Buying measuring tools internationally

So here in Aus Mitutoyo is more or less the industry standard for tools all my Mic’s and Vernier’s are. We get the usual stuff cheap enough a standard 0-25mm runs from $80 to $90 ($60 USD) but I now have a need for more exotic stuff and I got a quote of $260 ($195 USD) for a 0-25mm interchangeable anvil Mic about $100 more than I was expecting! I have a feeling it’s the importation problem of our market is to small

So wherever you are from is this a reasonable price to pay for such an instrument?

I have contacts in Japan is it worth trying to buy direct from Mitutoyo?

Should I look to Starratt direct from the US (bloody expensive and rare to import)

What about buying from Europe?

Thanks in advance guys

Your price seems a bit high, but the price depends very much who you are buying it from. I would browse eBay. com, eBay.de and eBay.co.uk for price and shipping comparisons before I would commit to a purchase.

I have to say that I'd buy from just about anywhere if the price (including higher overseas shipping and maybe import tax) makes the item a good buy.

As a UK individual I regularly buy from the US, Canada and Europe. I have also purchased from Mitutoyo UK directly too, there is no saving there but they usually have the item that no one else has on the shelf.

John

$165 for a new interchangeable anvil mic is the cheapest I can find in a quick search here in the states, so I would guess you are getting a reasonable price. Mitutoyo is regarded as the industry standard everywhere I have worked, and I rarely see anything that I would consider better. Measurement and inspection tools are often considered a consumable item, use it until the calibration becomes difficult to maintain then replace it, so I don't see much use in looking for best I could find in an industrial application. And I definitely don't consider Starrett to be as good as Mitutoyo. I definitely like Starrett, I have a number of their tools, but I don't see them as being 'refined' to the standard of even my ancient B&S mics.

Thanks fellas yeah I only got one quote from our work supplier they had to call Mitutoyo directly so i figured everywhere would do the same. I also got a quote on an internal groove micrometer the disc type it was over $500 AUST and i know how fragile they are. After all that I didnt see the point in asking about a level

Jersey John said:

As a UK individual I regularly buy from the US, Canada and Europe. John

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The UK will leave the EU but last time I checked you were still in Europe

In the 70's Starrett was considered the "standard" for measuring, B&S was a step up. Yes there were other major makers but those two were what I saw the most of in better die/mold shops. Mitutoyo was the challenger in the market and made a decent tool for slightly less so I purchased them for some of the micrometers. That changed some time ago and the quality fell off around the same time as outsourcing became the Salvation Of Manufacturing. I believe quality has fallen off for Starrett and B&S but Mitutoyo has improved. I still purchase certain makes for specific measuring instrument (Starrett does still makes a better scale than the others) but for micrometers or one of Mitutoyo's Height Master Gauge I wouldn't hesitate to purchase.

AD Design said:

In the 70's Starrett was considered the "standard" for measuring, B&S was a step up. Yes there were other major makers but those two were what I saw the most of in better die/mold shops. Mitutoyo was the challenger in the market and made a decent tool for slightly less so I purchased them for some of the micrometers. That changed some time ago and the quality fell off around the same time as outsourcing became the Salvation Of Manufacturing. I believe quality has fallen off for Starrett and B&S but Mitutoyo has improved. I still purchase certain makes for specific measuring instrument (Starrett does still makes a better scale than the others) but for micrometers or one of Mitutoyo's Height Master Gauge I wouldn't hesitate to purchase.

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i find Starrett still makes very good tools unfortunately the price has gone up considerably over the years
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Mitutoyo tools have not gone up in price as fast and their selection of tools has gotten bigger over the years and they seem more available from more vendors. but the tools i believe are made in many countries

DMF_TomB said:

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but the tools i believe are made in many countries

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Re Mitutoyo. They are and also helps explain why prices don't increase as much as they could.

Very, very little of Starrett is still made in the USA. Very popular here up until the 70ties when they declined. Can still be bought as new but very few suppliers available.

Gordon B. Clarke said:

Re Mitutoyo. They are and also helps explain why prices don't increase as much as they could.

Very, very little of Starrett is still made in the USA. Very popular here up until the 70ties when they declined. Can still be bought as new but very few suppliers available.

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Starrett still has factory in USA making tools. but all those pollution control laws have made manufacturing expensive in USA but they are making air and water cleaner.
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Chrome plating has become rare. hexavalent chrome i believe was classified a carcinogen like 20 years ago and i know of factories where they shutdown plating operation or outsourced the plating operation. same with cast iron foundries. many small foundries closed and the casting were out sourced when pollution laws were changed in the 1990's in the USA
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in China i saw a plating operation where building was mostly garage door roll up type. they rolled up the doors during operation and basically the tanks just had a roof over them. many small item like door hinges were done by the hundreds and thousands and put in burlap bags

DMF_TomB said:

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Starrett still has factory in USA making tools. but all those pollution control laws have made manufacturing expensive in USA but they are making air and water cleaner.

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I like that ^ LOL, & yes on the hex-chrome mostly gov’t work only (real cashy).

$160 doesn’t seem too bad for a reputable maker (Mit I assume). The 1980 price of my Starrett 220 multi bumped x 2.7(modest inflation index) would be about $190US. The odd tools were always expensive from everybody.

As for tool makers it’s a horses for courses thing, I’m mostly Starrett because it was the dominant choice when I bought most of my tools of this type. The Mits showed up in the mid-late 70’s with a price advantage for journeyman type tools. They definitely kicked the snot out of everybody on dial indicator prices (Enco, Chicago sold lots of them). Add to that it looked like we were going metric, so the apprentice boxes @ Cat, Deere & such started to have green framed mics & squares.

Any pecker swinging contest about the best builder is kinda nuts. Because I may think the B&S mics were lighter to the point of maybe being fragile means nothing, they were well built, Etalon, Mit etc. it’s the same.

The reason Starrett may have been a standard (or just more common) is because they made so many tools. Just the mics portion of a 70-80’s catalog had more offerings that the total tools of any other maker (a lot of industry specific things included). Spindles were offered in 200”-.235”-.250”-.270”&.300” diameters, frames ranged from the most common 436 to the stronger 226 and the (yo-mama) 239. The latter 2 had a better attention to the frame than I have ever seen in any like tool. Then of course they made this nutball for insane money (direct read .0001” reason to.00002”) and still do → T221XL Hi-Precision Micrometer

So yea, they once dominated in the US but not likely now (looking at prices).

Good luck,
Matt