Mike at American Sycamore wrote:
I have had good luck at the Pawn Shops finding deals on Starrett.


Ditto what Mike said though I've taken the route of finding
them at garage/estate sales. Of course it never hurts that
we did once upon a time employ an inordinate amount of
machinists here in the upper midwest.

Also, eBay and don't stay stuck too long on Starrett when
there are also the Unions, the Lufkins, the Mitutoyos, the
PECs, the STIs, the Brown and Sharpes, and the Scherr
Tumicos.

UA100, who paid/pays around $10-$20 (1) average for a 12"
Starrett 3-piece combo...

(1) One does have to uncover a lot of garage/estate sales
to find a decent tool or two at great prices and whilst one
could/should/would factor in this time as it relates to the
cost of the purchase one could/should/would also offset this
factor/cost with the thrill of the hunt for it's own
entertainment value. I mean, what better way to kill a
Saturday than to hunt down tool and machine bargains?...