A bit of history

[earlgo]

A friend and I were on a road trip to Small Tools Inc. in Euclid, OH yesterday. While rummaging through the miscellaneous box of gage blocks to fill my home set, I discovered 5 of these gages. They are JO blocks from the Ford Motor Company made after Ford bought the Johansson company in 1923. These are the blocks that brought precision, repeatability and accuracy to the US manufacturing businesses. i have seen VanKeuren, Weber, and other gage blocks but never any original JO blocks so stamped.

FMC JO block

. My friend is going to make a shadow box and display these in his shop as a historical reminder.
--earlgo

[JackF]

What a great find.

Jack

[earlgo]

I forgot to add the picture of the other gage blocks.

JO blocks

--earlgo

[pete]

I have a copy of this book, https://www.amazon.com/Tool-gage-work-G ... B00085YI46 It's part of a series in the American Machinist Library of books and the only one I own. In it towards the back is a very good article about what must have been the very first set of C.E. Johansson gauge blocks in North America and there tests and speculations about what they might be used for. The book was first published around 1909. Since Johansson's patent was granted in 1901 then it's likely that first set of blocks got to North America around the mid to latter part of the 1900's first decade. But I'd say there speculations about there use were pretty much spot on for how most would be using them today. My book pre dates Fords acquisition of the C.E.J company so that part of there history isn't detailed. The world probably owes a great deal to Mr. Johanson and his gauge block invention. Afaik Ford only bought Johansson's gauge block division of the company since there were quite a few metrolgy instruments invented and produced later that only have C.E. Johansson on them such as his Mikrokator indicator. My Mahr produced but branded with the Mitutoyo logo Millimess indicator is I believe a copy of Johansson's Mikrokator for it's internals.

[SteveM]

I was at an estate sale, and the owner had a pretty complete set of actual jo blocks.

I could have bought them, but I helped him with the information he needed to sell them on ebay. Never heard back to see how much they went for, but it was pretty cool holding that piece of history in my hands.

Steve