Dial indicator
 

Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

http://www.use-enco.com

that's the first place i would go for dial indicators and accessories.

--- dz


Hitch wrote:
Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

$30 bucks is about right for a dial indicator. It isn't too "cheap".
It's typical unless you look at Starrett.

Dave

Hitch wrote:

Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

In article ,
Hitch wrote:
Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

For $32 it is almost certainly made in India, Pakistan, China, or
Taiwan, and almost certainly more than adequate for typical
woodworking use, and priced about 100% more than comparable units from
other vendors. Try Grizzly or HFT, you should be able to find a
similar base & gauge for $15-$20. When you get up in the $100 range
you may be looking at a US or Japanese made indicator.


--

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland

Hitch wrote in
:



Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial
indicator. Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic
base. They say it's accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal,
or is $32 bucks US just too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I
should just buy more clamps from LV and look elsewhere for a better
dial indicator.

I dunno - my Harbor Frieght one was about five bux USD... :)

I haven't used these folks - but www.littlemachineshop.com is often
mentioned / recommended as a place to get an inexpensive dial/base/tip
combination.

haven't used these folks - but www.littlemachineshop.com is often
mentioned / recommended as a place to get an inexpensive dial/base/tip
combination.

Theirs is just fine for the wood shop, especially the one with the "tip
collection".

--

Rumpty

Radial Arm Saw Forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/woodbutcher/start

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


"Patrick Conroy" wrote in message
...
Hitch wrote in
:



Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial
indicator. Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic
base. They say it's accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal,
or is $32 bucks US just too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I
should just buy more clamps from LV and look elsewhere for a better
dial indicator.

I dunno - my Harbor Frieght one was about five bux USD... :)

I haven't used these folks - but www.littlemachineshop.com is often
mentioned / recommended as a place to get an inexpensive dial/base/tip
combination.

Try Mcmaster Carr, www.mcmaster.com. search on "dial indicator". They
have them ranging from $15-$150. You might be interested in the $30
indicator+magnetic base kit. Mcmaster sells only quality stuff,
nothing like the sh_t that HF sells. Don't be fooled by their
"economy" designation. These should be fine for anything other than a
hi-capacity production machine shop.

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 09:19:01 -0500, Hitch wrote:

one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.

Cheap is OK on dial indicators. Make sure the magnetic base works
though - they tend to suffer worse from cheapness than the indicators
do. Poor clamping or lack of rigidity in the arm is a pain to work with.
I've never seen a "snake" arm that was convincing for rigidity either.

Your kidding, right?

"david zaret" wrote in message
...
http://www.use-enco.com

that's the first place i would go for dial indicators and accessories.

--- dz


Hitch wrote:
Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say
it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US
just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps
from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

"David" wrote in message
...
$30 bucks is about right for a dial indicator. It isn't too "cheap".
It's typical unless you look at Starrett.

Or Mititoyo, Teclock, Brown and Sharp, ect, ect.


Dave

Hitch wrote:

Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say
it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US
just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps
from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 16:07:10 +0000, Lawrence Wasserman wrote:
When you get up in the $100 range
you may be looking at a US or Japanese made indicator.

You are also looking at WAY more indicator than you need. It is enough to
get a .001 resolution and estimate any fraction needed. I have .0005
and .0001 indicators and they are just a joke when trying to line up the
table saw trunions because I don't have anything that smooth to measure
against or from.

Bill

I just bought that exact model for LV. Magnetic base definitely works.
Seems to be good quality (I new to dial indicators). I don't think I've
bought anything at LV that wasn't good quality and value.

David


"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 09:19:01 -0500, Hitch wrote:

one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.

Cheap is OK on dial indicators. Make sure the magnetic base works
though - they tend to suffer worse from cheapness than the indicators
do. Poor clamping or lack of rigidity in the arm is a pain to work with.
I've never seen a "snake" arm that was convincing for rigidity either.

"David Bridgeman" wrote in message
I just bought that exact model for LV. Magnetic base definitely works.
Seems to be good quality (I new to dial indicators). I don't think I've
bought anything at LV that wasn't good quality and value.

Worst case scenario, if it doesn't work out within reasonable time use LV
will take it back.

Hitch wrote:
Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

I believe there's a factory in China that turns out shiploads of these
indicators. I've seen basically the same one sold by several vendors.
I don't have the Lee Valley version, but I've seen it in their store,
and it's better than or equal to any of the other no-name Chinese
indicators you'll find.

I've had one for years, and while I doubt it would last day-in and
day-out in a production machine shop, it's worked just fine for all the
machine alignment and testing I've done.

Have fun,

Tim

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 09:19:01 -0500, Hitch wrote:

Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

Got mine from somewhere like Highland Hardware. It displays both
decimal and fractions of an inch. Ya gotta like that.

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 17:39:25 GMT, Jim Weisgram
wrote:

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 09:19:01 -0500, Hitch wrote:

Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

Got mine from somewhere like Highland Hardware. It displays both
decimal and fractions of an inch. Ya gotta like that.

Mine's from an old physics lab I used to work in. It measures in
microns. I could use the binocular microscope I borrow now and then,
with a bit of interpolation for even more accuracy, but decided enuf
is enuf.

If you only need accuracy to 0.001", try
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/pro...ProductID=1593.
Half the accuracy for half the price.


wrote in message
ups.com...
Hitch wrote:
Got a bit of birthday money and one thing I'd like is a dial indicator.
Lee Valley has one for $32 for indicator AND magnetic base. They say
it's
accurate to 0.0005". Is this really a good deal, or is $32 bucks US just
too cheap for reasonable quality? Maybe I should just buy more clamps
from
LV and look elsewhere for a better dial indicator.

I believe there's a factory in China that turns out shiploads of these
indicators. I've seen basically the same one sold by several vendors.
I don't have the Lee Valley version, but I've seen it in their store,
and it's better than or equal to any of the other no-name Chinese
indicators you'll find.

I've had one for years, and while I doubt it would last day-in and
day-out in a production machine shop, it's worked just fine for all the
machine alignment and testing I've done.

Have fun,

Tim