Posted by Clint Dixon [172.68.38.105] on Saturday, June 27, 2020 at 18:58:43 :
I spent over an hour this morning repairing and rewinding a spring in my Lufkin 16-foot tape measure. Okay, so maybe it was not all that fun. And, you may say I could go almost anywhere and buy a new Lufkin tape measure to replace the one in which the spring broke. There is more to the story.
I bought a new Lufkin 16 footer in late summer of 1977. I remember this because each student had to have a tape measure as one of the required tools before entering the Building Trades class in high school. In the summer of 1979 I broke the tape itself and replaced it with a new one. My boss showed me how to carefully remove the broken tape from the case and attach a new tape to the spring without everything flying apart. He even supplied the new tape refill. I was not real excited about that part because his replacement was a yellow color - not the white tape that my new Lufkin had come with two years before. I remember all of this because I worked for the roofing company for only one summer - that of 1979.
Fast forward to about 2015. I was in the habit of carrying my trusty old, vintage, worn, but proven Lufkin any time I thought I may need it. I carried it in a custom belt holster that I had made from a holster that was originally designed to carry a can of snuff. This was all good and well until one day I lost it while out plowing a corn field with our antique tractor club. Hey, one never knows when they may need a trusty Lufkin out in the middle of a corn field.
Needless to say I was not a happy camper as I hate all of those modern tape measures with their bright colors, modern graphics, and molded features that serve no purpose whatsoever other than maybe to impress some unlucky fellow who is unfortunate enough to own one of "last years" models. Well after several days of searching, I found a NOS Lufkin on-line, vintage 1970's, exactly like the one I had bought years before, right down to the chrome covered steel case.
Okay, neither one ever had a steel case. This was 1977 after all, not 1967 or 1957. The cases were actually a strong plastic with some kind of coating that looked like chrome. Nevertheless I was successful in finding an exact replacement for my trusty old friend. But, with a yellow tape instead of the old white version. Go figure.
So after a few years of carefully caring for my NOS replacement (and enjoying accurate readings that one can only expect from a fine vintage precision instrument of measurement) the old spring broke....
Today I was able to bend a new hook back into the spring where it locks into the slot in the center peg inside the case. It is amazing how easy those springs break while one is trying to bend the end "just right". But I proved to be more determined than the spring and now I have my vintage Lufkin back at my side, albeit, in a newer holster custom made by a leather smith to my specifications. It should be another 40 years before the leather in it too is worn paper thin.
It felt to good to win that I decided to work on the Power-Wagon the rest of the day. In fact, one of the first things I did was reach for a (THE) tape measure while under the truck. Like a loyal friend, it was right there just like it has been for years.
Junior
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