Mitutoyo Center Master

Has anybody used a Mitutoyo Center Master attachment for a height gage? Did you like it, is it repeatable and is it worth 155 dollars??
TIA,
Dave

SchneiderMachine said:

Has anybody used a Mitutoyo Center Master attachment for a height gage? Did you like it, is it repeatable and is it worth 155 dollars??
TIA,
Dave

Click to expand...

I had one of them at a previous employer, and I found it very helpful, especially if there were alot of hole-to-hole measurements to be made. Repeatability is (in my opinion) up to the user, since determining the center of a hole is based on how you "line things up". If you can align the lines on a vernier, you can easily use one of these. It's much quicker than indicating the bottom or top of a hole, then doing the required calculations. It's one of those tool that you may not use every day, but you're glad you have it. Pricey? It depends on ow much time you save with it.

Center masters are great, but require finesse

Some thoughts-
A center master will make the work fly when you have lots of hole centers to check...
But for best results, you need to be really comfortable with your height gage's fine adjustment feature.
And always use the same direction of approach for all your readings, working all the positions called out from a single datum or origin in groups per the print.
For close tolerance work, if you overtravel at the the index line; back off, drop back and come up again from the same direction of approach.
This methods negates any small amount of slack or hysteresis in your setup.
Ed Hopson

Resurrecting an old thread to ask a question.

I just got a Center Master second hand at half price of a new one.

Usage is pretty self-explanatory, but I'm wondering about one thing.
In the lower right corner of the triangle there is a black tapered pin, retained by an o-ring in the back side.
With the movable part held in the middle position, this pin can be pushed in, locking the movable part (it has a circular notch which engages the taper). What is the point of this feature?

And some off-topic question, included in the lot was a mixed bunch of other parts (advertised as height gauge accessories, not specifically Mitutoyo), none of them fit my Mitutoyo 192-130 dial height gauge, besides a square bar with a hole and a thumbscrew at the end (a holder for a probe or a dial indicator, I think). Is there anything there which has other purposes or could be useful? Picture:

The pin is to lock it on center as you have found out. It came with a plastic fitted box, locking it on center makes it easier to get in and out of the box. That is all I've found it useful for.
Dave

Your accessory's look like they are for a large height master type gage. Adapters and probes, was at one time an expensive accessory set.

Since this thread was started this video has been made. Easy and fast. Only shows 1 minute but that's enough.

YouTube

I saw the video, Gordon, thanks. The usage of the device is straightforward and obvious. The only question was the purpose of that tapered pin.

SchneiderMachine, your explanation makes sense. However it seems weird for Mitutoyo to add extra complexity to the device just for that reason - they could have just made the cutout in the box bigger. Perhaps locking the movement protects the device's accuracy against bumps. I'll make a box for it and keep it locked when not using it, then

"locking pin"
Its so you can use it as a point to point device so you don't have to remove and replace with carbide tip.

Nick