Starrett 98-8 Frankenstein

[Razzle]

I purchased a starrett 98-8 on fleabay a while ago. I finally have a need to use it to level my lathe. Tried to calibrate it on my surface plate and could not get it to level correctly. At first I thought it was because I had the adjustment nuts installed incorrectly as they are all different thicknesses. But no combination worked. I figured maybe the vial was installed wrong or loose (there was solder holding it in place). But when I finally got it out I was surprised to find the vial was marked Stanley while the tube was marked Starrett. No markings at all on the base. So now I don't know if the base is Starrett and I just need a new vial or the base is Stanley and I am SOL. Pics attached. So opinions would be helpful.

 

[benmychree]

The base does not look like any of the Starrett levels that I have seen, but I've not seen a Stanley to be able to comment on that aspect.

 

[Razzle]

Did some eBay digging. The vial looks like the vial from a Stanley 36G. But the base looks nothing like a Stanley 34. The tube is definitely Starrett. But the base is still a mystery. Base is 1.305" wide x ~8.0625" long. Tall pad is 1.073 above the bottom. Short pad is .881 above. Mount screws are ~5.925 apart. The Starrett tube fits the screws well.

 

[Razzle]

Did some eBay digging. The vial looks like the vial from a Stanley 36G. But the base looks nothing like a Stanley 34. The tube is definitely Starrett. But the base is still a mystery. Base is 1.305" wide x ~8.0625" long. Tall pad is 1.073 above the bottom. Short pad is .881 above. Mount screws are ~5.925 apart. The Starrett tube fits the screws well.

So the base does look remarkably like some older 98-8s on eBay. Like this one. So maybe it is a starrett. Then I just need a vial and cross vial for it.

 

[Razzle]

OK, additional digging turns up that this may actually be a Starrett 97-8. Which used a bent vial and not a ground vial. Still trying to confirm that.

 

[Razzle]

So, after a lot of googling, eBay searches, and reading old posts it looks like the Starrett 97 and 98 levels used most of the same parts, but different vials. The base I have appears to be pre WW2. And the round adjustment nuts indicate it's older than that. I think I am going to order a vial for a 98. The cost is negligible and hopefully I will have a working Machinist level.