New Ventures

I am pleased to announce that the Galbert Caliper is now available. After years of development and trial, I have a tool that I am proud to offer. The caliper is simple. It does for round things what a tape measure does for linear. Instead of setting a old style caliper, the user simply presses the Galbert Caliper against the back of the spinning work piece and reads the actual size, and then proceeds to cut, and stops when the desired size is achieved. You can make one cut or one hundred with resetting any tools!




The price of the tool is $79.50. My decision to market the tool myself is an attempt to keep production of the tool in the United States and make sure that the cost of the tool is a reflection of it's value, and not how many times it's traded hands before reaching the buyer.

I have used this tool, in cruder versions, in my own shop for years. It was born of the frustration of setting and resetting multiple tools, occasionally grabbing the wrong one and getting less than ideal results because of the flexibility of the old style calipers. I used to loathe the first few minutes of my turning sessions because they were all about the calipers. Thanks to the insistance of my students, who have cornered the market on the first ones produced, I decided to develop the tool into a product.



Here is the position of the tool in use. It is held against the back of the spinning piece. The scale is on the portion of the tool that faces the user (see below). The tool is designed to measure rounds from 2 1/2 inches down to 1/2 inch. I found this to be a good range for measurements in decorative spindle turning.



The new web site for the Galbert Caliper will be ready in a few days and will be a fully functioning commerce site. The new site (and this blog) will all be reachable at my web site www.petergalbertchairmaker.com.

This is of course a new type of venture for me. I'd like to thank all of the friends, professional turners and students who've helped me along the way. My biggest thanks is of course to my wife whose belief in my ideas has always enabled me to pursue them. I look forward to hearing feedback on the Galbert Caliper, and I hope it is as useful to the buyers as it is to me.

I will be creating some videos and instructions for use this week. To keep things interesting for the reader, they will be a part of a larger focus on turning that I have planned to coincide with the introduction of the tool.