Moore and Wright vintage protractor 994

Just bought a Moore and Wright vintage protractor 994, its in good condition and very accurate. However, the engraved scale and numbers are hard to read at times, and I would like to infill the engraved scale and numbers with black or dark blue.

I've tried various things - Sharpie, Dykem Blue, pencil, wax crayon, none of which has proved very successful.

Anyone here know about old tool restoration?

Thanks

Hi,

At work, we use Edding 8404 - 01 Aerospace Marking Pens, for part marking. Once dry, it seem to be unaffected by any solvent or chemical that we have on site and can only be removed by abrasion.

Might be worth a try.

Nick.

Hi Charles, the thing is, these engravings are so fine and very close together and I doubt you will be able to improve them, I usually use a loupe to read mine and the figures are just as fine also.

Regards Nick.

I've got one of these M&Ws too, and sometimes find similar difficulties reading it.

The Lidl electronic thing I have has comparable resolution but requires zeroing first on a true flat surface that isn't always to hand. It also eats batteries, even when supposedly switched off.

ArcEuro, and others on the Bay and elsewhere, are advertising vernier protractors that appear very nicely made with a 2' resolution:-

**LINK**

I think these are Chinese and look identical to each other, but are showing a truly astonishing variety of prices across the net. Looks like from about £22 to about £132 for what seems to be the same product!

Anybody got a qualified opinion of these as an alternative to the classic M&W ?

Edited By Mick B1 on 10/05/2021 11:16:31

Mick,

I wonder if there is a difference in battery drain between allowing the instrument to auto switch-off or actually pressing the off button manually? Mine is quite good on cell life but I usually turn it off - care needs to be exercised, as any movement turns it back on again.

Re the markings - selenium blacking agents might help (but abrading the unwanted colouration may not be too practicable?).

Edited By not done it yet on 10/05/2021 12:17:30

I think Nick Farr might be right about the fine graduations. I thumbed som almost-dried-up black Humbrol enamel from an old tin into the markings on mine. It looks quite readable on here:-

...but it doesn't help much with the naked eye. The numbers on the Vernier scale are very small.

A friend gave me this 994 about 20 years ago. It looks as if Bubba has been at the screws, but it wasn't me, or him. In any case it checks out as far as I'm able to do so.

That's interesting, Nick, because I bought two of these a year ago for their fine tip, and the ink from my two is highly delible on steel and brass in the presence of acetone, carb cleaner, lighter fuel, and even oil - so delible, in fact, that I've abandoned using them.

Is there some special limitation on their use that I'm missing perhaps?

Thanks for all the replies, far more than I was expecting!

I've ordered a black Edding 8404 on ebay (£3.99 delivered), will come in use even if not for this application. Just hope its genuine.

Regarding the Aldi protractor, I've got one of those but zeroing it on a surface plate doesn't work well because its not dimensionally accurate and there is a small angle between the blades (~0.2 deg.) when "flat". I usually use a 123 block to get a reasonable 90 degrees and work from there; that's if there's any battery left when I take it out, often there isn't.

I've got a fondness for old tools and getting them to work again which is why I'm taking the trouble. I've got ancient M&W, Starrett, Mitutoyo, Grey & Rushton, etc stuff, as well as up to date quality tools.

Charles