I'm looking to buy a good set of inside and outside micrometers. Preferably electronic or digit read type. What is the better brand? Is there really a difference? I am leaning toward Fowler, Starrett, or Mitutoyo and away from the cheaper Chinese made stuff unless there really isn't that big of a difference. Also, what about Browne & Sharpe and SPI (Swiss Precision Instrument)? Thanks.
Got a machinist question
- Thread starter HIGHMARK
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I am a machinist. Personal but Mitutoyo is by far my favorite. I don't care for the digital ones that I have seen. They won't read in tenths, only in half thousands. But it depends on what you are doing. I grind crankshafts every day where tenths of a thousands is what I deal with. Don't care for Starret, whey are ok but the Quality of mit. is better.
Mit or Starret would be my preference ,but among the two mit is better ! fowler and the rest are less expensive for good reason SPI was ok a few years back but I havent seen much of there current stuff could be like everthing else these days made in china and cheap as hell. So whatever you decide I say spend your money wisely once and you wont regret it . I also don't like digi's just old school I guess !
Totally agree with others, Mit is way to go, and I also don't like the digital as I find more accurate without, especially with "HOT" pieces!
browne and sharpe was a govt. tool supplier, good stuff in its day but i don't know if they are around any more, mit is good if you are not rough on em, if it is going to be used hard shop around for older starrett ikn good condition.
R
RMK7SledHead
Well-known member
how accurate do you need to be? I use two calipers at work, one digital $20 special from harbor freight and one $200 dial set of Echelon (sp? can't remember off the top of my head right now). I can "read" about .00025 on the dial, and obviously only .0005 on the digitals. Take both pairs to a set of gage pins and they read identical every time.
if you really, really need to be better than the $20 digitals, you should probably be using a mic anyway...am I wrong on this one guys? I mean, if you're looking to read .0001, a mic is about the only way to acurately do it, right? Just an engineer who is forced to be a machinist talking though...I'm not the best at it for sure.
if you really, really need to be better than the $20 digitals, you should probably be using a mic anyway...am I wrong on this one guys? I mean, if you're looking to read .0001, a mic is about the only way to acurately do it, right? Just an engineer who is forced to be a machinist talking though...I'm not the best at it for sure.
Mics are what I am looking at buying. I have a few calipers both dial and digital and both high dollar and cheapos. I use the cheapos for things that don't need to be all that accurate but I use the high dollar ones for things like gun parts and such. Don't know as there is even a difference between the two but it makes me feel better about what I am doing. I need to be pretty accurate with the mics as I am measuring engine clearances and want to be accurate to the gnats ***. Thanks for the input so far and please keep it coming.
I agree with everyone else. Mit. then Starrett. Don't go cheap for mics if you are wanting to read in 10ths.
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RMK7SledHead
Well-known member
haha...ok, apparently my reading comprehension skills have gone downhill. I gotta stop drinking...
Equally important as a quality mic is a temperature controlled space if you want to read in the .XXXX range. On our optical comparator we have fooled around and you can watch parts growing from the heat in your hand. What you measure on a nice warm summer day versus a cold winter morning will vary in the tenths range.
Another vote for the mitutoyo.
I use them on a daily basis as a machinist... Any where from a 0-1 to a 2-3.
All are digital and will easily be accurate for tenths... They read up to 50 millionths, but I only worry about tenths and would not trust them with any tolerance less than a tenth.
Not to mention I have to follow the 10 times rule... Guaging must be 10 times more acurate than the total tolerance.
I am new school and hate to read traditional mics... Digital all the way.
The line next to me has a OGP... I have checked parts (+/- .0005) on a mic and gotten the same reading when double checking using the OGP.
I use them on a daily basis as a machinist... Any where from a 0-1 to a 2-3.
All are digital and will easily be accurate for tenths... They read up to 50 millionths, but I only worry about tenths and would not trust them with any tolerance less than a tenth.
Not to mention I have to follow the 10 times rule... Guaging must be 10 times more acurate than the total tolerance.
I am new school and hate to read traditional mics... Digital all the way.
The line next to me has a OGP... I have checked parts (+/- .0005) on a mic and gotten the same reading when double checking using the OGP.
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