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Glen Johnson
10-07-2014, 6:04 PM
I picked up some gage blocks at a flea market. They don't seem to match up to either inches or metric measurements. Does anyone know what unit of measurement these are?

Bruce Page
10-07-2014, 7:47 PM
They are not gage blocks in the normal sense. They could have been custom made for any number of machine shop jigs. I suspect that they are custom made blocks for setting a particular angle on a sine plate. It's hard to say for sure what the intended use was.

Bruce Boone
10-07-2014, 8:47 PM
Yup, the dimensions of the blocks in inches is written on them. Things like that are often used in conjunction with a specific vise, like in a CNC machining center to set a part off a vise jaw a very specific amount so they don't have to guess where the zero point is. The one with the circles is interesting. Might those happen to be magnets?

Glen Johnson
10-08-2014, 10:56 AM
The circles are not magnetic and someone went to a lot of trouble to make these. I also bought a set of small blocks similar to what would find in a normal boxed set of gate blocks. They are steped down in irregular increments. They also do not match up with obvious inches or metric increments. Thanks for your comments.

Mel Fulks
10-08-2014, 11:25 AM
I once bought a folding 3 inch ivory rule that was longer than 3 inches. Sold it ,but I'm convinced it was Danish ,their inch
is a tad longer. I don't know why. No, it was not a pattern shrink rule. Just making the point that something of that sort,
That is slightly off from standard might be Danish.

Glen Johnson
10-08-2014, 6:20 PM
These are the smaller sizes. I also wrote the inch equivalent on them.

Dave Verstraete
10-11-2014, 8:30 PM
The one with the circles might be a magnetic parallel. It is not magnetic until placed on an electromagnet. Then it transfers the magnetism and is magnetic while the electromagnet ie turned on.

Not sure if I explained that very well