Pinch Sticks..Home Made

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I have these two bars which I made long ago and called them inside gauges. Then I saw Dave's post officially calling them pinch sticks so I thought I'd post them. They are made from cherry with a steel strap around each end and with a 1/4- 20 nut brazed on one of the brackets for a lock into position with a thumb screw. I have been using them for years and never posted them, The small one has a range of 11 1/8" to 19 3/8" and the long one goes from 19 1/4" to 34 1/8" They are very helpful for measuring to fit anything that has to go inside another space.

Cheers, Jim ........................ Variety is the spice of life...............Learn something new every day

12 Comments

nice jim. ive always known them as pinch sticks ?

working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

Nicely done! Always like seeing shop made tools!

Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".

Good looking ones, Jim, whatever you want to call them!

May you have the day you deserve!

Nice set of pinch sticks.
Nice Jim. I don't think I have seen the hardware configuration you have here, but it certainly works. 

I didn't have a name for mine until The Schwartz, and Pop Wing called them pinch rods back in 2012 or so. Anyhow not a new idea, but a very good idea. 

My very first ones were 2, 1/4" dowel rods, with a sharpened end on each side, held with rubber bands wrapped around them with just enough pressure to hold them so I could measure inside cross diagonals. Using, or making some better hardware just improves them.

The Schwartz

Love the Mel Brooks and "Space Balls" reference!
Yeah, Chris probably would too. 

May the Schwartz be with you....
Thank you all for the nice comments. They are very useful..like no other way to get and exact measurement inside like that.

Cheers, Jim ........................ Variety is the spice of life...............Learn something new every day

Nice Jim.
I like the hardware - a little different than the others I've seen.
Thanks, Mike I make all kinds of stuff and these brackets were pretty simple. I have wood shop and and metal shop with 2 welders, a cut off wheel and an Oxy/ Acet. torch.

Cheers, Jim ........................ Variety is the spice of life...............Learn something new every day

Great engineering Jim......Regards......Cliff.