Mitutoyo micrometer.

[th62]

I'm not normally a lucky fella, but this morning I went to the markets south of Adelaide and found this old Mitutoyo 1 - 2" micrometer. Had no idea what it was worth and don't have any imperial metrology; so, I bought it anyway for $10. Researched it this afternoon and found the cheapest I could get a new one for was $86 (+postage) from the UK - happy with that.

Stripped it down, cleaned the rust of the barrel, plunger and lock lever with scotch bright and it came up nicely. Oiled everything, put it back together, zeroed it and checked it for accuracy - spot on. Unfortunately, the coating on the lock lever is a little thin in places and the plunger is a little pitted, other than that it's good nick.

Some before and after pics:

 

[Rbeckett]

Good find!!! Flea markets are great sources of tooling and all kinds of misc. junk I just have to have. Momma doesn't allow me to go flea marketing alone anymore and keeps them purse strings tight when she takes me to one. Cuts down on more junk and saves money...

Bob

 

[chuckorlando]

Our market sucks. Just a bunch of new china hand tools that I can get any place.

Nice find. Hard to beat some Mitts. And with Mics, long as the anvil is good they are easy to adjust back to proper

 

[Ebel440]

That's a nice find our local one has grown a lot bigger in the last year but now seems to have more household stuff and stuff I have no interest in. The prices also seem to have risen as the real junk sellers have stopped coming. I do find some nice machining stuff but it's rare and the sellers usually have no idea what it is so they think it's rare and must be expensive. But It is one of the cheapest ways to get good files, pliers and stuff like that all made in USA and properly hardened. To buy a comparable tool New would be expensive and usually difficult to find. I find files almost every time that are almost unused Nicholson. I have bought a set of 20 needle files New in a still sealed box from the 60s for 12$ which is what a new cheap set will cost .

 

[Hawkeye]

I got the same 1"-2", along with the 0-1" and a whole box of various instruments, calipers, taps and endmills at a yard sale across the road from my house this summer. Ya gotta love it!

Only way I'd ever get any Mits.

 

[th62]

I go to the markets fairly often, believe it or not, this is the first micrometer I have ever come across. There are a few old woodworking tool sellers at our markets, but from the prices they want, they seem to think all their old tools are made from precious metals with diamond insets.