Posted: 10/14/2010 7:37:43 PM EDT
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I need a caliper. Might as well get a mic at the same time. While I do not always buy the best tools, it was long ago taught to me to buy quality measuring devices. This will be my first, and unless I do something stupid, last set. I am kind of hesitant to go with a digital set, but well, everyone seems to like them nowadays. I will be buying a Mitutoyo set in the morning unless you guys convince me otherwise- here is the one I am looking at- http://www.drillspot.com/products/352827/Mitutoyo_950-939-9_Precision_Measuring_Tool_Kit. The need is primarily for reloading at this time. Thanks |
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This could be a real can of worms.
The set you linked to will do the job and is a first quality set. $385.00 You can also buy a Chinese made non digital set for 50-75 dollars. They will also do the job. Or there is always eBay, substantial savings can be had on Name brand tools if you shop carefully. For me, the high dollar tool would a waste of money, and the Chinese set would be completely adequate for reloading. I've got USA brand tools (Starrett and vintage Lufkin) for machine work. I LIKE quality tools, but I don't think the cost difference is justified for reloading equipment. But hey, If you got the money for the high dollar stuff, and feel that you "gotta have it" then by all means spend the cash and be happy. Don in Ohio |
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Quoted: This could be a real can of worms. The set you linked to will do the job and is a first quality set. $385.00 You can also buy a Chinese made non digital set for 50-75 dollars. They will also do the job. Or there is always eBay, substantial savings can be had on Name brand tools if you shop carefully. For me, the high dollar tool would a waste of money, and the Chinese set would be completely adequate for reloading. I've got USA brand tools (Starrett and vintage Lufkin) for machine work. I LIKE quality tools, but I don't think the cost difference is justified for reloading equipment. But hey, If you got the money for the high dollar stuff, and feel that you "gotta have it" then by all means spend the cash and be happy. Don in Ohio Thank you I do not think I "have to have it"; but I am willing to pay for quality. I was told long ago to buy the best measuring devices I could afford from a wire EDM machinist; my uses now and in the future will most likely never require anything close to his needs. I will consider a less expensive alternative. |
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Mit is good stuff. Good choice. CJ Yup, Mitutoyo is kind of industry standard. They make good shit and it lasts. My calipers always get stolen before they are worn out. With Mics, you want to get them with carbide faces on the anvils if you think you might use them a lot. |
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Thank you I do not think I "have to have it"; but I am willing to pay for quality. I was told long ago to buy the best measuring devices I could afford from a wire EDM machinist; my uses now and in the future will most likely never require anything close to his needs. I will consider a less expensive alternative. Do not, under any circumstances, buy a Chinese measuring instrument of any kind. And that's all I have to say about that. BTW: I have a 0-1" Mitutoyo mic that I got when I started as a tool and die maker 20 years ago. I use it every day, it still feels brand new. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
This could be a real can of worms. The set you linked to will do the job and is a first quality set. $385.00 You can also buy a Chinese made non digital set for 50-75 dollars. They will also do the job. Or there is always eBay, substantial savings can be had on Name brand tools if you shop carefully. For me, the high dollar tool would a waste of money, and the Chinese set would be completely adequate for reloading. I've got USA brand tools (Starrett and vintage Lufkin) for machine work. I LIKE quality tools, but I don't think the cost difference is justified for reloading equipment. But hey, If you got the money for the high dollar stuff, and feel that you "gotta have it" then by all means spend the cash and be happy. Don in Ohio Thank you I do not think I "have to have it"; but I am willing to pay for quality. I was told long ago to buy the best measuring devices I could afford from a wire EDM machinist; my uses now and in the future will most likely never require anything close to his needs. I will consider a less expensive alternative. I agree with Don. That said, I own Mitutoyo and Starrett calipers. In hindsight I should have bought the less expensive brands and saved a ton of money. |
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I bought one of those $20 Harbor Freight digital calipers - it read ".002 under actual.
My buddy said his was totally accurate, so I thought what the hell - I ordered another and it read ".0015 under. That accuracy is not good enough for my uses. I have a RCBS mechanical caliper that is dead nuts on and it also only cost $20 at the time. I also bought a $20 Harbor Freight mechanical micrometer that strangely enough is accurate enough for my purposes I'd guess it at +/- ".00007 accuracy. But as others have already said if you are a professional and need repeatable accuracy forget these cheap Chinese things and go for the Mit...... |
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Check the current sale catalogs at MSC, Enco, and KBC tools. They carry Starret, Mitutoyo, Fowler, SPI, Browne & Sharpe, and chinese. The sale prices are worth a wait.
I bought a couple of SPI tools that I think are a great value. My 1 inch mike is a US made brand that escapes me right now and I don't think they are business. Same with my 2 inch mike. I have a good Mitutoyo digital caliper, a chinese dial caliper that's okay for quick checks not requiring precision, two chinese digitals bought on sale at the KBC store here that work find for reloading and other things, and a US made vernier caliper I bought at Sears in the 80's. You can probably guess the vernier doesn't get much use these days. |
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Quoted: This could be a real can of worms. The set you linked to will do the job and is a first quality set. $385.00 You can also buy a Chinese made non digital set for 50-75 dollars. They will also do the job. Or there is always eBay, substantial savings can be had on Name brand tools if you shop carefully. For me, the high dollar tool would a waste of money, and the Chinese set would be completely adequate for reloading. I've got USA brand tools (Starrett and vintage Lufkin) for machine work. I LIKE quality tools, but I don't think the cost difference is justified for reloading equipment. But hey, If you got the money for the high dollar stuff, and feel that you "gotta have it" then by all means spend the cash and be happy. Don in Ohio I agree. I'm a quality engineer in manufacturing, so I spend a lot of time working with all kinds of gauges from dial calipers to $150,000 CMM's. For the kinds of stuff you'll do in handloading, a cheap pair of dial calipers will handle 90% of what you do. OD mics are good if you need to do something like measure expansion of a case down by the head for high pressures, but not in your day to day reloading. Nine times out of ten, you're measuring things like OAL of loaded cases or case length before and after trimming. If you are wealthy, sure, spend the money on Mitutoyo. However, you aren't buying a difference you will notice in regular reloading applications. It isn't until your tolerances are much smaller than most reloading requirements and you have a need for very small gage error, that you need to start spending money. Otherwise, you should be able to handle your needs (Calipers and OD mics) for less than $100. http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=417494 http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=183493 The only other money you'll need to spend on gages, is if you get hardcore, and want to measure stuff like neckwall thickness, bullet run-out, etc. When you get to that point, you can worry about it then. |
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Do NOT buy the bottom end Mitutoyo, Starrett or Fowler. Start in the middle. A lot of their low end stuff is ALSO Chinese ( much to my disguest ) so don't think you are getting an American Starrett caliper for 49.95...it will be Chinese. From 90 bucks up you should be good to go, but I would call Starrett( or whoever ) to confirm. I pretty much exclusively use Starrett and Mitutoyo but I only buy their medium or higher grade tools. You don't wanna know what a full set of Webber CroBlox Gage Blocks costs....thank God I am not paying it. |
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I've got a Digital Starrett micrometer that I use for machine work and designing stuff, very accurate.
I also have my dads old Kanon (japanese made) non digital micrometer, and it was what I used to set up for reloading originally, although the digital is MUCH faster and easier to read, you can be just as accurate with a good non-digital set. |
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Go to Travers Tool site and buy their TTC brand stuff. It is good quality. It's CHINA. I am a working professional and I recommend the high end Mitutoyo, the new cheap Mits are China unfortunately. Starrett is good but the digitals are slow and irritating. Digital calipers are more reliable and last forever compared to dial calipers. I have a set of Mits solar cell calipers for over 15 years and still look like new, all of my measuring tools are Mits. That set you have linked to will work great. You got the right idea. There's no reason to buy crap imports, good tools will last a lifetime, and a great investment. Cheap tools cost a fortune. |
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This could be a real can of worms. The set you linked to will do the job and is a first quality set. $385.00 You can also buy a Chinese made non digital set for 50-75 dollars. They will also do the job. Or there is always eBay, substantial savings can be had on Name brand tools if you shop carefully. For me, the high dollar tool would a waste of money, and the Chinese set would be completely adequate for reloading. I've got USA brand tools (Starrett and vintage Lufkin) for machine work. I LIKE quality tools, but I don't think the cost difference is justified for reloading equipment. But hey, If you got the money for the high dollar stuff, and feel that you "gotta have it" then by all means spend the cash and be happy. Don in Ohio Thank you I do not think I "have to have it"; but I am willing to pay for quality. I was told long ago to buy the best measuring devices I could afford from a wire EDM machinist; my uses now and in the future will most likely never require anything close to his needs. I will consider a less expensive alternative. Mitutouyu is my favorite. BUT I would NEVER spend the money on that for reloading. The only time I would is if I still worked in a tooling shop and used it everyday. And guess what? I used to, and it STILL wasn't worth it! I wouldn't even recommend buying a mic for reloading, what are you measuring in ten-thousandths? My God, don't spend $385 when you could have gotten by with a decent $50-80 pair of calipers just because "you buy quality" ––think of all the powder and components that $300 would bring!!!! ETA: Oh, I see, a wire EDM guy told you to buy the best measuring devices you can...well, for one thing, that guy's job IS dependent on ten-thousandths––and it will cost him big $$ if things are off due to measuring tools, so of course it only makes sense for HIM to have $385 worth of mics...but it REALLY doesn't for you, especially for reloading... But. your money, do what you want...you could almost buy another progressive press for the amount of money you are talking. I can think of a few uses for mics in reloading, but only if you are getting very serious like benchresters and such, wall thickness and general "perfectness" –– I can only assume you are not into it THAT big, only because MOST handloaders aren't. Post this in the reloading forum to see what those guys use... Also, FYI I have a 0-1" Polish import mic that works just as well as a Mitutoyu––I bought it for $10 off a guy. The gage blocks don't lie. ETA: I see you only bought the caliper––that was a good choice as you can see by what I said...(didn't see your reply then) |
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Starrett for the mic and Mitutoyo for the Calipers. ETA: For reloading? Go to Harbor Freight and buy a 6" dial caliper for $20. Done. I wouldn't quite go that far, those things can be really bad. Look in enco or travers for something in the $30-$50 range probably fine though... |
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I'd get a Cabelas pair or something cheap. Dude your reloading, not creating critical dimension parts for military applications. Lets keep things in perspective.
Buy a cheap pair of calipers and spend the money on a good calibration block. Thats my advice. This is coming from a machinist of 4 years or so. If you had a paycheck tied to your tools my answer would be COMPLETELY different. I dont say "Dont get that" because its not very nice. Its the same as buying a Porsche to go get groceries. Having said that, if you have the free cash laying around and nothing to do with it hell yeah get it and smile. |