Decent vernier height gauges ?

[ronan walshParticipant @ronanwalsh98054]

[ronan walshParticipant @ronanwalsh98054]

I want to buy a decent quality vernier height gauge for general marking out. Having a look on fleabay etc i see there are a lot of chesterman and shardlow height gauges on there for reasonable prices, are they good quality ? I would rather buy a good quality older one than a half baked bit of far eastern junk , if you know what i mean.

Does anyone have any input ?

[NobbyParticipant @nobby]

HI Ronan
If you do buy an H.Gauge make sure that the scriber can reach the surface plate to read zero . some height gauges dont do this. The job/part has to be put on parallels take a reading etc
They may be more input on this.
Nobby

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

I own a shardlow and like the fine adjusment engaged at the flick of a lever, I have used Chesterman also and both are good quality tools.

Mike

[Swarf, Mostly!Participant @swarfmostly]

Hi there,
Chesterman are a good old British make. However, if you buy one, make sure that it comes with the scriber and clamp – they are as rare as hens teeth!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

[Steve WithnellParticipant @stevewithnell34426]

Just got one from ARC. Perfectly serviceable for the home workshop.

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

G'day.

Although far eastern, but not junk, it's hard to go past a Mitutoyo.

Regards from the land of the kangaroo

* Danny M *

[jonathan heppelParticipant @jonathanheppel43280]

Most of those old timers were top quality. I suggest you look for a satin chrome or stainless one. Bear in mind speed of use- that's where the digital or dial ones score, particularly with a complex layout

It's wise to regard any electronics as essentially disposable, even premium brands.

Rotagrip advertise a reasonable looking twin column dial type.

Me? I use an APE microball, which is yet another style. 

Just trying to cover a few bases!

Edited By jonathan heppel on 14/11/2013 21:32:02

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Posted by Nobby on 14/11/2013 18:43:09:

HI Ronan
If you do buy an H.Gauge make sure that the scriber can reach the surface plate to read zero . some height gauges dont do this. The job/part has to be put on parallels take a reading etc
They may be more input on this.
Nobby

Hi Nobby,

I have to confess as an apprentice I made a 'dog leg' scriber to get round this problem, another one of those tools we made to hone our skills and now consigned to my tool chest under the stairs. I personally now use a digital height gauge at home.

Tony

[ronan walshParticipant @ronanwalsh98054]

Posted by Danny M2Z on 14/11/2013 21:05:56:

G'day.

Although far eastern, but not junk, it's hard to go past a Mitutoyo.

Regards from the land of the kangaroo

* Danny M *

Mitutuoyo is not junk by any stretch of the imagination danny, but the prices take some swallowing though. What i meant was stuff of indeterminate origin and quality. Some of the tools i have bought, that i know were cheaper far eastern has been disappointing. I usually prefer secondhand professional tools , even if they are overkill sometimes.

[WALLACEParticipant @wallace]

Personally, I’d go for a non digital one. That way you know it will never have a flat battery and will never stop working !

W.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by WALLACE on 14/11/2013 23:24:39:
Personally, I'd go for a non digital one. That way you know it will never have a flat battery and will never stop working !

W.

.

By definition, a Vernier height gauge should not be digital

MichaelG.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Like Jonathan I prefer the APE Microball type as I find the micrometer adjustment easier to read than a conventional vernier. Ageing eyes! For a normal vernier consider fitting a magnifier on a wire arm, it does help. Mitutoyo made some with a magnifier but, unfortunately, most of the ones so fitted are of indeterminate make although all those I have seen are clearly Mitutoyo copies.

The digital approach has its advantages but I can't be doing with the battery issue. Mind you I do have around 30 micrometers and a dozen or so verniers (one day I'll have a proper count!) about the place! Imperial and metric up to 12 inches / 300 mm including depth and internal soon add-up. A couple of 50 mm travel, sub micron resolution Heidenhain probes meet my digital needs.

Clive

[Brian WarwickParticipant @brianwarwick88192]

Posted by jonathan heppel on 14/11/2013 21:24:28:

It's wise to regard any electronics as essentially disposable, even premium brands.

WHY?

To me that's a strange statement, I do not wish to be offensive but I am totally at a loss as to why anyone would make such a wild statement with no explanation.

[Bill PudneyParticipant @billpudney37759]

I too use an APE Microball. The micrometer adjustment is excellent, highly recommended.

cheers

Bill

[JoParticipant @jo]

If you have a height vernier and are missing the scriber then M-DRO will sell you a replacement. I recently picked up one from them for my 24" Chesterman, ok it had a metric width but a little tickle with a milling cutter on each side of the shank took it to the right size. The scriber will not reach the surface plate on that one, only on the diddly little 12" ones.

One thing to look out for: My 12" Mitutoyo has a really useful magnifier lens mounted above the scale to help read the vernier guage. I must make one for the larger Chesterman.

Jo

[FlywheelParticipant @flywheel]

watched a tv program recently about the Rolls Royce factory building the Trent jet engines, noticed some Mitutoyo equipment in their factory, so if it's good enough for them its good enough for me!

Peter

[Bill PudneyParticipant @billpudney37759]

Posted by Flywheel on 15/11/2013 08:35:00:

watched a tv program recently about the Rolls Royce factory building the Trent jet engines, noticed some Mitutoyo equipment in their factory, so if it's good enough for them its good enough for me!

Peter

I'm not saying that Mitutoyo do not make top quality gear, because they clearly do. However I wouldn't count on the "whats good enough…." routine too much. The likelihood is that RR prepared a list of the equipment required, along with the standards required and sent it to 3 or 4 suppliers. Then they bought the cheapest package.

cheers

Bill

[Brian WarwickParticipant @brianwarwick88192]

Posted by Bill Pudney on 15/11/2013 08:55:53

I'm not saying that Mitutoyo do not make top quality gear, because they clearly do. However I wouldn't count on the "whats good enough…." routine too much. The likelihood is that RR prepared a list of the equipment required, along with the standards required and sent it to 3 or 4 suppliers. Then they bought the cheapest package.

cheers

Bill

chances are you are wrong in implying RR buy on price while I am certain they are careful with their money the SPECIFICATION will state what is fit for purpose and Accuracy and Reliability will be key factors

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Brian

The disposable nature of modern electronics is, regrettably, an established fact due primarily to the main electronics gubbins being concentrated into model specific integrated circuits for which no spares are available. Even if you could extract the offending object given that the internal circuit boards are of minimal dimensions and designed for robotic assembly. Some of the premium brands may offer servicing but, realistically, the labor costs involved in stripping, cleaning, replacing the gubbins and rebuilding end up pretty comparable to simply buying a new widgit outright. Mass production makes things very cheap to build.

In principle you could make your own old style micrometer or vernier. No chance with the electronic version. I have a good idea how optical scales can be made and the readout electronics involved due to being associated with research laboratory efforts to build our own way back before commercial offerings appeared. Late 1970's I think. What we built was just about within home shop capability but it was big, bench mount, not hand. TTL & CMOS integrated circuits. No micros then.

For modern gear if cleaning and new batteries don't fix it you are pretty much stuffed although sometimes a display can be changed.

Whats really annoying is that the inexpensive stuff is made just that bit too cheaply so short life is certain due to things like processors inadequately sealed by a dollop of epoxy and so on. Whilst the good stuff market is limited so price is high.

Clive

[jonathan heppelParticipant @jonathanheppel43280]

Posted by Brian Warwick on 15/11/2013 00:33:29:

Posted by jonathan heppel on 14/11/2013 21:24:28:

It's wise to regard any electronics as essentially disposable, even premium brands.

WHY?

To me that's a strange statement, I do not wish to be offensive but I am totally at a loss as to why anyone would make such a wild statement with no explanation.

Not wild at all When they go wrong they are frequently either impossible or uneconomic to repair, particularly when a few years old. No different than most modern electronics. Check out Long Island Indicator Repair for authoritative though not infallible advice.

I'm not suggesting you shouldn't buy electronics, just not to treat them as heirlooms, My Mit calipers gave up after ten years or so of sterling service, so I bought new ones. That's it in a nutshell.

[Brian WarwickParticipant @brianwarwick88192]

Clive

With all due respect you are assuming a component failure therefore speculating that all electronics will fail. I am no expert but I have electronic devices dating back to the seventies that still work very well, I have always believed that as in mechanical engineering there are tolerances which have a great influence on the life span of a component and equally the cost and that the same is true of electronic engineering.

I do not believe the electronics used in the likes of an aircraft is deemed guaranteed to fail neither do I accept modern electronics are disposable simple for the reliability, its more because of the rapid advances and the modern believe we must have the latest model even if the one you have is fit for purpose. although this is not generally the case in the home workshop

[jonathan heppelParticipant @jonathanheppel43280]

There's also the issue of lead free solder, which has much lower longevity and reliability than the old sort. It's no surprise that leaded solder is still permitted for medical, military and aerospace purposes, and that solder joints are being designed out where possible.

 

Edited By jonathan heppel on 15/11/2013 11:32:09

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 14/11/2013 23:41:24:

By definition, a Vernier height gauge should not be digital

MichaelG.

.

I am surprised, and a little disappointed, that no-one chose to challenge this deliberately provocative comment.

Whilst it is true that the Vernier scale is an Analogue device … the very process of reading it involves a subconcious act of AtoD conversion, and our resulting interpretation is Digital.

[So far as I am aware, it is impractical to interpolate a reading to better resolution than that prescribed by the scale.]

It should not, therefore, be "beyond the wit of man" to devise an instrument that used the Vernier "mechanism" but then used opto-digital methods to determine which pair of marks was [most nearly] aligned. … The result [now in the digital domain] could then be presented digitally; on a local display, or output to computer.

MichaelG.

Don't mind me, I'm just pondering.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

I don't know what you mean by "half baked eastern junk" – I can only speak from my own experience.

I had a 12" digital height gauge as a Christmas present from my wife four or five years ago. THIS one I think. It is, and always has been, fine. The issue of batteries is really irrelevant. I buy packs of SR44/LR44 ( the common type for digital scales) from e*** ( not the cheapest available but branded and dated versions) so I always have spares to hand. When I get down to my last pack I order some more. The height gauge does not eat batteries – provided it is turned off after use! ( although it does have an "auto off" function too. In this state if you press the ON button it has remembered the previous setting.)

There is one distinct advantage with the digital version. If you have a series of marks to make – lets say 12.5mm, 21mm, 3.5mm etc. there is no need to work it out (ie 12.5, 33.5, 37). Just press the reset after making each mark – 0.000 is displayed  – then raise by the required amount.

Pressing the in/mm button converts the reading between Imp/metric

The biggest advantage of all though is that it is MUCH easier to read!

I like it!

Norman

 

Edited By NJH on 15/11/2013 13:52:25

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