Against my better judgment I purchased this at an auction anyone have any idea what it is Fowler Angst

Im a logger, but I buy and sell tools on the side. So I was on an online auction and this thing came up for bid. Im a sucker for anything in a wood box so I ended up purchasing it. Its a Fowler Angst 8511. Ive searched the interwebs high and low and couldn’t find anything Remotely like it. I also went through the Fowler online catalogs to no avail. The auction company called a “True Square” in their description, but when I search that all I come up with is machinist squares. Any help identifying this would be much appreciated.

Fowler isn't high end stuff. but ok. probably worth like $50-100 to the right guy.

TimberKing said:

Im a logger, but I buy and sell tools on the side. So I was on an online auction and this thing came up for bid. Im a sucker for anything in a wood box so I ended up purchasing it. Its a Fowler Angst 8511. Ive searched the interwebs high and low and couldn’t find anything Remotely like it. I also went through the Fowler online catalogs to no avail. The auction company called a “True Square” in their description, but when I search that all I come up with is machinist squares. Any help identifying this would be much appreciated.

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It looks like a square, probably true in form.

I can't say for certain what it's intended design purpose was... but it looks like a device that would be used to check the squareness of another object using a dial test indicator.

You'd set that "true square" on a granite surface plate and hold a test indicator in the black, up/down slidey bit.

Next, set your part to be checked on the same granite plate; touch off with the indicator and move the slide up and down on your "true square" in order to measure how square your part is.

If someone more knowledgeable than me could confirm my educated guess, I might be interested in buying if you're selling.

Pretty cool, some of Fowler's stuff was made in Germany and of high quality.
I have never seen that but would price it $100 or more.
*How tall is it? You might ask for offers hereon PM.

likely the bar is a decent straight edge.
What does the bottom look like..3 point?

*What is your location? A thread on logging and logging prices would be welcome here.

Interesting ,everything I have seen from Fowler in there height gauges have had a base that is pretty much flush with the riser on the measurement tool side.
As the measurement tool holder is pretty far offset from the riser the round base may not interfere with that. May have been made for a special application, I have some weird measurement tools made by Starrett and Mitutoyo for a particular machine. At any rate if the measurement part of the tool did not come with the deal then you got height gauge tower that maybe could be retrofit to another or cool yard art.

Im from northern Vermont so we don’t have too much industry here. Our State seems to disincentivize it. I actually purchased this from an Auction at Dresser Rand in Olean NY. It was once a division of Ingersoll Rand. Now a division of Siemens. Siemens laid off 350 workers and downsized its energy holdings as part of this “Green New Speel”. They auctioned off quite a bit of their older Precision instruments. All inch of course. I ended up with quite a few nice pieces. This measures 26 inches high and looks to have been precision ground. I think you are correct in how it is used. I hadn‘t thought of that. My experience with precision measurement ends with checking tolerances with mic’s and bore gauges while rebuilding John Deere and Cummins Engines. As for selling I do sell quite a bit on Ebay and I have a pretty good collection of my own going as well. I might be interested in selling it but Im not sure Actually my first machine followed me home from my last Auction adventure. A KO Lee B9060 Tool Cutter Grinder. Wasn’t the wife impressed…. No shop to put it in yet its in storage for now. As for logging we cut a lot of hardwood up here. Of course Hard Maple is king bringing really good money. We run older cable skidders and cut with Chainsaws. Most of the Industry has gone mechanical. I guess Im just resistant to change. But cutting by hand means I cut much better timber because a processor or feller buncher can’t cut the big timber without messing up the butt log some of which are worth upwards of $800 for Hard Maple. Anyway Im Rambling Thanks for the help and if you have ever seen one of these in use Id love to hear from you. I have another instrument, in a wood box of course, that I can‘t ID its made by Standard Gauge. Maybe I take some pictures and post it tomorrow.

A KO Lee B9060 Tool Cutter Grinder can sharpen chain saw chains. I used to sharpen saw chains by hand so to just take away the wear land. They lasted longer that way and was as fast as Tc grinding..But it was dangerous doing that method, likely someone not paying attention would get hurt. Wow, $800 for the bottom log. What diameter would it need to be for that mone?

Would you mind sharing where we could find your stuff on eBay? Or maybe pm it to me?

I'm always looking for interesting tooling. I don't buy a lot but always looking lol.

My ebay store is chrisp640 you will probably have to search for brands like Moore and Wright, Starrett, Dumore Mahr etc. I sell alot of truck parts tools and industrial surplus as well and that stuff kind of clutters up my store for browsing. I should put stuff in categories to make it easier to find. Looking is fun I usually do a lot of looking when Im doing research I’ll spend a half an hour looking through someones store when I should be listing. I bought a Do-All Band saw tension gauge the other day on ebay because it was in a wood box, but the indicator seems to be stuck….

michiganbuck said:

A KO Lee B9060 Tool Cutter Grinder can sharpen chain saw chains. I used to sharpen saw chains by hand so to just take away the wear land. They lasted longer that way and was as fast as Tc grinding..But it was dangerous doing that method, likely someone not paying attention would get hurt. Wow, $800 for the bottom log. What diameter would it need to be for that mone?

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michiganbuck said:

For hard maple it would have to be at least 18” diameter inside the bark on the small end. Its more about the quality of the log than the diameter. Log is perfectly straight. Heart would have to be 1/4 the diameter or less and perfectly center of the log. No defects on the outside of the log at all. Logs cut to lengths of 8’9”, 9’6“, or 10’6”. This log would be Slicer Veneer. Then you have your Rotary Veneer which is a little more forgiving on quality but doesn’t pay as well. Then there is saw logs where you could get from $200 per log down to $5 depending on the quality of the log. All your money is made on the landing when you buck the logs. Someone who doesn’t know what they are doing could turn a $800 log into a $100 log or worse

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TimberKing said:

Im from northern Vermont so we don’t have too much industry here. Our State seems to disincentivize it.

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Like Newport “northern VT” or Barre “northern VT”? I’m in Marshfield. Not quite uninhabited, but close to it in comparison to any other state.

thunderskunk said:

Like Newport “northern VT” or Barre “northern VT”? I’m in Marshfield. Not quite uninhabited, but close to it in comparison to any other state.

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Montgomery Vt. We get a lot of tourists but we don’t have too many year around residents. A lot of skiers in the winter because of jay peak.

TimberKing said:

Montgomery Vt. We get a lot of tourists but we don’t have too many year around residents. A lot of skiers in the winter because of jay peak.

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Yikes, yea that’s northern. Closest I’ve ever worked was the Harvest Equipment in Newport, and even then it was just backfill for a bit. There ain’t much up there, less so than down here.

Freedommachine said:

It looks like a square, probably true in form.

I can't say for certain what it's intended design purpose was... but it looks like a device that would be used to check the squareness of another object using a dial test indicator.

You'd set that "true square" on a granite surface plate and hold a test indicator in the black, up/down slidey bit.

Next, set your part to be checked on the same granite plate; touch off with the indicator and move the slide up and down on your "true square" in order to measure how square your part is.

If someone more knowledgeable than me could confirm my educated guess, I might be interested in buying if you're selling.

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I've never seen/used one, but I think you're right. On my list of projects, I'm building a tool like you describe. It's good to know its been done before! Mine I want to make with a large cast leg square as the beam/base to use inspecting machines, though it could work on the granite too.

Don Roberts sent me some pictures of some of his tools several years ago and they've been interesting and educational.
In this picture, a little left of center and to the back, is a tool apparently made to scan a vertical surface with an indicator, using the base casting as a squareness reference. The ladder-like casting to the left is also a nice piece and way lighter than a cylindrical square of the same height.

TimberKing said:

Im a logger, but I buy and sell tools on the side. So I was on an online auction and this thing came up for bid. Im a sucker for anything in a wood box so I ended up purchasing it. Its a Fowler Angst 8511. Ive searched the interwebs high and low and couldn’t find anything Remotely like it. I also went through the Fowler online catalogs to no avail. The auction company called a “True Square” in their description, but when I search that all I come up with is machinist squares. Any help identifying this would be much appreciated.

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Hi
I work for Fowler. I just sent you a reply with some info regarding your Angst True Square.

Dahoud62 said:

Hi
I work for Fowler. I just sent you a reply with some info regarding your Angst True Square.

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How about sharing it here??

Hello,
I saw your post regarding the Angst True Square. I could not reply to the original forum thread. ???
I have worked for Fowler since 1984.
This is a fine example of Swiss workmanship, hand made by Max Angst.
They have been discontinued for quite some time and Max has passed. The list price depending on which model you have was between $2400 and $2900. You got a good deal.
Super accurate. We still have a couple in our Calibration Lab and they have held their accuracy over the years.
I tried to include some catalog info but the file is too large. Contact me at [email protected] if you'd like me to send it along.
Each one took close to 1 year to make. Grinding of the main beam, scraping of the feet then seasoned. Grinding and scraping, then seasoned again. Very stable.
If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer (from what I can remember)
Take care
Dave

I still can't post catalog info. My images are too large
Depending on the model:
Straightness accuracy is either 0.00002" or 0.00004"
Squareness is either .2 seconds (.00004") or .3 seconds (.00006") (I believe my calculations are correct)
Either one, you got a good square. I've used these MANY times for checking and adjusting squareness of Trimos height gages (also Swiss).
Yes, you can mount a test indicator to the carriage using an 8mm (5/16") dovetail stem. Set zero at the top of your part and slowly back off the carriage lock screw until it slowly travels down the beam. You can also mount an indicator in your height gage and run it up or down the beam.
Flip it over. If the scraping marks on the 3 pads are clearly visible then that means it hasn't seen much use (movement) on a surface plate. Even better

Dahoud62 said:

I still can't post catalog info. My images are too large
Depending on the model:
Straightness accuracy is either 0.00002" or 0.00004"
Squareness is either .2 seconds (.00004") or .3 seconds (.00006") (I believe my calculations are correct)
Either one, you got a good square. I've used these MANY times for checking and adjusting squareness of Trimos height gages (also Swiss).
Yes, you can mount a test indicator to the carriage using an 8mm (5/16") dovetail stem. Set zero at the top of your part and slowly back off the carriage lock screw until it slowly travels down the beam. You can also mount an indicator in your height gage and run it up or down the beam.
Flip it over. If the scraping marks on the 3 pads are clearly visible then that means it hasn't seen much use (movement) on a surface plate. Even better

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Thanks for adding that info. Hope you stick around and add some more good stuff like that.