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Is this Mitutoyo height gage a counterfeit?

SexieWASD

Plastic
Joined
Dec 3, 2019
So the first hint is the price $99 and it was on ebay.

LINK

There are a few rough grinding marks on the top of the base, but otherwise the quality doesn't seam bad at all.

What really makes me think it might be fake is the scribe that it came with doesn't reach the surface it's on, unless I'm doing something wrong. It doesn't seam like Mitutoyo to include the wrong scribe, but the scribe has a carbide tip and it, as well as the base came with a plastic like wax protective coating which seams like a weird bit of attention to detail for a fake.

I can't find a reference to a 520 series of height gages.

There are some listed for $400-$600 or a bit more, and that I get, and I'd be upset if I had paid that for a fake, but at $99 I don't understand why anyone would bother. The seller was selling multiple of them. It's quite a bit of metal, bigger and sturdier than I expected, and a vernier height gage seams like a really niche market to fake. There couldn't be any profit at that price.

If it's not fake I'd like to find the right scribe for it, not that I really plan to use it, but I'd like to have it.
 

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I looked at your link and the price I saw was much more that your $99. Shipment alone cost $140 and the price for the height gauge $404.

What you show I don't think is fake but there will be a reason it's so cheap.

Never forget CAVEAT EMPTOR - especially when used.
 
I agree with Gordon that it's probably not a fake. I can't imagine there's a huge market for vernier height gages, so there would be no point in coming up with a fake. Maybe a close-up picture of the scribe and clamp might help us help you figure out what your issue is. Mitutoyo uses different clamps and scribes on their electronic digital, dial height gage with digital counter, and vernier height gages. I have a Mitutoyo vernier height gage, and it's scriber will not fit a Mitutoyo dial height gage.
If you register with the Mitutoyo Small Tools Knowledge Base, you can get access to all kinds of documentation to various Mitutoyo measuring tools, both current and not-so-current. Mitutoyo America SmallTools Knowledgebase
 
Yeah, that scribe does not look original to that one, too. I have both a vernier one and dial one and they both have similar scribes, but are not interchangeable with each other.
 
I'm not concerned enough to actually make an adapter. I've already picked up a 1um dti to use with it, and am looking for a .01mm. The scribe would only be used for quick rough measurement as my indicators live in their boxes when they aren't in use. I was mostly concerned with the gauge being a knock off. It was sold as new, not used and didn't look like the box had been opened before, so the wrong scribe is concerning.
 
I'm not concerned enough to actually make an adapter. I've already picked up a 1um dti to use with it, and am looking for a .01mm. The scribe would only be used for quick rough measurement as my indicators live in their boxes when they aren't in use. I was mostly concerned with the gauge being a knock off. It was sold as new, not used and didn't look like the box had been opened before, so the wrong scribe is concerning.

Naive can be charming but it's not the word I'm thinking if you thought you were getting "new" for $99.
 
I think it's real. I bought a used 12"/30cm Mitutoyo height gauge in 2018 on Ebay for $88 and free shipping. Pristine condition, looks like yours, but shorter and scribed inches and metric. If it's a knockoff they did a superb job.
 








 
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