Thx guys. My only experience so far has been with interapid as far as dti's. I guess when I get a new .0005 I'll just stick with that and for tenths pick up best test. As far as durability im sure interapid is rock solid.. I dropped one pretty hard a couple days ago, but just checked it with gage blocks rising and falling and still accurate
I don't intend to start a "my drop was worse than yours" but uh...
I had a guy use my interrapid indicator on an indicol holder to indicate a vise in. No problem, I let him use it.
He indicated it in, and then typed in the M-code that made the machine go home. Problem was, that Mcode also oriented the spindle, and that stupid machine would literally spin as fast as it could (12k rpm spindle) a few revs before settling into place.
Well wouldn't you know, The indicator flew off the indicol, hit the back wall of the enclosure, flew out of the top of the machine and landed about 20 feet away.
Only thing wrong with it (tested it extensively) is that it broke the stylus and cracked the crystal. Also a little dent in the body.
Fast forward 2 years. a newer employee needed it to do the same thing on the same machine. I TOLD HIM THE ABOVE STORY. I TOLD HIM NOT TO TYPE THAT M CODE. I SAID TAKE MY BABY OUT OF THE SPINDLE BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE. 5 minutes later, I heard the same CRASH happen. Actually, the indicator landed within a few feet of where it did the first time...
THIS TIME, it needed to be serviced. Had it sent out and they replaced the spindle gear, maybe another gear. It had a dead spot in travel, still mostly worked after that.
Company paid for the repair, thankfully. Works perfectly again now.
The last crash was about 2 years ago. We got rid of that stupid machine...
As for the Mitutoyo indicator, I have one. Don't fancy it in any way, use it sparingly. I love their digital calipers and micrometers though.