EXHIBIT 31.a

                                CERTIFICATIONS

I, Douglas A. Starrett, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of The L.S. Starrett

Company;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement

of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the

statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements

were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial

information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects

the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the

registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for

establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined

in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such

disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to

ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its

consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those

entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being

prepared;

(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and

procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the

effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of

the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control

over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent

fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an

annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to

materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial report;

and

5. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based

on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,

to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's

board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or

operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably

likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process,

summarize and report financial information; and

(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other

employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control

over financial reporting.

Date:  November 2, 2005        /s/  Douglas A. Starrett

                                    Douglas A. Starrett

                                    Chief Executive Officer