micrometer advice please

[PB234]

thinking it would be a useful tool to measure slugged barrels and boolits. Also thinking digital for ease of use. Any advice as to what to get and what is the least expensive tool that still delivers reliable readings is most welcome. This will not be used that often.

[country gent]

Mititoyos are good and accurate Brown $ Sharpe are very good I have been using a set of 0-6" slant lines for 30 years at work. Stiil accurate and good as when new. I have my grandfathers 0-1 Starrets he bought in the 40s a few years back I had to adjust the collet to get them to pass ISO whatever it was. Carbide faces on mics are nice working in hard materials or being used alotBut normally at home not neccesary. I like to have the insulation pads of the frame as when measuring fine work body temp can affect them.My digital Mitoyos read to .00005. this set is up to 3 inch and was used for gage work mostly.The standard scale vernieer donst bother me to use and it is nice to have when the battries go dead. There are alot of cheap mics out there that are little better thaan a c-clamp. At one time I was using a ceap set for light pulls. LOL Stay away from the "apprentice / school grade" tools cheap cast frame some even cast threads. no adjusting collet to remove wear. Another handy tool are dial or digitl calipers for length measurements. Small hole gages for use with the mics. I can do a fair job of measuring the bore with these. You will find many measuring tools that are handy. Find a genuine tool supply shop that stocks these tools and feel what your looking at. See what feels good to you in your hands.

[alrighty]

I think you would be better off with a good used name brand conventional.You can pick up a Starret , Brown and Sharpe, Mitutoyo or NSK name brand for a decent price.They usually run around $35.00 -$50.00 for a good one.I would also get one that reads in tenths.This means it will measure down to .0001.Micrometers are easy to set and they should be set for your feel.The better ones will have carbide faces.The biggest thing to check for is chips in the measuring face and make sure when you take the mic to .0000 is the faces are square with no visible light anywhere between them .This will test to see if someone used it as a C clamp and sprung the frame.
Digitals are nice for quick measuring like when using a caliper , they however aren't as rugged and the batteries seem to go down just when it's needed most.

[PB234]

thank you

[JWFilips]

I have a few Brown & Sharpe ( My favorites) They are old but well calibrated If you are interested PM me !

[country gent]

Mics used for measuring the same size will have faces worn at an angle measure gage blocks so that dial/spindle is every quarter turn to see they are accurate all te way around. Measure in .100 range .250 range .500 range and .750 range like this. It will tell youThe wear on the thread and on the faces for the range of the mic. If you buy bigger than 1" be sure to get the " Standard" for setting the mic a 2" will have a 1" gage pin with it, a 3" will have a 2" gage pin. A feel has to be developed or ratchet, friction thimble used. Production used mics are quite often "borrowed" and can have alot of wear in them since they are mostly used and calibrated in a very small amount of thier range. Watch craigs list e-bay or aution sites for used tools. A good used mic is fine, as I said earlier I have my Grandfathers starret bought in the 40s and it is still accurate. Having .0001 capability is nice but it isnt often youll need it. Even more so with my mitoyos that are .00005 but when you do need it its there. Only time I used mine were gringing lapping gage pins and certain tooling. A good steel 6" scale will be your best friend for most tasks.For years I used stackable gage blocks for case length gages and other repetitive measurements. Pin gages in assorted sizes are handy also. Most true preccision work is measured in the shop with gage blocks and or gage pinsfor final checks. AT the jig grinder we had pin set to 1" gage blocks and accesory set from there up. Surface grinders were gage blocks and indicators.
A good set of used Starrett, Brown and sharpe, luffkins, Mtoyos will bring around 20-30 dollars for standard 50 or so for digital. Watch local auction houses and news papers as alot of estates were mold makers machinists pattern makers tool makers die makers ect ect etc.

[groot nadine]

If your careful, I've had good luck with e-bay on used equipment.

be aware, if your miking something like a smith and wesson barrel, it won't work. you will need a 3-point mike, or figure out another way to get opposing flats...

[uscra112]

This Fowler mechanical "digital" is my go-to now:http://castboolits.gunloads.com/asse...1&d=1330274883

An evilBay purchase - I think it cost me about $45 used. Swiss made, too.

[oldred]

Good mics such as B&S and Starrett are nice and cared for will last a life time but cheap Harbor Freight mics are accurate and will last for years also, I have HF mics I use every day (for machining not measuring slugs) that are nearly 12 years old now. Sure they are not as smooth as "real" mics but for the stated purpose (he is measuring slugs and bores here not bearing fits to .0001!) the HF mics are cheap to buy and will work just fine for this purpose and many others.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I agree with "oldred" as far as the value issue. You have to consider what you are going to be doing with this tool, and how long you are going to be doing it. You couldn't wear out an HF micrometer measuring boolits and the like in three life times, as long as you kind of take care of it! In fact, you'd probably lose it before you ever hurt it.

I have Tesa and Etalon Mics from 0-9" for my shop. They are the best made,,, period. My set of 0-9 Etalons would cost you $3000, I got the set used but some were not used at all, and I got a screamin' deal at $250 for the whole set from someone who didn't know what they had. After 25 years I have still never used the 8 and 9" mikes.

Point being I would have never paid $3000 for those tools. I could never get my monies worth out of them thru use. And as far as resale is concerned be prepared for .10 on the dollar.

For the purpose of reloading measurements, buy yourself either a good used brandname mike, or by an HF mike. In any event <$35 is the right price.

On calipers I prefer dial calipers to digital calipers as it is easier to tell when you are at the minimum dimension with the dial than it is with the readout.

Randy

[PB234]

thanks again

[Von Dingo]

Honestly, keep your eyes open. With all the shop closures over the last 10 years, there are a lot of good used tools out there, cheap. A few years back an old Starret was had at an estate sale for $5.00.

[oldred]

On another forum there was a guy who told a story about his wife buying him some "cute" little C-clamps at a yard sale. She said she knew he used tools like that and she bought them because they seemed to be well made for two dollars each for the little ones and three dollars for the big ones and they even had numbers on them, they were a lot fancier than the ones he used when building cabinets even if they were kind of small.

[NSB]

I'm a retired quality engineer/manager. I've worked in gage labs calibrating gages and checking them periodically for accuracy. I've never seen any brand of mic that wasn't accurate unless it was damaged. Even the "cheap" imports are accurate. Buy any set and you'll be OK unless it is damaged. It's very easy to check accuracy. Go to any local machine shop and ask them to check your mics with a set of gage blocks (traceable standards). It takes about two minutes to do. If you get a new set and they are not damaged, I'll guarantee they are accurate.