What part is this thing missing?

[Jim Koepke]

Just a note, mine was checked just now. The logo is from the 1907-1910 time. It has a 1/4-20 thread. The nut is no more than 1/8" thick.

jtk

[Bill Houghton]

It's a subtly-deformed-threads thin nut, that will hold its position when you tighten it. The good news is that, once you find something that will work, you've got by far the best design of Stanley lever-locking bevel. The nut allows you to fine-tune exactly where the lever will lock in place; ideally, this locking will occur when the lever is fully inside the width of the stock (handle part) of the bevel. The later Stanley bevels, with the six-sided carriage bolt, allow you to get close, but not necessarily exactly on.

Where to get a nut? If it is 1/4" -20 or -28, your hardware store might have a deformed-thread locking nut. Try one of those, if you can find one (and if the thread pitch is one of the standard pitches). It's likely to be thicker than it needs to be, but might work anyhow. If that doesn't work, write Pete Niederberger (pniederber@aol.com); he's got an amazing array of parts.

[Joe Bailey]

Jim, Bill - Thanks for the help

[george wilson]

Crazy thread form looks much like a Whitworth thread(British). It seems very close to 20 threads,though it seems like it deviates where your picture is in the shadows. If it is the correct diameter,certainly it is close enough for a 1/4-20 thd. nut to work.

Do you have an electric drill at least? You could chuck a threaded stud in the drill,and screw on a brass nut,then run the nut against a coarse,then finer file. If all else fails,you could put a stud into a vise and HAND FILE the nut thinner,and give it as even a crown as possible. I'd have had(and did) do that years ago.

[John Coloccia]

You could also probably get a standard jam nut, stick it in a vice and squash it slightly. That's about how "nut plates" on aircraft are made. That's the only threaded fastener I can think of that doesn't require an additional locking feature (nylon lock nut, safety wire, etc...).

[Jim Koepke]

The nut on my bevel gauges of this design often loosen. It is just another thing to fiddle with while setting up the gauge.

It has crossed my mind to drill and put a pin in it, but not bothersome enough to me to go forward with the alteration.

jtk

[Bill White]

After having seen the pics of the device, I withdraw my posted comment about having one like it.
Bill

[Karl Andersson]

Joe,
here is what's missing - the brass hex nut is 1/2 in flat to flat and is slightly domed in the center. The nut center is about 1/8" at its thickest and about 3/32 at the edge. The nut appears to have been pressed/ peened with a 1/4 inch circular punch to get it to deform into the flats of the threaded bolt a little bit. Mine has the same logo as yours (fairly pitted though, couldn't get a good photo). Mine is a 6-inch bevel square.
Let me know if you need more photos or info
Karl
square1.JPGsquare3.JPGsquare4.JPG

[Joe Bailey]

Thanks Karl -- that's what I really wanted all along -- an actual photo of what was supposed to be there.

Believe it or not, I could not find one single image of this early model which showed the back side.

[Karl Andersson]

You're welcome Joe,
Not sure if you could use one off a donor square, as mine is pretty well distorted from being "pressed"- if you see in the last picture, the opening in the nut looks oval, and it actually is: it's about 1mm longer top to bottom than it is wide. Removing it from the bolt might gouge it up too bad to use. I can't unscrew either the lever or the nut - they turn about 1/4 turn and then there's too much resistance. Of course, mine was much rustier than yours to begin with -it might just be that the bolt is pitted badly and it affects the threads.

Good luck on your repair
Karl