Best place to buy precise, inexpensive, dial indicator with magnetic base

Red X · Jan 13, 2014

Hello,

Looking for an inexpensive yet somewhat precise dial indicator with magnetic base for various projects and automotive repair.

Can anyone recommend a good set or good company for measurement equipment like this? I like the gauges with the swing arm type rather than the plunger.

Thanks.

CalebWelte · Jan 14, 2014

bestest indicator | eBay

get a used one. DTI or dial test indicator not a travel indicator is what you are after. Ask the folks here maybe before you bid on one for better help. Link to the one you think you like. Let us know your budget?

Don Nielson · Jan 14, 2014

Precise and inexpensive can not be used in the same sentence! D

Cole2534 · Jan 14, 2014

Don Nielson said:
Precise and inexpensive can not be used in the same sentence! D

Sure they can! It's that accuracy word that makes things expensive.

drgnrider · Jan 14, 2014

As my company's calibration technician, I often beat my head on the wall trying to calibrate the pawn shop, eBay, 'got from a friend', etc. tools :wall:

... don't get me wrong, some are in decent shape, (I even got some from my in-law's that were very good).

Check-out those links thermite posted before you buy, they do have some good information.

Check the big discount mail-order stores (MSC, ENCO, Travers, etc.), they usually run some decent sales on these items together. As I am no longer in the tool crib, I don't read their sales catalogs too often anymore.

Red X · Jan 14, 2014

Yes. I am familiar with Brown and Sharpe. They are used at my work. Will have a look at the link you sent me. Thanks!

Red X · Jan 14, 2014

Thanks. Will do. If you have a used one that someone has treated well it can be good. However sometimes I'm a bit hesitant to order off ebay. You never know what you are getting.

Red X · Jan 14, 2014

Don Nielson said:
Precise and inexpensive can not be used in the same sentence! D

Yes. I agree. However often a balance can be found.

CalebWelte · Jan 14, 2014

$88 shipped about a year ago. The seller threw in the interapid bendy stick thingy. Had a note that said he didn't have a use for it and thought I might. I did send them out to have them cleaned. It was a $75 minimum charge but with two of them I got out the door for just under $100. Now you do the math. 2 Bestest 0.0005" DTIs with light engraving, the bendy stick, 5 extra tips, and all the usual goodies that come in the case. I think a new one is around $200. Also I got to learn that while my eyes are stil working I like the 1" face a lot better than 1.5". My dad's white faced ones just look a whole lot nicer for some reason maybe the grass is greener type of thing.

Thinking back the seller did say that the larger one would stick if the point was in a certain position. I have never had a problem, even playing around before I had them tuned up. Can you go to ebay and find this same deal RIGHT now. Probably not, but the deals are found by those who look.

CalebWelte · Jan 14, 2014

I had to googler "kitting". Thanks for that bit of learned knowledge.

I don't know who KDK was, but I got his DTIs now and I thank him for taking good care of them, and I will do my best to do the same.

drgnrider · Jan 15, 2014

thermite said:
<snip>
That's part of why I point folks at Long Island Dial's website first.

If you KNOW there is a quality repair service available at a reasonably predictable cost, where to get that, and what those who REPAIR 'many' have found to be problematic, you can make better choices.

<snip>

I just appreciate the extra effort they went to in publishing as a means to better educate consumers. The more of the proven-durable and less of the found-wanting goods folks buy, the better-off we all are.

JM2CW

Bill

I absolutely agree. If I wasn't half a continent away and my company not so difficult in setting-up vendors, I would be utilizing their service. They have provided me education and insight over the past few years. I sent them an e-mail question on Saturday, expecting an e-mail reply about TUE/WED... I actually got a phone call on SUNDAY! No matter how you look at it, that's service!

BobRenz · Jan 15, 2014

Look for older equipment. A few years ago, I bought an entire Kennedy box with base and riser from a retired machinist. The tools all dated from the 1980s - back before the Chinese invasion. Every tool came with his employer's calibration certificate, and I regularly use the tools today.

Used tools can be a good deal if you can find the right tools and the right seller.

drgnrider · Jan 15, 2014

thermite said:
For something as small and light as most metrology gear?

Hell, I'd send them work from Hong Kong or Europe if need be. HAVE used an outfit in Thunder Bay, Ontario for hard-drive recovery and forensics whilst based in Hong Kong. Likewise telecoms gear shipped all over the world. And back.

The cross-border paperwork isn't hard for non-hazardous/prohibited goods being sent for repair.

Intra-USA, there isn't even that barrier.

Bill

Problem is that my purchasing folks are telling me it takes about 9-months to set-up new vendors. Apparently, with our new SAP system, only two people in this European-owned-global company are allowed to approve and create new vendors, and they are based in So. America. They took away my corporate CC when this new SAP system went live. :confused:

drgnrider · Jan 15, 2014

thermite said:
Do tell. For a time, made damned goood money - even the odd bottle of rare malt - fixing those sort of f***ups.

Trick was to deliver the pilot replacement, demo it, get buy-in all 'round, let the grass-roots all dig their bunkers to defend the replacement .. BEFORE the idjuts who had engineered the FUBAR in the first place grokked that you had used older, simpler proven toolsets instead of yet-another latest-and-best-everyone-is-doing-this 'upgrade'..

Bill

Didn't help that they went from a few folks trialing for a few weeks to full-blown implementation. :willy_nilly:

I've done enough "conversions" on telephone networks to know better. But I'm nowhere near appearing on the radar to have been asked my opinion or even for suggestions on fixes. So I just get to sit back, shake my head and watch the fun!

Metal Head · Jan 15, 2014

I have no connection to the seller but noticed these on my local CL and it seems to be a good deal. Maybe he'll ship??

Brown& Sharpe Bestest Indicators

CalebWelte · Jan 15, 2014

Someones former employer is probably looking for those hehe

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