"Robert Swinney" wrote in message
...
Very nice reply, Dan! IMO, you pretty much tell it like it is. But are
you ready for all the flak from Starret collectors?


There's nothing wrong with Starrett. I own a lot of their stuff myself. It's
just that you can often find as good or better for less money. There is not
a week that goes by where I don't see a used Starrett item on Ebay sell for
more money than a new one would cost from MSC or Travers.. I also have a bit
of a unique perspective. I've been in hundreds maybe even thousands of shops
all over the country installing, training and doing machine acceptance
run-offs on new high end CNC machines. So, I get to use just about every
piece of metrology equipment made. On top of that, often whether the machine
passes the run off or not, is very much dependent on my customers ability to
measure the part consistently and correctly. Often these parts have .0003"
total tolerance on a diameter. I also have to be able to indicate a machine
in to .0001" or better. How else can you drill a .006" hole? So, I'm a big
believer in a good DTI, and good basic tools. I also collect old machinist
and tool and die tools. I'm also trying to collect at least one example of a
0-1" or 0-25mm micrometer from every manufacturer in the world. Right now
I'm leaving the Chinese and private label Chinese stuff out. But, I'll
probably add a Chuan at some point, but I'm after harder to find brands now.
Maybe I'll post a list here someday, to see if anyone can come up with
brands that I'm missing.
The questions that the OP poses are not easy to answer by any means. I'm
thinking he might not be happy with the quality of bike parts available to
him. I mean it's not like he will ever save any money building them himself
when you consider the investment cost in machinery alone. So if he's after
smoother more precise components, he'll need to start out with good tools.
He should know Starrett isn't the only option.

Dan