Handy Gauge Nobody Uses.

angore..Was that intended fo me or Hal...?

If it was for me, I was just trying to get across what was available to collectors before metal rulers came into existence..

Robert

OK. Got it. I thought you wanted to show a slide rule. I use a wooden ruler (with a metal edge) all the time.

For those who are giving information to another collector and if they both had the "Thirkell Gauge" they could relay the information of the flaw/error/oddity very precisely as shown below with a lob on my Newfoundland Scott 268 stamp between the loops of the letter "S" in cents...It would be identified as a lob in position F8.



Another use that a lot of collectors deal with is differences between different size stamp frame measurements..As shown below we can see at a glance that this stamp is exactly 11 width and 7 deep..It is so easy to look at a lot of stamps without dragging out the calipers, or computer screen measuring programs..You can tell at a glance whether all tamps are normal or oversized..Good trick.



Just something to think about.
Robert

Hi Mike -- I got it from the beginning and Robert...and Robert, I still have my triangle rule from 7th grade drafting class too -- I love it! I also remember being taught the metric system in the U.S. school system in the mid 60s, in the event of conversion to the Metric System.

I pulled an old slide rule out of a junk box in my stamp closet a few weeks ago to show it to my 14 year-old granddaughter. She just looked at it in amazement. She didn't even want to learn how it worked; and to quote her, "...that looks stupid Poppy!" I truly believe my son and granddaughter have missed alot growing up in the time of computers.

Hal, I know you knew that you got it. Have got to agree with what you said about grandkids. No one is taught the basics of living, cooking ,sewing, repairing, gardening, etc. and living without electricity and computers these days. Unless it moves on a screen or comes out of a box from a store, and food that you can stick in a micowave most people would not no how to survive.

No wonder tradespeople ask $100 or more an hour to fix something, because they can, and if its made in China, throw it away and buy another because it costs too much to repair. Again, no wonder the world is in such a mess with the constant disposal of manufactured junk for the purpose of making the almighty dollar. Getting off the soap box here now and back to the main thread.

Interesting stamp tools of the trade shown by several along with several methods of measurement and calculating. I will be buying one of the "position finders" myself as it is great for referencing as shown by Robert.

But would it not be even more accurate to state the lower right corner of position F8 for more clarity?

I'll agree to that!

I bought one and think it might be useful at times. The only drawbacks I find are the thickness of the grid lines on the position finder that often cross a mark I wish to reference completely hiding it. I would have thought they would use a finer line. Also wish the measuring scale was in 1/4 mm increments.

Agreed watermark..I think the good part of the gauge is still identify an area where re-entries - scratches - flaws can be useful giving locations to other collectors.

Robert

I still use the same tongs, perf gauge, watermark tray and other tools from way back in 1972 when I started collecting. Also have one of the magnifying glasses that are mounted on a heavy cast metal base too from that era. Stuff made now is not even close to being the same quality as what was made back then. The one positive about now is that there is so much information out there online for stamp collectors. Back then, the average collector had very limited resources. Had to rely on the library for Scott catalogs. And of course, the good old HE Harris catalog. Still have everyone I ever bought. Fun to look through.

My Drafting teacher would freak out to hear you call that a ruler. Its a drafting scale. He said the only ruler in our class was the picture of the Queen on the wall.

@ Train... did you notice that the last reply in this thread is almost 6 years old?

Train, good that you are reviving this tread. Nowadays, there are new electronic tools that are welcomed to our hobby. The 1st that come to mind is the improvement in scanning, and microscope type of instruments that are easy to use, 10x cheaper and bring precision to the "pixel" age. The latest one I acquired is a hand held micrscope, 50x magnification, and at the click of a button, takes a super hi-resolution pict store directly onn its 8 GBytes storing card (like a sim card). Quick connect to a computer and you get an enlarged image. IN next few days, I'll post a few examples of its capability.
Stay tuned

Gilles I'm looking forward to seing the images.
A few years ago I bought one of those digital microscopes and it was
garbage and that's where it went.

here is an example from a 1859 cover with Canada 12 1/2 stamp (#18) and using the TOMLOV handheld microscope, was easy to identify the plate position of the stamp (in this case, position 1) when compared to a reference proof sheet (from a scan). I am also adding a couple pictures of a Canada 15 (5c beaver) showing 2 plate flaws (double dots in C, and line touching frame in top right) which will help identify the actual plate position.

here it is, in action as I was taking a close up shot of Queen's head