Dial Indicator Information

[gmac1]

Was curious about dial indicators. Amazon has many to choose and Harbor Freight I've had mixed experience on their stuff... I'm not a professional mechanic but would like to get one that is good quality but not too expensive. Appreciate any thoughts on what you would recommend.

 

[e9999]

I'd buy a used pro one from one of the big manufacturers like Starrett or Mitutoyo. You likely won't lose any money reselling it later on if kept in good nick.

 

[firestopper]

Just know there’s many different kinds and resolutions. Check EBay for quality brands like e9999 mentioned. All but one of my test and dial indicators are preowned and in like new condition. The one new Starrett I have cost more than the seven preowned I own.

 

[gmac1]

Thanks for both of your feedback/suggestions. Will investigate!!

 

[e9999]

My suggestion above was focused on good value and use of money while getting superlative tools, but of course, it depends on what you plan to use it for. Obviously, at an extreme, there is no point getting a Starrett machinist indicator to do woodwork, but there are many in between situations. I tend to think of indicators as being realistically able to be used to 1/10 of a thou. And calipers to 1 thou. So, if you don't do machinist work to better than 1 thou all the time, realistically you don't need a Starrett. Like to check a brake rotor warpage for example, a HF should be plenty good enough if in reasonable condition. My point is that you may pay $30 for the new HF and sell it a year later for $5 and you had a crappy tool all along, or you could possibly buy a high quality used Starrett for $100 and sell it a year later for $90. I'll take the latter but of course that depends on budget constraints. Starretts and Mitutoyos are very expensive tools because they need to be for the jobs they are intended to do. Because they need to be precise, accurate, and reliable, because pros won't want to take a chance on ruining a $10,000 job to save $100 on the indicator. And if you're a pro you can deduct the tool from your taxes so there is a 50% discount already. But that also means they have excellent resale value.

 

[gmac1]

My suggestion above was focused on good value and use of money while getting superlative tools, but of course, it depends on what you plan to use it for. Obviously, at an extreme, there is no point getting a Starrett machinist indicator to do woodwork, but there are many in between situations. I tend to think of indicators as being realistically able to be used to 1/10 of a thou. And calipers to 1 thou. So, if you don't do machinist work to better than 1 thou all the time, realistically you don't need a Starrett. Like to check a brake rotor warpage for example, a HF should be plenty good enough if in reasonable condition. My point is that you may pay $30 for the new HF and sell it a year later for $5 and you had a crappy tool all along, or you could possibly buy a high quality used Starrett for $100 and sell it a year later for $90. I'll take the latter but of course that depends on budget constraints. Starretts and Mitutoyos are very expensive tools because they need to be for the jobs they are intended to do. Because they need to be precise, accurate, and reliable, because pros won't want to take a chance on ruining a $10,000 job to save $100 on the indicator. And if you're a pro you can deduct the tool from your taxes so there is a 50% discount already. But that also means they have excellent resale value.

Thanks for the further thoughts. That makes perfect sense.

 

[Malleus]

I'd buy a used pro one from one of the big manufacturers like Starrett or Mitutoyo. You likely won't lose any money reselling it later on if kept in good nick.

x2

As mentioned above, you need to decide what you're trying to do and what you want to measure, thickness of flatness/runout. You need a dial caliper or micrometer for the former and a dial indicator for the latter. If you're only trying to check brake disc thickness, a plastic General caliper from anywhere will more than do the job. If you're trying to match two mating parts (say, a worn OEM and a new replacement), you probably want a good dial caliper (Mitutoyo has always been my choice, but Fowler and SPI are also good tools, in the "average quality/precision" range).

One thing to keep in mind, you need a 10" caliper to measure the drum diameter on the rear of an 80 series or earlier Land Cruiser (even the disc brakes have a drum for the parking brake; it's 9" and some change). And 10" dial calipers are really expensive. So are bore gauges and snap gauges in that size. I made a GO/No GO gauge and don't measure any more. Anything else you can get by with a 6" dial caliper (and they will be way easier to find used).

I'd also recommend you buy only 0.001" dial indicators. They're cheaper than dial test indicators, and you will also need a stand/magnetic base and possibly some extender tips, depending on what you're trying to do. I assume you're only trying to measure wheel runout or something similar. Fowler and SPI are also good choices in this quality range. TESA is also good, if you can find one.

If, on the other hand, you're trying to do any machining, you will need both a dial indicator (0.001" graduation) and a dial test indicator (either 0.0005" or 0.0001" graduation, again depending on what you're trying to do). Plus mag bases, and if you have a surface plate (or at least a thick piece of glass) you'll be wanting a height gauge of some sort, sooner or later. The adjustable kind that you can mount a dial test indicator on is ideal.

But here again, it depends on what quality of machining you are going to do, if any. Machining with Chinesium mini mills and lathes doesn't rate quality measuring tools; the machines aren't that good anyway. On the other hand, if you're using good quality used machine tools, your job quality will only be as good as what you can measure.

For a precision DTI, I'd only buy (newer) Mitutoyo or a Swiss brand like Interapid. I personally would not buy a Starrett DTI because Mitutoyo and Interapid have been the gold standard since the 70's; Starrett had the market from about the 50's until then. Which means that any Starretts you find will have been used (read: rode hard and put up wet), and handed down more than once, and they weren't designed to be rebuilt like the Swiss tools are (always have been). You can still find maintenance parts for the Swiss tools, because the Swiss never sent their manufacturing operations to some hellhole.

FWIW, I just bought a used Interapid DTI (0.0001") for $45. It's a boat anchor and in great shape, the fact that's it's a sold as me notwithstanding.

HTH