Mike Graham wrote in message . ..
In article , Lennie the Lurker wrote:

I can see how the 'dial' aspect of them would be very important when
looking for the condition of a bore... when looking for bulges, waisting,
out of round, etc. I'm primarily looking for a fast and accurate way to see
where I am in the boring process so that after I take my final 40 thou cut,
I'm where I want to be.

Hmmm. Most dial bores, or their electronic versions thereof, have a
small range from the setting, usually less than 20 thou. Federal make
some with a longer range, but they're three point, won't show out of
round.

Federal, Starrett, Standard and Mitutoyo (junk),

The set that I was looking at was an import, but looks pretty much like
Mitutoyo. Would you agree with a previous poster who suggested that a bore
gage isn't worth having if it isn't a big name?

Again, this depends on what you want to do with it. I've seen some
pretty decent homebuilds, and I've seen junk with big names on it.
I'll admit a strong preference to Standard, I like the way the
indicators are made, but the Federal, I think they called them the
"500" series are good too. Both pricey as hell, hard to justify if
you don't have need for .0001" accuracy or enough pieces to make it
worth while. (The indicators on the Standard are shockproof, and they
don't mean maybe. You could destroy the gaging foot, but the
indicator wouldn't be hurt.)

Most dial bores will. What size range are you looking at?

I'd *like* .5" - 6", but what I see available for a reasonable price is
1.4" - 6".

Let me look through my junk, I had a bunch of them but I've also sold
a bunch, don't really know what I have left, and you may have to learn
to cut 3/8"-40 threads to make tail pins for them. I'll send an email
when I look them up, might be a day or two, rebuilding a Boyar-Schultz
surface grinder, and the owner wants it. Think there's a few
Intrimikes down there too, but metric, and not a complete set. I know
I don't have anything below 1", maybe not below 2", but I've got so
damn much, I don't know what's down there.