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View Full Version : What the heck are these?!?



Dave Brandt
04-25-2005, 8:37 PM
OK, I know this is a woodworking forum, but I have these "tools" from my Grandfather's machine shop (it's all that's left of it). Not only don't I know what any (except the micrometers) of this is for, but even the stuff in the tiny box, which is labeled "Wriggler or Center Finder", has me baffled! I know someone here has probably even used some or all of these things. Just a simple (all I can understand) explanation wil do...maybe. :confused:

Harry Goodwin
04-25-2005, 8:52 PM
The last picture is a surface guage. Its used by machinists and patternmakers to score a level line aroiunde an irregular or regular object. I'll let some machinist to inform you of the others. Harry

Ron Jones near Indy
04-25-2005, 9:25 PM
The clamps in the photo with the mics go with the v-blocks in the following photo. Above the v-blocks is a machinists vise.

Bruce Page
04-25-2005, 11:44 PM
The top pic is a wiggler set, I have the Starrett version. The double ball ended rod (one of the balls fits into the holder at right) and is used to locate the precise edge of a work piece on a milling machine. The rod with the pointed end is chucked up in the milling machine to pick up a scribed line and is surprisingly accurate – you can get within a few thousandths of the scribed line just by eyeballing it. The dog legged rod is for attaching a test indicator to.
The last pic is a universal surface gauge and with a test indicator attached, is extremely useful around the shop.

Dave Brandt
04-26-2005, 7:49 AM
I knew I could count on you guys! Thanks for the explanations. One more question...what are the V-blocks used for?

Lee Schierer
04-26-2005, 8:38 AM
V-blocks are used to hold round pieces so you can machine them.

I don't think anyone mentioned the machinist's vice in photo #2.

Daniel Rabinovitz
04-26-2005, 11:08 AM
The wriggler
Let me expand on Bruce Pages explanation - correct me Bruce if I am missing something.
Every spindle has some runout (or out of roundness)
Hence when you put the wriggler in a spindle (rotating it with the motor) and the point is wobbling around in a circle.
You can put your (finger)(board) (pencil) next to and touching the point - to steady it. Thereby it isn't making a circle any longer but steady "as an arrow".
That point is now the exact point for lining up a point on your work piece.
How's that?
Daniel

Bruce Page
04-27-2005, 12:19 PM
The wriggler
Let me expand on Bruce Pages explanation - correct me Bruce if I am missing something.
Every spindle has some runout (or out of roundness)
Hence when you put the wriggler in a spindle (rotating it with the motor) and the point is wobbling around in a circle.
You can put your (finger)(board) (pencil) next to and touching the point - to steady it. Thereby it isn't making a circle any longer but steady "as an arrow".
That point is now the exact point for lining up a point on your work piece.
How's that?
Daniel
Daniel, you have it right. I usually run the spindle at ~ 1000 rpm and bring the point concentric with a pencil or 6” scale. (I used to use my fingers but after poking myself a few hundred times, I switched to the pencil method :o )