If you want accurate gauges, you are not likely to find antiques that
will still be accurate.  My favorite quality gauges that can have a
reasonably old look are those made by Wallace & Tiernan.  Everything
this company makes is of suburb quality.  You can find them on eBay,
occasionally.  If you buy them from companies that specialize in them,
be prepared to spend a fortune but they often go for a good price on
eBay especially in strange scales such as the ones we need for mechanical
instruments.  The W&T 5-inch gauges are quite attractive and look good
in any setting, by my aesthetic standards.

Another possibility if you want a really old look is to get some old
fan style meters.  These are the style that was used on old power
equipment in the early part of the last century.  Various companies
made them and they can be found on eBay again.  You should be able
to find a volt meter easily and can change scales and use a voltage
divider to get what you want.

These can also be used as pressure gauges by connecting a suitable
range meter to a strain gauge pressure sensor.  If you use a sensor
with linear output you can fiddle with a voltage divider to get the
scale right on the voltmeter and have a linear gauge scale on the
meter.  Once you get the range right, you can calibrate the meter
against a water gauge.  Another fun thing you can do with these meters
is make a tempo gauge by connecting one to a linear output tachometer.
It is easy to find little instrument motors that have built in
tachometers.

I have a precision gauge calibrator made by Wallace & Tiernan and
I use that to calibrate the gauges that I use.  If anyone has a gauge
that they want calibrated I can do it but generally it is relative
pressure that you care about in mechanical instruments rather than
absolute accuracy.  As long as the gauge is sensitive enough and has
good repeatability, it should be fine (even if it is not calibrated)
unless you want to compare reading from different gauges and want them
to agree.

Best regards,
Spencer Chase

 [ Visit http://www.wallaceandtiernan.net/  -- Robbie