Any recommendations on a good source for precision measuring tools?

[Pablo]

Looking to pick up a dial bore, outside mics, etc. I want quality but don't need anything more than is necessary for a hobbyist.

Any suggestions?

 

[turbobitt]

You can try Enco (use-enco.com). They sell Chinese and American stuff. The cheep Chinese stuff is not that bad and is suficient for the hobbiest.

Allan G.

 

[Gary Wells]

Mitutoyo measuring instruments are probably a tad more, but are in wide use by machine shops, aircraft repair facilities, & tool calibration labs. Japanese, not Chinese.

 

[charlief1]

Mitutoyo measuring instruments are probably a tad more, but are in wide use by machine shops, aircraft repair facilities, & tool calibration labs. Japanese, not Chinese.

I've got Mititoyu, Starrett, and a few other American made tools, but I do have some china made ones as well. The china ones are what I loan out if someone needs to borrow one.:biggrin: You really do pay for quality if you want it.

 

[Gary Wells]

It's unfortunate, but the days have passed that American precision measuring instruments such as L.S. Starett, Lufkin, etc., etc., and Swiss tools such as Etalo, Test, Inter-Rapid, etc., etc., can compete with the cost and integrity of good Japanese instruments. Chinese and the term precision just doesn't go together, but Chinese tools are probably OK or will minimally suffice for some auto work. I bought a pair of brand name reloading equipment manufacturer 6" calipers for my reloading activities that appear Chinese and they're just not the same.

 

[TurboDave]

I don't know. The chinese stuff I got turned out pretty good. I got a complete set of dial bore gauges, and a complete set of micrometers. Being somewhat worried myself, I took their standards to a local machinist that uses the really high dollar and he said they were good to go with significantly less than .0005 error. So their good enough for me setting up my stock motor.

 

[Mike E]

I put this same reply in another thread a while back. http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/turbo-lounge/340394-micrometers.html

It depends on what you want to measure.

If your just measuring bearing clearances when assembling your motor, you don't need expensive mics. Your only measuring the difference between the crank OD and the bearing ID and you'll be using the same mic for both. Any mic is going to be good inside that range. Enco has good deals on import mics that would work fine here.

If your measuring something and need to compare it to something measured with with another mic, you need expensive mics. I prefer Mitutoyo and Starrett.

A dial bore gauge is going to be expensive even if you buy an import. If your competent with measuring tools, you might be able to get away with telescoping gauges, but they take "the touch" to use accurately.

I have fully stocked general machine/ fab shop at my house and I don't own a dial bore gauge. It's just not cost effective to have one for the very few times I would use them. The other problem is if you find a clearance out of spec, can you fix it? Better yet, if you find something out of spec, do you trust your measurements? I would much rather spend that extra money for a quality machine shop to cut, grind and hone my parts to size and assemble everything.

 

[turbobitt]

I put this same reply in another thread a while back. http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/turbo-lounge/340394-micrometers.html

It depends on what you want to measure.

If your just measuring bearing clearances when assembling your motor, you don't need expensive mics. Your only measuring the difference between the crank OD and the bearing ID and you'll be using the same mic for both. Any mic is going to be good inside that range. Enco has good deals on import mics that would work fine here.

If your measuring something and need to compare it to something measured with with another mic, you need expensive mics. I prefer Mitutoyo and Starrett.

A dial bore gauge is going to be expensive even if you buy an import. If your competent with measuring tools, you might be able to get away with telescoping gauges, but they take "the touch" to use accurately.

I have fully stocked general machine/ fab shop at my house and I don't own a dial bore gauge. It's just not cost effective to have one for the very few times I would use them. The other problem is if you find a clearance out of spec, can you fix it? Better yet, if you find something out of spec, do you trust your measurements? I would much rather spend that extra money for a quality machine shop to cut, grind and hone my parts to size and assemble everything.

I bought a cheepo dial bore gage from Enco and found it very usefull. You wouldn't believe the machine shops out there that screw up an align hone on the mains and make them .0010-.0015 out of round. This is more common than you think.

Most of the aftermarket off-shore rods are not torqued more than once and go out of round after a few torque cycles. I personally saw a buddies BB chevy Eagle rods go from less than .0005" out of round(out of box) to .003" out of round on a couple of torque cycles.

I had a mopar performance Hemi block made by World Products and finished machined by Ray Barton and it had the mains blown out of round by at least .0015". It's good to have tools to verify other people work.

Allan G.

 

[gnxtc2]

I have a 0-6" Central Tools caliper with no issues. I picked up a 12" Chinese caliper (forgot the brand) and it feels like a POS.

Central Tools > Tools

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[Mike E]

I bought a cheepo dial bore gage from Enco and found it very usefull. You wouldn't believe the machine shops out there that screw up an align hone on the mains and make them .0010-.0015 out of round. This is more common than you think.

Most of the aftermarket off-shore rods are not torqued more than once and go out of round after a few torque cycles. I personally saw a buddies BB chevy Eagle rods go from less than .0005" out of round(out of box) to .003" out of round on a couple of torque cycles.

I had a mopar performance Hemi block made by World Products and finished machined by Ray Barton and it had the mains blown out of round by at least .0015". It's good to have tools to verify other people work.

Allan G.

It would be nice to have one, but I just dont have enough need for a nice one. In the rare event I need a precision bore measurement I use snap gauges. I have a friend that does my engine work and I trust his work completely.

Do you think the enco import bore gauge is repeatable to better than .0005"? I dont currently own any import stuff, but i wouldn't be affraid to buy some if the need arose and I couldn't justify mitutoyo or starrett.

 

[DOUGGN]

I am a machinist by trade. You get what you pay for. I personally own all Starrett and Mitutoyo tools. They should last a lifetime if well taken care of. Beware - even those companies are now marketing chinese made tools under their names to compete with the imports. If you really want deals on expensive tools for cheap - ebay and pawn shops are filled with the stuff. My advice - If you buy quality you buy it once - you buy junk you will buy it several times and when you realize you should have purchased quality - they will be out of business.

 

[turbobitt]

Do you think the enco import bore gauge is repeatable to better than .0005"? I dont currently own any import stuff, but i wouldn't be affraid to buy some if the need arose and I couldn't justify mitutoyo or starrett.

The Import gage I have is an MBC. I would say its repeatable to .0005 but not beter than that. I would have liked to get beter quality tools but don't use it enough to justify the cost. The few times I used it was worth the expense for at least the import stuff.


Allan G.