Replace a vial and spring - Starrett 98-8 Machinist Level 

Love seeing the progress! Always nice to see someone progress with they're shop set ups and tooling acquisitions. Can't wait to see the lathe in action!

Great job . Another tool saved !

I really appreciate all of the extra miles you went. You did a fantastic job, and it made for a solid video which hopefully does well in views. I'm also grateful that you didn't have it held in your rebar cutter while you took a flap disc to the machined surface to "Smooth out the bottom a little."

Gday Eddie, excellent repair, glad it was you doing it and not me, I’d be shitting razor blades, great job mate, cheers

Experience replaces nothing but nothing replaces experience. There's a man who's fixed a few things in his life 8-)

Glad it went better for you than Keith Rucker. I just got the 98-18 yesterday, broken vial, for only $5 with the box. Soaking the base in warm water now to get rid of cement splatter of all things. Haven't taken the tube apart yet, but ends seem to be free enough on both ends to remove. Will soak that in water as well to remove internal plaster. And will be watching for those springs. Nice video and a new subscriber here.

Hi Ed, I have done a few of these and found it easier to remove whichever plug comes out first and put that end in very hot water. This dissolves the plaster and makes centering the new vial pretty easy. One spring is plenty as it’s only to give the cover tube some light drag when turning it. Calibration is easy but can be frustrating as the 98 style level is so sensitive😂😂😂. Great job and I enjoyed watching your work. Cheers Stuart 🇦🇺. Ps those ground vials are over $50AUD so I’m really careful.

Well, your video is very realistic lol. A few considerations that might help you in the future: - when making the spring you should’ve formed using a small ball pen punch, working on the middle of the metal piece you had, what would make it easier to form it and cut around to end up with the spring. - the springs are magnetized so they won’t fall when you take it apart, but it’s not a sure science - nowadays they use a thin sheet of Teflon around the tube to create the drag necessary, since those springs were a BEACH to try the repair and avoid losing them - Removing the caps, you did it right, but after you remove one side, you can insert an short aluminum rod that is a little smaller than the inside of the tube then you hit the rod on your bench or on the floor to push the other one out - when assembling it, you set the two ends, and align them the best you can, and usually, if you clean them up pretty good and oil them before inserting it, it will go in much easier by hand. You can even light sand it to remove any marks left from the removing process, and that will make wonders, just be careful not to go too far - if sanding and oiling up doesn’t work, you can carefully use a press to do it by inserting a cheap Phillips screwdriver in the cap hole that it isn’t concave and push it very very slowly. Avoid beating the metal tube as it may cause problems in the future - so you use a pair of parallel pliers and the Phillips screwdriver to adjust the ends to be aligned to the tube, also to each other I hope it helps! Thank you for your time putting the video together.

Great repair Ed. opened a few things in the past that had a ball bearing detent I was unaware of, and of course I lost the ball ! Del.

Hello Eddie, Nice work... I watched Keith's video, it was not one of his finest moments... Take care. Paul,,

Have to admit I have never repaired another Mans Tool.

Excellent fix Eddie 👍😁👍. Gonna have to read John's comments lol. Cheers!

I just replaced the vial in the same exact model Starrett. It only had one spring and I'm sure it had never been taken apart. It had quite a bit of resistance to rotating, so I think they left the second spring out on purpose.

Great job.

Excellent!!! Bob

Note for others watching this: One of mine only has provisions for a single spring, as manufactured. The vial markings were different from more modern ones too, with only one small graduation inside each large graduation (line). So, it’s possible that yours was only made with one spring, in spite of having two spring seats. I suspect that they used casting investment and not plaster. It’s much harder.

I'm just trying to buy one of the vials now. It's the 98mm x 15mm version. The level is a British J. Rabone one. But the same as the 18" Starrett one. I am struggling. I found one & then went to pay for it. A 1 month delivery & with all imports etc comes in at $84 US. £60 British. So not worth repairing unless i can find one cheaper. Nice video though. Exactly how i stripped mine down. Regards. Steve.

Actually, that's 100% extra springs

Thanks for the information. You sure are scared of John.

Boiling water and baking soda turns plaster to mush.

I don't work on another mans tool, and I refuse to let another man work on mine. Now, if a female of the species wants to work on my tool... well, I am open to discussions on the subject....