A Few from a Miniature Auction

[mikeswrenches]

Picked these up a couple weeks ago at an online auction. They were the cleanest items I’ve ever gotten.

The PH style screwdriver is 4 inches long and unmarked. Most of the ones I’ve had were marked Germany.

I’ve never seen a grease gun this small. It actually has a bit of grease in the coupler so it might even work.

The 1/4 in. drive torque wrench, that is graduated in inch-ounces, is a Sturtevant, one of the oldest names in beam type torque wrenches. A maximum reading of only 8 in. ozs.

The S wrench is a no. 74 Westcott that appears to have never been used. As far as I know, these are not very common. I’ve only seen one other in the wild and one or two in a MVWC auction.

The micrometer is called a "string micrometer" and is apparently used to measure the diameters of the strings on musical instruments once they have been installed. I originally thought it was called that because of the little boss on the top that has a small hole in it suitable for a string that you could then put around your neck.

I forgot to put in a little brass owner made surface gauge that is just 2 3/4 inches high.

The last one is an uncommon(to me anyway) Hjorth Lathe & Tool Co. surface gauge with a graduated micrometer on top for fine adjustments.

Mike

[Lewill2]

The No. 74 Westcott is sweet, they are hard to come by in that shape. The grease gun is interesting too. I can see why you went after them. I would have chased after them too.

[Yadda]

Every one a tiny treasure.

[lptools]

Hello, Mike. Those are amazing tools! Thanks for sharing!!  Regards, Lou

[mikeswrenches]

Here are two more from the miniatures auction.

The little Hollands is a rather uncommon salesman’s sample. Plating is pretty good yet especially for being at least 70 years old.  Jaws are 7/8 inches wide, oal about 1 1/2 inches.

The Wilton clone has 1 inch jaws and is fully functional as is the Hollands above. If you look closely at it, you can see the resemblance to the one in my avatar. I had no idea who made it, but in the process of searching for ‘miniature vises' I ran across Paul Hamler's website. While I was looking through his pictures, I spotted on his bench a vise just like this one. A call to him got me a name that gave me a hint of who made it and also he confirmed that the miniature in my avatar was a scaled down version of the one on his bench. 

I finally found the manufacturer of the vise in question after a bit more work. It is actually a casting kit made by Morrison & Marvin Engine Works in Benton City, WA. You get to do all the machining, which Paul said is more involved than he thought it would be. I put the link to M & M below. It’s worth looking at.

http://www.morrisonandmarvin.com/vise.php

Mike

[Lewill2]

I'm jealous.

[mikeswrenches]

Thanks Les, much appreciated! But you shouldn’t be too jealous, I’ve seen pictures of part of your collection.

Mike

[JoeCB]

Yes this thread is a little old, I just happen to run across it. The miniature Wilton vice from M&M is a thing of beauty when finished. The castings are beautiful made investment castings, the material high strength alloy steel. And, as was said, the machining is quite involved. I completed two of the vices for a customer several years ago. Part of the challenge is the tapped screw holes, for jaw plates and front plate... I recall they were very small, #1- 72 I think. I managed without breaking a single tap.
Joe B

[mikeswrenches]

Joe, I talked to Paul several times during the time he was making his miniature Wilton’s. He said the same thing. Drilling and tapping the holes for the jaw screws was the hardest part.

Mike