Metric Mics

[Downwindtracker2]

I'm a retired millwright and micrometers are tools of the trade., as well as 3/4" drive socket sets. chuckle. After working on both imperial and metric machinery, it's my belief, life is simpler if you work in the measurement system that it was designed and built in. So as I equipped my shop, I needed metric mics, too. A question on Hobby - Machinist about fine measurement metric mics got me looking at my put together set ,0-200mm. Only one has a vernier scale and goes down to .002mm , the rest are just .01mm . That .002mm makes sense as the thimble on metric mics have 50 divisions instead of only 25 on imperial. The odd thing was my VIS micrometer sets, I have 0-6" and a 0-75mm sets. The imperial one has 1/10ths were as the metric is only .01mm.

I purchased my mics from fleamarket, Craig's List, Ebay, clearance bins, a pawn shops, though one even a new off Amazon. With these mallards, I took them apart, cleaned them, oiled them, put them together and adjusted them. The worst one was a Lufkin , by far and way the easiest were the Mitutoyos. A Kanon used the same design, but has a shallow C frame.

 

[ChazzC]

I know I posted these aquisitions somewhere, but can't find it now:

I picked up this Mitutoyo 0—1"/0—25mm CimbiMike back in the 90's when no one wanted it in a factory auction I was helping with:

My interest in them was renewed recently, so I found these on eBay a few weeks ago:


25—50mm/0.98—1.98" NIB (confirmed s/n with Mitutoyo)

2—3"/50—75mm Like New

I prefer mechanical digital for micometers over electronic, and it's nice to be able to pick up one tool instead of two. 0—3" satisfies 90% of my needs, and I have 0—4" (and a calculator) for the rest (and of course 0—6" digital caliper and 0—12" dial caliper; 0.001" is close enough for me).

 

[Downwindtracker2]

I found a couple of Mits reasonable off Ebay. They were from Japan with free shipping. Even at the same price, I prefer Mitutoyo over Starrett . The VIS mics have friction thimbles. When first tried a friction thimble over the ratchet, it was "Where have you been all my life?!"

 

[ChazzC]

I found a couple of Mits reasonable off Ebay. They were from Japan with free shipping. Even at the same price, I prefer Mitutoyo over Starrett . The VIS mics have friction thimbles. When first tried a friction thimble over the ratchet, it was "Where have you been all my life?!"

Yes: I have a couple of mics with friction and do like the feel better than ratchet. Both give consistent readings, but I haven’t tried comparing readings between the two types (another item for the “Shoulder List”).

 

[Downwindtracker2]

I read some machinist on Practical Machining mentioning only doing three clicks. I have noticed with enough ratcheting I could change the 1/10th reading . In our wire mill we measured by the 1/10ths. But for just a thou, my feel was good enough.

 

[ChazzC]

I use a range of types of micrometers from a number of different manufacturers (Starrett, Mitutoyo, Fowler, NSK (Japan Micrometer), Tubular, Scherr-Tumico, SHARS and several oddball/unknown/no-name); with & without ratchets or friction thimbles; new/used/ancient [one of the downsides, or in some cases bonuses of being a hobbyist] and do not use any on a daily basis so developing feel is extra difficult.

I guess I need to expand my micrometer comparison project.

 

[Downwindtracker2]

For oddballs,I have a Japanese Kanon, the Polish VIS, and a little more mainstream, a couple of the English Moore&Wright. They are two different designs. One is the design they made for the Second World War when Britain was cut off from their Swiss suppliers, and the other is a later more common design. Both Brown&Sharp and Craftsman sold the Scherr-Tumico inside mics. I have a Craftsman and went on Google Images to find who made it and came across the Brown&Sharp as well.