I am a bit of a bookbinding and letterpress nerd. I have searched a year or so for an affordable antique type high gauge for my printing press. There have been a few on e-Bay that I have bid on, but they go for pretty crazy money and I inevitably get outbid. I happened upon an online seller that didn’t know what exactly the little hunk of metal was for and I snapped it right up for less than $20, including shipping. I was happy with the purchase, but when it arrived, I morphed into giddy with excitement. My gauge is perfect – Not a scratch or a ding on it. The printer that had it before me definitely used it, but used it lovingly and sparingly. I pulled out my set of Mitutoyo digital calipers and the jaws were exactly .9180 inches – within spec for Type High to the 10,000th of an inch. YES!!
In my Underground Lair I have a tool board that organizes my printing, reloading, electronics, and warranty voiding tools (link to the construction video below). The night after my gauge came in the mail, I spent a few minutes drawing and measuring it for a 3D printed tool board mount and then an hour designing it in Fusion360. I am an aerospace engineer at my day J-O-B, so I am fairly quick in 3D. I is gud enginerd…
After slicing, the print took over 4 hours, but that is because I had 4 layers all around and honeycomb infill – It is my own bee-related neurosis…. It could be done in a couple of hours and be a usable part – I went overboard. However, The gauge fit perfectly in the mount and now resides in its forever home on my tool board, next to the Mitutoyos, in my Lair.
I posted the design for the mount on Thingiverse if you want one. If you don’t have printer and can’t live without one, drop me a DM and I will work something out for you.
Thingiverse link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:405…
Toolboard Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Pk9…