Threading via Machinist Handbook (measuring)

Mine is 30th edition...Ironically, I want an old version print version.
I am looking at the Shars thread micrometer, it does cover about anything I might need. Feel like that's taking the easy way out, but not much wrong about that i suppose. THOUGH that have the manual version and the digital version..going digital as it is a MUCH easier and faster way to go as well. Here's too lazy! HAZAA!
 
I love the old versions of the handbook, but thread standards have evolved a lot since before the first world war. I would only use a thread chart published some time after WWII. Preferrably since the 70's (That is still over 40 years old)
 
There are hundreds for sale on Ebay. Every vintage from the early 1900's to the latest new edition. Search for "Machinery's Handbook" and take your pick.

I don't have anything that is digital. The batteries go dead so quickly that you need to keep a supply of spare batteries on hand. No thanks.
 
GunsOfNavarone said:
Mine is 30th edition...Ironically, I want an old version print version.
I am looking at the Shars thread micrometer, it does cover about anything I might need. Feel like that's taking the easy way out, but not much wrong about that i suppose. THOUGH that have the manual version and the digital version..going digital as it is a MUCH easier and faster way to go as well. Here's too lazy! HAZAA!
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I used a Fowler analog thread mic for about a decade and I think it was Chinese; it went back to its owner after I bought my Tesa mics. Before I sent it back to my friend, I checked the Tesa's against that Fowler and there was essentially no difference in the readings. The differences were in the quality of the mic and anvils but in terms of accuracy, I saw none. This is why I suggest the import thread mics like Shars. You won't use it that often but when you do, you'll be glad you have it.
 
Interesting, I honestly wouldn't have thought that thread standards have changed. I'm thinking, carbide tools, CNC and speeds/feeds I would still love a 1957 or '59 version, just because I love that time period. Not that I lived it, but wish I dd.
 
@mikey I'm a fan of Shars and Accusize if I'm honest. I'll probably go that route, just have to decide, easy (digital) or work for it (manual...err analog? You know what I mean.)
 
Either will work but you have to keep spare batteries on hand if you go digital. The nice thing about modern thread mics is that they read in tenths, unlike the older analog ones that read in thousandths and you have to interpolate. For those of us who have been using mics for a very long time, interpolating within a tenth is no big thing but a direct reading is more accurate. If I was starting out today, I would buy a Shars 0-1" thread mic and only buy larger when I really needed it. And given my aging eyes, I might just go digital.
 
mickri said:
Because I do everything manually I specifically wanted an older version of the Machinery Handbook. Those guys were just as smart as today's machinists. They just didn't have all of the newfangled equipment. I have do things like they did. My copy is a pdf. I would like to have a hardcover because I could keep it out in the shop rather than having to go back and forth to look something up on the computer.
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mickri said:
Because I do everything manually I specifically wanted an older version of the Machinery Handbook. Those guys were just as smart as today's machinists.
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There is a lot of good stuff in those old books. Fred Colvin has the "Kinks" series (e.g. Screw Machine Kinks, 1923) and the American Machinist's Handbook, Starrett has their Machinist's Apprentice book, Suverkrop has The American Machinist's Shop Notebook, and there's a ton on forgottenbooks.

Back on-topic, does anyone know of a better way to identify thread form than using a magnifying glass and eyeballing it? I have a threaded rod on an old Stanley 55 plane that a thread gauge (not wires or micrometer, admittedly) showed to be 28 TPI, but a 1/2-28 TPI nut binds on the second turn. At that TPI, all fastener thread forms kinda look the same.
 
Depending on how old the plane is it might be an old style "V" thread. I am just guessing.
 
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