Metric micrometer what t buy?

I now have a dilemma, I have a set of imperial mic's, all Moore & Wright, but since I've bought the new mill I find I'm converting the imperial to metric in my head and its becoming a bind!

I thought I'd have a look for a reasonably priced "quality" 0-25 mic on ebay but they all look to be well used. There are of course other options and I was wondering what peoples thought were about digital? They do look a bit bulky though...

Otherwise I may go for a Kennedy (I believe made by Mitutoyo) from Zoro for £18.99 rather than the unbranded real cheepies.

Observations and suggestions welcome!

Not trying to be confrontational here but..

What's the problem with a cheap micrometer? It's basically an adjustable zero scale and a screw thread and two (hopefully parallel) anvils. Unless measuring to an accuracy greater than the mill can produce.....

pgk

Not controversial at all! I did pick up a cheap mic a while back but felt that the "feel" of the thing was poor, especially after a career where Tesla, Moore and Wright etc were the standard.

I accept that a cheap mic would probably do what I need but I don't want to wish I'd bought better when I use the darn thing!

If buying again I would probably go for Kennedy as I have used their measuring instruments for many years at work and they aren't much more expensive than the real cheapies. I hadn't heard about their being made by Mitutoyo, but it wouldn't surprise me, my Kennedy digital caliper is an exact clone of a Mitutoyo of the same vintage.

Personally I'll own up to using a really cheap "whale" brand micrometer. It's measuring surfaces are flat, it agrees at 3 points with my inch Starrett (so the thread should be right) and its ratchet is even enough to get repeatable readings.

Brian G

When I dropped my beautiful Tesa micron-reading mechanical mic and it stopped working I bought a nice Mitutoyo in an MSC sale. It's very nice but a pain to wind back to zero if you need to; doesn't have an on/off switch; and the battery often runs down between readings as I so seldom use it. I actually went and bought a nice Mitu mechanical metric mic from eBay for less than 30 quid which is used for everyday. I also bought a Mitu inductive scale "vernier" last year in an Allendale special offer, having been disillusioned by the cheap capacitive ones (and a not so cheap "Baty" type).

John

What or which is the Baty instrument you are referring to?

Ian P

I've recently bought a Kennedy metric micrometer off eBay at a reasonable price. It checks out in all aspects as far as the accuracy that I need so I wouldn't discount the 'Cheapo's ' it now resides along with my eclectic selection of mic's, M & W, Kennedy, Shardlow, Mitutoyo; the oldest being the Shardlow dual scale bought back in the days when I was an apprentice over 50 years ago, still accurate today.

My recent purchase...

**LINK**

George.

I always buy Mitutoyo, superbly made and a big plus in these days of throw away society they have good spares availability and service department. I have had some of mine for over forty years !

Marek.

I bought a very cheap (£5) 0-25 mic from the far east via Ebay a few years ago. I bought it as a second mic to go with the M&W I've had for many years. I thought at the price it wouldn't be a complete disaster if it was inaccurate.

First thing I did was check it's accuracy with slip gauges, absolutely spot on! The only down side is that the "nut" is not adjustable, not a reason not to buy but I'm sure there will be those who would not purchase because of this.

John

Agree with pgk pgk, a cheap one will be more than accurate enough after all we are not working to tenths of thous.

Have you considered an electronic/digital one?
This is an ebay example, though I'm not particularly advocating this individual product.

Note that, unlike some, it does also have a proper thimble, so can be used conventionally as well.

They are available with both metric and imperial thimbles, from a variety of manufacturers.
I recently bought an SPI one at a good price, Swiss made and feels good in the hand. Mine's got an imperial thimble, which is ideal as all my machines are also imperial.

Unfortunately I hadn't realised until it arrived, that the fixed anvil is ball ended, so it works well for flat surfaces and tube wall thicknesses, but since your main use for it is on the mill. that might even be advantageous.

p.s. This looks to be a similar item with a different badge if the Silverline logo offends, and also has a metric thimble. They probably all come out of the same factory.

Bill.

Edited By peak4 on 14/11/2019 12:45:41

Maybe Henry doesn't want a micrometer at all!

Putting a DRO on a milling machine makes a wonderful difference. Forget backlash, counting turns and remembering where you are. Move directly to wanted coordinates, and - as a freebie - switch seamlessly between metric and imperial measure with a single button press.

Dave

Best mod I made was putting DRO’s on my mill, metric or inches at the press of a button.
Dave W

I'm halfway through putting a DRO on my mill! Its handy to know how much needs to be milled off though, hence the reason for buying a metric mic!

Thanks for all the replies so far everyone. No rush to get one so I'll see what comes along...

Putting a DRO on a mill is a transformation which I would rate higher than fitting a VFD, neither of which I would not be without now. however I have enough difficulty using a digital caliper on the mill (on the occasions something on the job needs measuring) and for the work I do I cannot think of any places or opportunities where a micrometer would either be better suited to taking a measurement off a mounted work in progress.

Access for a conventional mic or a caliper is very restricted unless the head is raised or the work traversed away from the cutter.

Ian P

I agree with all the comments about fitting DRO to a mill. Even if it's an Imperial one it is so much better than trying to remember how many turns of the handle you have made and if you want to do metric then it's just the flick of a switch.

Brian

Shahe from China is awesome and reasonably priced

0-25mm 0.001 Micrometer

The solution is simple - a calculator !

I use a fractions calculator on my ipad to add up dimensions on drawings that are given in fractions then convert it to decimal which alleviates headaches !

Isn't that what a digi micrometer / vernier caliper does at a push of a button... mm -> fractions -> decimal, & vicky vercky.

George.

Keep looking on e bay for a moore and wright, good ones do turn up