Dabbler
ersatz engineer
telling you how far off zero you are, no?
On a dial indicator, it is only measuring 'one side of the micrometer'.... There is no absolute zero reference. Using a dial indicator (or test indicator), a surface plate, and a gauge block stack, you can make 'referred' measurements that resemble absolute measurements, but - no dial indicator can ever get a direct reading of an absolute measurement, just relative ones.
(I hope I made sense here)...