Give me some insight into a good micrometer. I don't want to spend a whole lot of money, but it doesn't have to be a low budget instrument either. Can anybody recommend a decent one? Just need one to measure bore diameter and crank journals and stuff like that. TIA.

 

I have had good luck ordering from this place, they have inexpensive quality tools as well as high end stuff.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...urrency=2&SID=

 

ENCO is a distributor of some very nice pieces. You can get Starrett or Brown and Sharpe. Also give DoAll a call-they are a national distributor for various lines. Fowler is another maker of instruments along with Mitutoyo. Check the yellow pages and on the web for theese and other companies.

 

I have the Mitutoyo mic's in three different sizes.

I also recommend getting the ball attachment from Starrett....only b/c I have no way of contacting mitutoyo to get one.

I ordered my micrometers from Enco. http://www.use-enco.com

Cost me $250 something all together for 0-1, 1-2, 2-3.

If you want to measure the bore, you need a 3"-4" inside micrometer OR a 3"-4" outside micrometer with a telescoping gauge (sold only as sets.....$120 something shippped from Snap On).

To measure the crankshaft main journals, you need a 2"-3" micrometer.

To measure the crankshaft rod journals, you need a 1"-2" micrometer.

To measure the bearing thickness, you need a 0"-1" micrometer with a ball attachment and some math skills.

If you got money rolling outta your armpits, get digital mic's to make the job quicker and easier.


[Modified by IN VTEC, 4:27 PM 11/15/2002]

 

That dial caliper is insufficient for measuring cylinder bores and journals. It only goes out to the thousandth's place. You need precision out to the ten-thousandth's place. The tolerances on engines are so tight that they measure them in the ten-thousandth's.

With that said, don't order the micrometers from the Sears catalog. Totally insufficient.

 

i highly recommend mitutoyo also
next would be starrett
kind of pricey but i'd say its worth the cost

 

I'd recommend Mitutoyo also. I've bought all my measuring stuff from them. Excellent quality for a few bucks less than Starrett. The digital calipers I have cost me $100 and they will consistently measure human hairs...no joke!

I bought them from a place called J&L Industrial. They mainly deal with machine shops and stuff, but they'll gladly sell to individuals too. They have competitive prices and have some good sales from time to time. I also like them cause their main distribution center is only a few miles away...it's been invaluable for those last-minute runs for metric hardware!

www.jlindustrial.com

 

I have a set of Mitutoyo Micrometers myself.

For acurate automotive measurement, get three sizes, 0-1", 1-2" and 2-3".
You'll want ones with .0001" readings. These will give you accurate readings upto .001".

Reading micrometers are very tricky. Stationary numbers are read 1/10th of an inch part. Between those numbers, there are 4 ticks, which represent .025". On the rotating part, there are numbers which represent .00X(x being the numbers). On the other side, there are more numbers that represent .000x. You add all those up, plus the size of the micrometer, and you get very accurate thickness.

I'm confusing myself explaining.

 

Also, don't forget e-bay.

 

the mitutoyo micromoters are ok but most machinists prefer starret over mitutoyo because of the feel of the micrometer and the overall durability. there are people where i do cnc work that have had their starrets for over 15 years and they look and function like new. both have about the same accuracy and there are some mitutoyos that i like better that some starrets. the main reason honda people prefer the mitutoyo is because it sounds jdm i was that way untill i dropped on of the company ones and am now a firm believer in starret. as for the digital having better accuracy or easier to read stay with a mechanical readout and not a digital one because moisture magnetic fields and vibration screw these up . that is why my company has outlawed them in the plant the only digital units we use are mitutoyo indicator gauges which are securely connected to a solid 30 pound frame. digital is not better but starret and mitutoyo both make good mechanical readout analog units that let you read up to .001 with the tenths readout on the vermier scale on the thimble