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School Hand held Measurement tools

Desao

Plastic
Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Location
Syracuse, Indiana
I used to teach for a community college the machining and CNC program for them. I moved and was asked by a local college to teach the same program. I am looking at suggesting on having the college order decent and cheap hand held measuring equipment. I have looked up, before posting, and read many posts with the same/similar questions. every one moves to suggesting Mitutoyo (or similar), and do not get me wrong I have Mitutoyo and pre-hexagon Starett mics and calipers in my tool box, and really like using them. but I am looking as lower cost because these are students that have never seen tools like these or used them.

The previous college I worked for mostly used SPI and I was very happy with them. the only issues I had was when student dropped or misused them. The college I will be working for, very few of the administration has done anything near to this field of employment so trying to sell them on Mitutoyo will be difficult, and I might be having to talk them into a complete rework of the program and equipment, and what little tooling they have looks as if they did an internet search and purchased the lowest price tools they could find. I have not even heard of the brands that I saw there, nor could I find the brands in an internet search, and they do not have many any way.

So back to my question... Does the great community have suggestions for dial calipers and vernier mics that wold be suitable to be used to teach a new generation of machinist? (and remember that with students they may not be treated(as I have learned the hard way) as the rest of us may treat our tools. I am currently leaning toward SPI just because of the experience of what I used at the previous college.

(and thank you in advance for any and all assistance!)
 
If your school is going to make an investment I would suggest purchasing an industry standard tool that is not a "throw away" tool like the SPI product line. The quality of SPI has gone way down over the years.

I would suggest Mitutoyo and they offer kits that include a 6" Dial Caliper and 0-1" Micrometer. These tools can be repaired if ever damaged or broken as Mitutoyo has an internal repair department for the small tools and instruments at the Aurora, IL headquarters.

If you would like pricing on some options let me know and I would be happy to assist, we offer school discounts on these sets through Mitutoyo. These are very popular sets among our college and school customers.

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I used to teach for a community college the machining and CNC program for them. I moved and was asked by a local college to teach the same program. I am looking at suggesting on having the college order decent and cheap hand held measuring equipment. I have looked up, before posting, and read many posts with the same/similar questions. every one moves to suggesting Mitutoyo (or similar), and do not get me wrong I have Mitutoyo and pre-hexagon Starett mics and calipers in my tool box, and really like using them. but I am looking as lower cost because these are students that have never seen tools like these or used them.

(and thank you in advance for any and all assistance!)

One of the first things done here at technical schools (and attending a technical school here is more or less mandatory if you want to be a machinist) is teach how to handle and use measuring tools.

By the same reasoning probably not a good idea for someone to have a car before getting a license.
 
If your school is going to make an investment I would suggest purchasing an industry standard tool that is not a "throw away" tool like the SPI product line. The quality of SPI has gone way down over the years.

I would suggest Mitutoyo and they offer kits that include a 6" Dial Caliper and 0-1" Micrometer. These tools can be repaired if ever damaged or broken as Mitutoyo has an internal repair department for the small tools and instruments at the Aurora, IL headquarters.

If you would like pricing on some options let me know and I would be happy to assist, we offer school discounts on these sets through Mitutoyo. These are very popular sets among our college and school customers.

I don't like you started with demeaning the competition. You aren't neutral. A good sales person tells what is good about their products, not what they think is bad about the competition!
 
I don't like you started with demeaning the competition. You aren't neutral. A good sales person tells what is good about their products, not what they think is bad about the competition!

SPI and Fowler are garbage. Hard to argue against that. If you use garbage measuring tools you get garbage measurements. You can not like that all you want.
 
I have taught machining and CNC at the college level for 30 years. We tried the cheap route and it ended up costing more in the end. We have had great success with Starrett micrometers and Brown & Sharpe (Etalon, Swiss made) dial calipers. They last years and are serviceable. The cheap tools rarely last a year.
 
Personal inspection equipment should be purchased by the students. This promotes proper care and handling because it's theirs. Our local vocational school required students to purchase standard set of items: Fishtail, Drill point gauge, 0-1 mics, 6" scales etc.

Best Regards,
Bob
 
SPI and Fowler are garbage. Hard to argue against that. If you use garbage measuring tools you get garbage measurements. You can not like that all you want.

It's actually really easy to argue against that. SPI tools are, for the money, probably the best option out there. They are inexpensive, easy to use, and consistently pass calibration.

And yes, I have used the good stuff. I have a mix of SPI, Brown & Sharp, Mitutoyo, Pratt & Whitney, etc.
 
SPI and Fowler are garbage. Hard to argue against that. If you use garbage measuring tools you get garbage measurements. You can not like that all you want.

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. I didn't think I'd have to explain this but as xplodee sells Mitutoyo then he's biased and should know better. What's happening now is that from now on I'll be watching what he posts. I'm fine with him giving advice on Mitutoyo, not on bad mouthing other brands.
 
Personal inspection equipment should be purchased by the students. This promotes proper care and handling because it's theirs. Our local vocational school required students to purchase standard set of items: Fishtail, Drill point gauge, 0-1 mics, 6" scales etc.

Best Regards,
Bob

I can't imagine any technical school in any country in Europe expecting students to buy their own equipment. Even in almost all companies and shops here (Europe) measuring equipment is company supplied and handled by users sensibly. You wouldn't stay employed long if you didn't. Anyone wanting to have their own equipment should wait until they have the experience to buy what they really need.

I've mentioned earlier that attending technical schools here (Denmark) is as good as mandated here and almost always paid for by the employer. If a person is unemployed and a job change deemed advisable then the state pays.
 
That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. I didn't think I'd have to explain this but as xplodee sells Mitutoyo then he's biased and should know better. What's happening now is that from now on I'll be watching what he posts. I'm fine with him giving advice on Mitutoyo, not on bad mouthing other brands.


Just one problem. That's not xplodee. It's summat else.

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For the record, why buy cheap measuring tools..???

They'll be telling you whether your parts are good or not, I think I'll pay extra to make sure........thank you very much.
 
(and thank you in advance for any and all assistance!)

Apologies if I'm wrong but I'm guessing you are over 60 years. When's the last time you visited an event where measuring equipment was on display? It's also a good idea to take students to events like that. Shows what's available.
 
Personal inspection equipment should be purchased by the students. This promotes proper care and handling because it's theirs. Our local vocational school required students to purchase standard set of items: Fishtail, Drill point gauge, 0-1 mics, 6" scales etc.

Best Regards,
Bob

While I agree purchasing their own helps promote taking care of the items better. School is expensive enough. It should be provided by the school. When I was in school, we were giving all the standard measuring equipment needed. It had to be checked out at the beginning of the school year and checked back in at the end of the school year. If you broke it, you bought it. Plus by using the schools equipment, it gives the students a better idea on what they want to purchase. For instance my school had Starret everything. I didn't like the Starret calipers so I bought Mitutoyo's and will never go back.

SPI may be a good way to start. We have a few community SPI MICS, bore gage, and height gage. All have worked well for at least a handful of years.
 
My suggestion is to have the students sign an agreement to to pay for tools
Damaged by neglect. And to sign out tools before use. The issue will be the instructor will have to police it.
What as their attention to handle tools with care. Post up the cost for replacement. They have no clue how expensive tools are.
As an apprentice I had to buy my own personal tools. Had to get a loan from the employer. You learn to take care with the tools. I would suggest to buy middle line so more of the equipment
 
Huh? If I borrowed something (anythng) from a neighbour I'd probably take better care of it than if it was my own. With company property it should be the same.

It should be the same, but some people just don't care. If you've never had or seen someone not take care of something that wasn't theirs, than you must lead a very sheltered life. The world is full of inconsiderate pricks and stupid people.
 
I can't imagine any technical school in any country in Europe expecting students to buy their own equipment. Even in almost all companies and shops here (Europe) measuring equipment is company supplied and handled by users sensibly. You wouldn't stay employed long if you didn't. Anyone wanting to have their own equipment should wait until they have the experience to buy what they really need.

I've mentioned earlier that attending technical schools here (Denmark) is as good as mandated here and almost always paid for by the employer. If a person is unemployed and a job change deemed advisable then the state pays.
here in the USA if some one needed a tool they were required to sign out for it.
record of who had it last
if was damaged
it prevented theft, you know how stuff disappears
and it was returned
 








 
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