I haven't seen this come up yet so I figured its about time for it. I'm hoping others will chime in to share their knowledge.
First off I'm no expert machinist so take it with a grain of salt.
Nothing has made me chase my own tail in machining more than not having decent ways to accurately measure, whether tools or methods.
My main tool for most noncritical measurements is a set of 6" Etalon dial calipers. They are not cheap new but if your lucky you can nab them on the well known auction site for pretty cheap. They are not a well known brand which helps a lot but they are still Swiss made.
For depth measurements I prefer Brown and Sharpe depth mics. Kind of hard to get the feel of them at first but with practice its not hard to pick up. Reading them also takes some practice since its backwards from a normal micrometer. Again they can be found at a good price on the auction site if you are patient.
I prefer Etalon micrometers for critical measurements. They are easy to take apart and clean or adjust if need be. I get more consistent readings with them than other brands.
Inside measurements took me the longest to measure accurately. I started with the normal telescoping gauge sets and the split ball but never was able to get really good measurements. I couldn't afford a pin gauge library so that was out of the question. I ended up getting a mitutoyo (145-193) ID micrometer and very happy with the results. I still use telescoping gauges set with a micrometer to check for bore taper.
Dial height gauge has been a very big help for measuring and or scribing just about anything along with a cheaper granite surface block.
Thread gauges, whether cheap or expensive I can not tell the difference between them. I use them only to get the tpi.
Lastly one area where its a bad idea to skimp on the cost is a set of gage blocks. You can again get lucky on the auction site just make sure to take them or send them out to get calibrated. You can then check out all your tools using them to know if they are accurate or not instead of buying new and hoping they are. Also you can use them to practice with to make sure you are measuring right.
Opps forgot a tip, if you hunting for used tools. If there is a sticker on it that says for "reference only" that means the tool failed to meet calibration.
First off I'm no expert machinist so take it with a grain of salt.
Nothing has made me chase my own tail in machining more than not having decent ways to accurately measure, whether tools or methods.
My main tool for most noncritical measurements is a set of 6" Etalon dial calipers. They are not cheap new but if your lucky you can nab them on the well known auction site for pretty cheap. They are not a well known brand which helps a lot but they are still Swiss made.
For depth measurements I prefer Brown and Sharpe depth mics. Kind of hard to get the feel of them at first but with practice its not hard to pick up. Reading them also takes some practice since its backwards from a normal micrometer. Again they can be found at a good price on the auction site if you are patient.
I prefer Etalon micrometers for critical measurements. They are easy to take apart and clean or adjust if need be. I get more consistent readings with them than other brands.
Inside measurements took me the longest to measure accurately. I started with the normal telescoping gauge sets and the split ball but never was able to get really good measurements. I couldn't afford a pin gauge library so that was out of the question. I ended up getting a mitutoyo (145-193) ID micrometer and very happy with the results. I still use telescoping gauges set with a micrometer to check for bore taper.
Dial height gauge has been a very big help for measuring and or scribing just about anything along with a cheaper granite surface block.
Thread gauges, whether cheap or expensive I can not tell the difference between them. I use them only to get the tpi.
Lastly one area where its a bad idea to skimp on the cost is a set of gage blocks. You can again get lucky on the auction site just make sure to take them or send them out to get calibrated. You can then check out all your tools using them to know if they are accurate or not instead of buying new and hoping they are. Also you can use them to practice with to make sure you are measuring right.
Opps forgot a tip, if you hunting for used tools. If there is a sticker on it that says for "reference only" that means the tool failed to meet calibration.
