Incredible 7.5″ Iron Bench Level – Attributed to J.W. Harmon

These beautiful iron bench levels with curvaceous frame rails are thought to have been made by J.W. Harmon of Boston, MA (see pages 49-50 of American Levels and their Makers). I’ve only seen a handful of these over the years, and all of them have been slightly different from each other. Two I’ve come across looked to have originally been japanned black or painted dark green, while this example is machine finished and never had paint. (Remember, the machine finished Davis pocket levels were offered at 2 to 4 times the price of their japanned counterparts when new.) This example is in excellent original condition, and is the finest of the few I’ve seen.