lot of my stuff is old Brown & Sharpe (their dial test indicators are Swiss and excellent) and Lufkin (whose micrometers of old took second seat to no one). Old machinist respect those brands as well.

I must not qualify as 'old machinist' , as I am not familiar with Brown & Sharpe [pix pls].

The only Lufkin (made in USA) remaining in my inventory is this one:

(circa 1970s)

 

[somebodyelse]

Otherwise, there were of course earlier sports car designs that achieved a drag coefficient of less than 0.3

I suspected as much - the Lotus was the only one I remembered having seen a figure for.

 

[xanalog]

We've forgotten one of the most critical scientific engineering instruments... everrrrrr!

Even the older Porsches (356?) were probably designed on a drafting table... though, probably not using the 'mechanical pencils' just yet!

Perhaps uze 'awl did not need to use them because you did not make any mistakes!
pffffft!