Thicknes Gauge

[compound]

Hi

I recently acquired this tool. Next beautiful piece to my old tool collection. Was used in the tannery on the thick measurement of rawhide. Wet environments are much toll on his poor condition. I do not know who the manufacturer is, maybe someone knows the brand D.R.G.M. I guess it is brand from some german language coutry

I renovated the entire instrument and now serves well on measurements tanned leather even after all this time exactly

Martin

[TXAG]

That would be handy...wish I could find one of those to fix up...

[compound]

Thanks TXAG

...nobody know this brand?

Martin

[Black Dogg]

Greetings Martin,

first off great job on the restoration!! I love the old tools and if somone gives them a second life that's even better!

The letters DRGM are not the maker's brand or name but are initials that stand for "Deutsches Reichsgebrauchsmuster". This was used since the late 1800's to denote that the particular design of a tool or machine was registered in all of Germany; sort of like a patent. I'll copy a better explanation I found on the website porcelainmarksandmore.com below:

The acronym D.R.G.M. with or without punctuation stands for Deutsches Reichsgebrauchsmuster, meaning that the design or function of an item was officially registered inside all of the Germany states and not only locally registered as it was the case before the introduction of centralized registration. Note that many people quote this acronym as standing for Deutsches Reich Gebrauchsmuster, which is grammatically wrong and also ommits the letter 's' after Reich. This results in shifting the weight of pronounciation on 'Deutsches Reich' alone, but this acronym has nothing to do with the Third Reich as many sellers want to imply so to catch the attention of certain 'collectors'.

D.R.G.M. registration was introduced 1891 and if you are dating items you should hold in mind that even during Allied occupation up until 1949, registration procedures remained untouched and still used the D.R.G.M. registration documents, which of course explains why D.R.G.M. marks can be found on products actually manufactured up until 1952 as the registration itself was valid for three years. As from the end of October 1952, all registrations were definately marked with 'Deutsches Bundesgebrauchsmuster' (D.B.G.M.) or simply with 'Gebrauchsmuster' or 'Gebrauchsmusterschutz', see below.

As already noted, the D.R.G.M. registration offered a basic copyright protection for the duration of three years and included the right to indicate the item status by marking the registered items with the D.R.G.M. acronym. It was left to the registration owner to include the registration number as the D.R.G.M. marking alone was the element with legal character. The actual result of such a registration (the form of protection) was called Gebrauchsmusterschutz (see there for more info).

D.R.G.M. registered products were protected either for their way of intended use or design only and this did not include patent protection. Patent rights were secured by applying for a Deutsches Reichspatent (D.R.P.), so even if many people use the term 'D.R.G.M-Patent' it is factually wrong. Reason for this mix-up was that the D.R.G.M. registration in colloquial language was also known as 'kleines Reichspatent' which literally stands for 'small Imperial patent' but actually was meant as 'poor people's patent' and made fun of the fact that many manufacturers could not afford the fees needed to register a full patent. One should take into count that German patent registration fees (as was openly criticized during the year 1906) where two and a half times higher than in England - and 36 (!!!) times higher than in the US.

As to the maker of your gauge, you could probably try to contact some museums to see if they could help you find out more.

Hope this helps!

Black Dogg

[lranger]

I never saw a tool like that, but I made one out of wood and a dial indicator.

lranger

[compound]

Thanks for new infos.

I think, this tool isn´t oldest than 40-50 years of 20 century. Original dial glass was plastic

Tank you again

Martin

[Dwight]

Hey, Compound, . . . woo-hoo, . . . and thank you.

I've been using a dial caliper for any number of years, . . . and sometimes it is just a pain. Can't get over "there" where it looks like it is a bit thicker, . . . and won't find out until you cut it.

I've got a sneaking hunch that sometime this year, . . . me, . . . my welder, . . . some technical tools, . . . will all come together to make one of those. I have 3 or 4 dial indicators out in the shop, . . . one of them will take care of this job for sure. And when I do it, . . . I'll make a new face that reads out in oz's.

Thanks again, . . . and as has already been said, . . . thank you for giving new life to an old tool. I totally detest people who just toss stuff cause they don't know how to use it or it isn't "new" and fandangled enough for em.

May God bless,

Dwight

[impulse]

Dial thickness gauges are readily available from Hong Kong via eBay for around $10-$12 free shipping for the smaller ones which measure up to 20 mm. There are similar models to Martin's ( with the deeper throat) readily available still, but costing around $80-$100. Probably not as well made. It is very satisfying to restore an old tool - a great find Martin!..........Cheers, Lois

[florri]

WOW! That's a monster! Nice machine

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