The Home Machinist!

I have always bought starrett mics but today some guy was selling a B&S mic ,like new, for 15 bucks. hoping for the best and thinking the worst i took it home and tried it out on some tooling buttons i knew to be ultra accurate. That thing was perfect every time. With magnifying lenses I could see no error down to the ten thousanths. Even my best Starrett wandered a few tenths off each time i tried it. And for some reason my fuller was off by two thousanths got to look at that one. You all were right Brown and Sharp makes some mighty nice tools.

My favorite mics are all B&S. I prefer the ones with the angled barrel markings.

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Russ
Master Floor Sweeper

What are "angled barrel markings"?

Can you give us a screen shot or point to a URL?

Steve

Each to his own I guess, because I don't like them.

Richard W.

I can see the advantage of the angles lines, although I don't own any of them. They make it harder to misread a turn of the thimble, a mistake I've made on rare occasion.

B&S need not apologize for their measuring instruments, nor their machine tools. They were a fine example of quality. I'd kill for a #1 B&S universal cylindrical grinder. Ran one for years and loved every moment.

Harold

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Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.

I don't have a pic handy, but you'll know it if you see it. The 0.010 graduations are marked at an angle to the thimble edge rather than horizontal. So it's very easy to see what graduation you are on with out having to "think about it" as carefully, which as Harold pointed out, means less chance of mistake.

Richard:
Just curious, what do you not like? I would guess the "feel", which I prefer to Starret personally, and find (so far) second only to Etalon which I also have in 1, 2 and 3" sizes. I don't really dislike the Starret mics, I just prefer the feel and ergos of my B&S. Just fits better, but can't really quantify in any objective way, so I suspect it may be much the same with you the other way, but was curious if it might be something more?

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Russ
Master Floor Sweeper

it had the angled markings and it was made in Rhode Island so i guess that means it was manufactured before 2002. I did notice that in the catalogs the new ones have got the straight lines like everyone else. Now that you mentioned Etalon Has anyone used the mic with the "I dont know like a double diameter section on the barrel. Appears to be an oversized verneer ring. and do they make them in inches. Or are only tesa made in inch measurements.

I have used the standard mic's so much that when I used a set with angle lines I misread them and scrapped a few parts. I like the feel of the B&S mic's, but when they screwed their machinist's a few decades ago I couldn't buy their stuff with a good conscience of what they did to fellow machinist's. I don't think I own anything B&S for that reason. I only own 2 Starrett micrometers, a depth mic and an inside mic. Most everything I own is Mitutoyo, except for some HF digital calipers and a set of 0-6" import mic's for home use. There are a lot of good tools out their, but i don't happen to put Starrett very high on the list. Mostly because of their feel and that carbide faces aren't standard on their micrometers. Also you pay extra for something other than a cardboard box. As for a depth mic the Starrett lock ring is so superior to the screw knob the other brands use like Mitutoyo. I have seen to many of them broken off, but never seen a Starrett lock ring broken in 41 years now. I bought a B&S dial caliper to shut up the owner giving me lectures about how B&S was superior to my Mitutoyo 8" digital calipers. When I left the company I left them there, because I happen to think any dial or digital calipers with out a thumb roll is just plain garbage.

A friend of mine had all B&S mic's with the 3/8" diameter spindle because he liked them. They were indeed nice mic's, cost to much for me. I don't know if they still make them or not? I guess it doesn't matter since I won't be buying one anyway.

Richard W.

What I like about the B&S mics is the ratchet stop is the thimble rather than at the end of the thimble as in Starrett mics.

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Mr Ron, Almost as smart as the average bear.

The old Brown & Sharpe has long been gone from the world.

A huge conglomerate, Hexagon Metrology, bought the name only, as they did with several other well-known brands.

They make much of their stuff in Switzerland, other parts of Europe, and Asia, little in the USA.

It's all high quality, but alas, B&S is now only a name, there is no separate company.

B&S no longer has a separate booth at IMTS, they will be just a small part of the large Hexagon Metrology booth.

http://www.hexagonmetrology.net/

Oh man now you got me all bummed out about Brown and Sharp. Mine was old enough to be made in Rhode Island. It is getting to the point that the only way to buy anything made in the USA is to buy it used. OR to make it yourself. Man i need another Prozak now.

Sounds like we are almost completely aligned, with the exception of the angle markings. Oh, and I do like the old school B&S vernier calipers very well, better than all but the Starrett Master Calipers in fact, so not completely aligned I guess.

But I've seen and passed on some of the newer "made in [choose Asian country cheapest this month]" B&S stuff.. It's sad what the pillaging "never contributed anything of value in their worthless lives" MBA pirates have done to these companies. That includes Stanley, Jacobs, and so many others where they "leverage the brand" to charge premium prices for a name they bought stuck on reboxed Chinese or India import items. Like the MBA over our division makes more than my entire department budget, but always on our backs needing to cut back the budget of the people who produce patents and things that keep his division in the black, mostly because it gets him more bonuses.

But, my paying for old US or Swiss made tools doesn't put a nickle in their pocket, so I'm quite happy with what I have. I also agree on Starrett feel, but like you I have and like their non-rotating depth and bore mikes as they do seem to make the best there. And Mitu Digi calipers or none; except for HF in "risky" or questionable (or carved up) applications.

Thanks for clarifying...

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Russ
Master Floor Sweeper