Might be looking to buy a set of dial bore gages and a micrometer. Are there any brands that are of ok quality that dont cost a fortune? This will be to put together a few motors throughout my lifetime. Summit has this Tavia set for $160: http://store.summitracing.com/product.asp?d=14&s=77&p=5151&searchtype=ecat . Any good? Or are ther better deals out there? Should I stay away from used sets? (if I find any)
Anyone bought from here: http://www.use-enco.com ? They have a Peacock dial bore gage that goes down to .0001" for $150. http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INLMK32?PARTPG=INSRAR2 . What are the differneces in thimble types? friction, plain and ratchet? I think I have used the ratchet type before.
you'll probably find you don't need a dial bore gauge,any engine i've rebuilt that had a noticeable ridge usually ended up getting bored out,the one or two times i went el cheapo and just re-ringed it i wasn't happy with how it turned out.as far as mikes go,you need 1 really good quality 0-1 that goes to .0001,and a 2-3 that goes .0001 for crank journals.your machinist will have good 3-4 or 4-5 mikes for measuring piston skirts.i'm going to rebuild a rambler flathead 6 for a friend,it's probably the first time i've found an engine that needs a .060 bore job,but has a crank within factory specs +-.0005-george
you want an inside micrometer for that,or get some telescoping bore gauges and measure them with an outside micrometer.
I think that it's better to buy the ones "that cost a fortune"- Mitutoyo, Starret, and Brown & Sharpe. You aren't gonna use them for one job and toss them, right? You'll have them for a long time. I've bought lots of used machinsts' hand tools. If they haven't been banged up or obviously abused, they're fine. Good mics are adjustable- to a little steel standard that only costs about $15. The Starrett inside mic that I use for con rod bores etc: helping a guy move some old machinery years ago, saw something imbedded in the asphalt floor of the Dickensian shop- it was the mic head. Looked around and found four of the five rods under old machinery. Wrote Starrett and completed the set, cleaned and adjusted it, and it's been fine for twenty years. These are lifetime tools- if you are starting out, they will make your work better. Don't bother with dial bore gages unless you're doin a lot of motor work.
I would totally agree with disastron13, go ahead an buy a decent piece of equipment. Calipers manufactured in this country like; Brown & Sharpe, Starrett or Fowler, all make a high quality caliper, dial or digital. They'll come with a calibration certificate and will last a lifetime. I manage a test facility and we do dimentional inspections of all varities, unless your doing machine work, bore gauges, mics, etc., are a waste of your money. Shoe
my suggestion would be to buy good precision tools such as Starret. A good set of dial calipers is Interapid. I would not spend the money for digital micrometers or calipers. They are not needed as the dials are easy enough to read. If you want to measure inside diameters I would suggest a set of telescoping gauges or pop for the inside mics.
I've bought from enco.com before. No problems. Just do yourself a favor and buy the name brand stuff. You'll be lot happier in the long run. Whatever you do don't buy the crap from Harbor Freight, their gauges are junk.
I agree: Always buy quality measuring equipment! If a HAMB´er have questions concerning meusuring, put them on the board and I´ll try to answer. In my profession I´m responsible for the development of the measuring process at Scania Trucks (global level) and I guess most of your questions can be answered.
I like starret (?) Do a search on ebay... the old ones normally go for around 3 bucks... even for the BIG stuff.
very few machinists have their own bore gages...cheapest and most common is a set of telescoping gauges, that you them measure with your outside mic, and you must have outside mics to cover whatever range you are measuring, or go with inside mics. am still a "machinist" and was quality manager for some time in a shop, and it is my humble opinion, that without proper calibration equipment, ring gages to check with etc. bore gages will get you in more trouble than help. dial calipers in experienced hands can be suprisingly accurate. now is a very good time to look for whole toolboxes of machinist tools cheap, this industry has really taken a hit. lot of guys that have been doing it for a while getting out now. look for browne & sharp, starret, mitutoyo, avoid enco etc if you are serious about quality. .0005 can make quite a differance in a motor, so make sure you know how to properly read and use the measuring tools...like using the ratchet on the thimble...
Don't forget pawn shops and swap meets. If the guage is in good condition and can be adjusted or calibrated you can get some good deals. I agree stick with the name brands, I have the people in my lab using Starret and Mititoyo. TZ
Actually, from what I've been led to believe, the cheap mics are just as accurate as the expensive ones (within reason... a cheap mic that says it's accurate to .0005, of course won't be as accurate as a good mic that claims .0001 accuracy), they just don't last as long. I'd say buy a cheap set of mics and a cheap set of standards (if the mics don't come with 'em) and you'd be good. If you're gonna build a bunch of engines, get the good stuff...I agree with the telescoping gauges ofer the dial bore gauge too... then you can use the SAME mic to measure the inside of the rod, and the outside of the crank, that way, even if your mic isn't accurate it should still be consistent and you'll know accurately what your oil clearance is!
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Svar till:</font><hr /> Actually, from what I've been led to believe, the cheap mics are just as accurate as the expensive ones (within reason... a cheap mic that says it's accurate to .0005, of course won't be as accurate as a good mic that claims .0001 accuracy), they just don't last as long. I'd say buy a cheap set of mics and a cheap set of standards (if the mics don't come with 'em) and you'd be good. If you're gonna build a bunch of engines, get the good stuff...I agree with the telescoping gauges ofer the dial bore gauge too... then you can use the SAME mic to measure the inside of the rod, and the outside of the crank, that way, even if your mic isn't accurate it should still be consistent and you'll know accurately what your oil clearance is! [/ QUOTE ] About the accuracy of cheap micrometers: You get what you pay for. Do you want a Yugo? There are a lot of Chinese gages with that poor quality... Choose a well known quality brand. If you have a set of gage blocks you can easily check several of a micrometers features. The parallellism between the mesureing surfaces do differ, a plan optic glas is needed to check that feature. Do the micrometer meet the DIN 863 standard? Is it calibrated? Dont even relay on a new micrometer if its not calibrated or can be checked against several gage blocks covering up the micrometer´s measuring span. The accuracy of measuring with do differ alot as well, and depending on the diameter/length of the measured object and the temperature, sometimes a micrometer cant even measure better than 2/10 of millimeter. If high accuracy is needed measure as close as 20 celicius as possible. Even the heat from your hand will interfer with the resulut... (Wrote a small book about this subject many years ago. Sorry its in Swedish and made for in company use)
I have found some really nice used and well cared for micrometers and other machinists measuring tools at yard sales and flea markets. The ones I did not need I sold on ebay and they did not bring much money (but I did make a little). I only put really nice ones on ebay (some looked like they had never been used) and I never got any complaints. Just make sure its from a seller with a lot of good feedback.
Thanks for all of the answers. Great idea with the telescopic gages. This wont be nearly as expensive as I thought for "the good stuff". Ordering a couple Starrett tele gages and a Mitutoyo mic.
AFX, Send me a PM with your address, I'll send you a set of snap guages for nothing. Telescoping guages or whatever you want to call them, what diameters are you going to measure, cuz you'll have to have an outside mic that is compatable. Shoe
The Jalopy Journal
