I recently bought, what I thought was a vintage Brown & Sharpe Protractor, but now that I have it in my hand, I do not see any marking or makers stamp but every other picture of a Brown and Sharpe protractor that I can find looks close but there are always a couple of differences. Looking at others this looks more like a Lufkin protractor can anyone help me identify it? I've never owned one and I don't want to start the eBay refund process unless I'm correct that the seller lied.
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Help with identifing protractor
- Thread starter maddthom
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I have a couple B&S protractors I bought new in the 1980's. Neither have any markings on the body. The only markings are on the ruler section. Mine might be lower end in that I bought them when I started a job in a machine shop. I know they are genuine because I bought them in person from a reputable engineering supply company, and they came sealed in the original containers.
Thanks, many hours after I posted this I found another like this on ebay, exactly like it, it is a cheap Chinese protractor, here is a link to the copy I found
Unbranded Plum Level Head | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Unbranded Plum Level Head at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
I have never owned a Brown and Sharp before, but going by the pictures if it was a vintage B&S the level would be on the same side as the numbers for the angle, the protractors you own are the like this one, level on one side, angle number on the other? or am I right about B&S having the level and angle numbers on the same side? I could be wrong but regardless I have contacted the seller, told them I want to return it and have bought a second protractor that is marked B&S. The person I bought it from is a professional ebay reseller, I don't think they were trying to deceive a buyer or has any experience with machinist tools, they thought it looked similar and listed it as a B&S.
I believe that the B&S's new stuff does have the level and numbers on opposite sides.
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The B&S protractors that I have, have a knurled stem on the screw part that engages the slot in the rule, used to help position and align the screw when trying to engage the rule slot.
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Here are some photos of the B&S protractor I bought in ~1970. Note several things - level vial mount is part of the casting, not a separate part screwed on ... shape of knobs ... font of graduations. You can compare them with yours and look for similarities/differences. As @benmychree pointed out, the fastening screw on yours is missing the knurled stem. The thumb nut also looks a LOT different on yours.
Yea, there are a lot of little diffeneces between a real B&S and this one like the casting being almost but not quite the same or the 0 degree markings being in the wrong place....BUT
the Seller sent me a reply telling me to look in this place for the makers mark, they were not rude, just look here. I sent her pictures of hers and of the a real B&S so she could compare them herself. Her response was, I'm sorry I've issued a complete refund and you don't have to send that one back to me. She was a great ebay seller to deal with, but thank you for taking these pics, and I have a real B&S protractor on its way to complete my vintage B&S combo square.
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As noted by others, B&S combination square components are not marked with their name or logo, except for the rules themselves.
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