Precision Measurement Tools For the Hobbyist

orange150

orange150

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Fairfax City, VA
Thinking of picking up a dial indicator (and base) and a digital caliper. Does a name brand matter for the seldom hobbyist use, or will the Amazon Prime special be just fine?
 
What's your application? How much accuracy do you need or expect?

Way different answer if you need .0001, or if within a sixteenth is "good enough".
 
Like anything else, it depends on what you're using it for. There's a pretty big price range between cheap China crap and professional grade, but you can get decent stuff that will likely suit your hobby needs in the middle somewhere. Don't waste your money on the cheap stuff, else you'll forever question the accuracy of your measurements. Unless the accuracy doesn't matter, and then get whatever you want to pay for.
 
I got a dial indicator and base from ECGS when i did my front end. Its was about $50. That's not too bad as compared to what you can find on Amazon and its from someone reputable. I got my digital calipers from Harbor Freight. For as little as i use them they are perfect. I don't use them for anything critical. Just make sure to take the batteries out when stored.
 
Well my main hobby is auto mechanics, so any application where I would need a dial indicator (engine, drive train components) is where I would want to use them.
 
I work in the machining world and use all kinds of high end stuff on a weekly basis. To some extent, you get what you pay for, but it very quickly becomes diminishing returns for normal use. Check out www.travers.com They usually have good prices or at least a good baseline to compare prices. Their house brand (TTC) stuff is priced decently. A cheap indicator will be fine also. If you need more precision than a 0.001" increment indicator, buy name brand stuff. But for standard thousandth indicator duty, the cheapest will work pretty much just as well.

If I could just have one piece of precision measurement equipment, it would be a Mitutoyo 12" coolant proof digital caliper. I find the 12" size to be more generally useful, and I like Mitutoyo stuff.

Also you can score good deals occasionally on Craigslist, if me or @tknopp don't snipe it first :D
 
jeepinmatt said:
But for standard thousandth indicator duty, the cheapest will work pretty much just as well.
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This ......

I have a metal and such at home and have built driveshfts using my lathe and Harbor Freight mag base and dial indicator. None have ever needed balancing.

With reasonable, knowledgable use in a hobby setting, HF stuff is fine.

Out of curiosity I have checked mine side by with a Brown & Sharp. The difference wasn't worth worrying over.

Matt
 
Got my digital calipers from northern tool. The slide is smooth, locking mechanism strong and has survived a few high falls onto concrete. I don't think I trust it to 0.001" but as good practice always measure something three or four times anyways.


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Fowler makes decent stuff for the money. I'm with Matt, I like Mitutoyo for nice stuff. Imo, it pays to have a pricey mag base though. The cheap ones are shit. That is, if you want a typical 1" travel dial indicator. Calipers for the home shop, who cares. For around the house, I still use my enco ones that I bought in machining school in 2000.
 
I have bought some really good older micrometers and other instruments at pawn shops
 
Harbor freight digital calipers are ok, but the battery management sucks. I have one set of the grey ones that the buttons quit working on. I want to try the iGagaing calipers. I hear the battery lasts much longer. I bought three sets of these Amazon.com: Digital Caliper Kit by Peak Precision - Stainless Steel - 6 inch Digital Caliper with Super Large LCD, 6 inch Scale and 26 Blade Feeler Gauge Set included - IN / MM / Fractions: Home Improvement on an Amazon flash sale for $10 a piece. Figured I couldn't go wrong. I did. The feelers and scale are crap, the cases were all a little broken, and one set of calipers wouldn't return to zero at all. Another set worked, but the next time I went to use it, the battery was already dead. They don't ship with the plastic battery isolator installed, so they were probably off-and-on the whole way here. The third set seems good, though. Time will tell. I wish I had gone with the iGaging set, though. As for the dial indicator, the HF indicator and base are about as good as any I've used for occasional use and general truing up of stuff. No reason to drop big money on that.

If it's just going to be occasional use, I'd recommend getting a set of dial calipers and learning how to read them. No batteries or buttons to worry about. Digital is somewhat overrated. And high-zoot stuff is nice if you're using it as it's intended, but I know you'll eventually drop them or squeeze too tight or use them to scratch layout lines. We all do eventually. No need to spend the money on something that's NIST certified and comes in a velvet-lined case.
 
catfishblues said:
If it's just going to be occasional use, I'd recommend getting a set of dial calipers and learning how to read them. No batteries or buttons to worry about. Digital is somewhat overrated. And high-zoot stuff is nice if you're using it as it's intended, but I know you'll eventually drop them or squeeze too tight or use them to scratch layout lines. We all do eventually. No need to spend the money on something that's NIST certified and comes in a velvet-lined case.
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This for auto/home use. And I agree about the cheap bases said above. Enco used to be a good place for cheap quality stuff, but it appears they were bought out by MSC. I'd spend the money on a quality Noga magnetic base. This looks like a decent buy: NOGA MG10533 Mag Base & TTC 1" Dial Indicator Set: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

And this caliper: Fowler Full Warranty Stainless Steel Shockproof Dial Caliper, 52-008-706-0, 0-6" Measuring Range, 0.001" Graduation Interval, Face Color White: Automotive Calipers: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
 
catfishblues said:
you'll eventually drop them or squeeze too tight or use them to scratch layout lines.
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The number 1 use of my 12" dial calipers is scratching layout lines. The number 2 use is squeezing and measuring shim stacks. Old school dial is best for this kind of stuff in my opinion. I think I paid $40 for the 12" ones from WT Tool.
 
Yep Enco got swallowed up by MSC and they suck. Their website is awful and they like to send you those save up to 30% off codes. Then you go to order and enter the code and it says this item doesn't qualify. :shaking:
As you get older the digital is much easier to read than the small dials. ;)
 
Buy some decent stuff once and be done with it. After all they are "precision measuring tools". You can catch Mititoyo digital calipers on sale for <$100 pretty often.
 
jeepinmatt said:
I

If I could just have one piece of precision measurement equipment, it would be a Mitutoyo 12" coolant proof digital caliper. I find the 12" size to be more generally useful, and I like Mitutoyo stuff.

Also you can score good deals occasionally on Craigslist, if me or @tknopp don't snipe it first :D
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Look at this big dog recommending some $500 calipers.
Most all of the cheap digitals you see including the eBay mitutoyo knockoffs are pretty much the same and will fail pretty quick, like everybody said for cheap stuff Fowler is tough to beat.
 
tknopp said:
FYI Fowler has gone Chinese. Its just rebranded Chinese tools with their name on it. Not the quality they were known for years back.
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I imagine they have been Chinese or Taiwanese for a long time, that being said we have a lot of guys that come in with junk calipers-- from what I've seen the Fowler branded junk lasts longer. I do have a set of 24" Fowler digitals that always line up with our bigass mitutoyos within .001".
 
Most of the Starrett stuff is Chinese too. Heck, most everything is made in China these days. That doesn't make it all bad, but it does make me try to find good old stuff on CL and Ebay so I can reminisce about the good old days.
 
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