Well, since I started this thread, I am too embarrassed to admit the number of micrometers that I have bought that I knew when I bought them that I had absolutely no need for. A number of purchases have been for things that I could actually see putting to use, and several things I likely had little reason to ever expect to use. As I have admitted before, I have never been a professional machinist, but do get along fairly well for a guy that just dinks around in a home shop environment.
Today, I made another purchase that I should probably have passed on due to the small likelihood I will ever put it to use. I bought a Brown and Sharpe Universal Protractor head dirt cheap because it was missing both a case, and it's blades.
What few examples of correct blades I have found so far, cost far more than I could justify spending on the Protractor. I already knew when I bought the head finding replacement blades at a price I could justify would be unlikely and possibly a long wait if I waited to find them on Ebay.
I reasoned then, and now that I could find some stainless steel flat stock of appropriate dimensions and mill a groove in each and cut each end at 45 degrees like the originals to make the Protractor a functional tool.
On the off chance that any member here for some freak reason has B & S Protractor blade, or blades 6 & 12" they have no need for and would like to sell, please do contact me.
On the off chance any member feels inclined to make a set of replacement blades, for pay of course, please contact me to discuss that possibility as well. This is a job I do feel skilled enough to make myself given the limited capacity of my small mill. Sadly, as most here know, for the last few years my shop has been too cluttered to do much work in and it continues to be that way.
Certainly, this project can wait for me to do, but I thought there was no harm in sharing it with the group to see if I could make progress with it here.
