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has any one here sent of calipers for repair?

I have used these folks in years past.

http://longislandindicator.com/p44.html

I was happy.

I found them jus now...was it cost effective?
there is a place in az also I have an email out to..

I have some RCBS dial calibers never used. I will sell them for $30 plus $5 for mailing them.

Why not just send them to the manufacturer? I don't know if Starret, for instance, offers a reasonable repair service but it seems like they should. GD

Thanks for the offer but I have been using cheap ones for years in reloading and they are fine. The ones I need fixed are mutouyo...

I read on there websight they only service current models... These are pretty old.

Precision tool repair and reasonable is an oxymoron in my experience. Just the cost of replacement parts makes repair not cost effective. I just bite the bullet and replace damaged precision tools.

I have a set of twelve inch Mitutoyo dial calipers which I have been going to send back for several years now (obviously not critical to the operation). My theory is that they will either fix them or they won't. I have a set of Chinese twelve inch dial Calipers which cost just under half as much and have functioned flawlessly for twenty years in the same environment so I sometimes wonder if you really do get what you pay for. GD

greydog,



You don't! You get what you shop for. My Mitutoyo started acting up last month. I went to Harbor Freight and went through several until I found one that was smooth and consistent and the jaws were matching full length.

A little off topic, but I will point out that knocking them off your bench is hard on them. miles

They don't bounce very good and they always land on the jaws...

Thank God the company I work for sends them out for repair or replacement.

It does happen tho....
I'm a qulaity tool junky and really don't like China made anything if I can avoid it...

I used to swear by some Mickeytoyo gages, but they started outsourcing like everyone else. I still have most of my Mickeytoyo OD mics and they were made in Brazil. I bought them about 30 years back. Good quality, but who knows where they make them now. I liked some Starret gages (Especially depth mics), but I would never buy anything made by Starret with a dial on it.

The ones I need repaired are made in Japan....weren't they originally made in Japan?

Originally. Depends how old they are.

Originally?..I guess I don't know. I bought them on an auction in some Kennedy boxes...
Were they Japan made in the beginning?

Yes, Mitutoyo is a Japanese company. Been using their products since the 60s.

All their stuff was made in Japan years ago, and good quality too. They started farming out their products in the early 70's for sure. I have OD mics marked made in Brazil I bought at that time.

If you like harbor freight calipers you will never appreciate the good stuff. My favorite dial caliper is a Brown & Sharpe- Swiss made and feels like it. I have Starrett, Craftsman, SPI, Mitutoyo and Fowler. The Brown & Sharpe are cream of the crop. I have played with a few of the $20 calipers and they are gritty, hard to zero and sometimes skip. I have a few sets of Helios calipers but my eyes can't read them anymore!

When I read this, I had to run down to the shop and double check my set of Mitutoyo mikes. I would have pretty upset if they were marked "Made in Brazil". Thankfully, they are made in Japan. Remember when Japanese stuff was considered to be cheap junk? How times change. GD

The machinists love the Brown and Sharpe dials and Mitutoyo digitals. I have a 25 year old Chinese import dial, an early import, that I like better than my Starrett. I had two Chinese imports but my Lab chewed one.

While I have Mits and a Starrett 0-1" mikes,my 0-6" and 0-100mm sets of mikes are made in Poland. After I stripped, cleaned, and adjusted them, the VIS with their friction thimbles sure beat the ratchets on the Mits and the Starrett.

Sounds like they are worth fixing...
Sadly there was a B&S 0-1 mic in the bottom drawer of one of the Kennedy boxes. Probably sat on a garage or basement floor through many Nebraska humid summers...and it turned pretty rusty.. Any suggestions...

It's gone to metrological heaven. Give it a good funeral.

My calipers: Brown & Sharpe 6", 60's vintage, still feels like a Rolex. Helios 6", 70's vintage, my work-a-day calipers. 24" Browne&Sharpe, 50's vintage, more for looking at than using. Mics: B&S and Mitutoyo 0-1", various Starrets up to 6". Vernier calipers: B&S and Mauser Werke- by far the most accurate calipers but I need a magnifier to read the scales anymore. Height indicators: several, up to and including 36" Starret (have four of those- anybody need one?). Starret granite surface plate to use them on. Depth mics: B&S 0-1". Most important ones: A set of Starret standards and a set of B&S jo blocks. One needs to verify one's accuracy now and then, no?

Don't ask me why I have a lot of 0-1" mics. I have a Starrett, 2-NSKs(Japanese), Mitutoyo(Japanese), and a B&S. I do have a set of Gauge blocks and them from time to time. In the old days when I worked in the shop I only bought B&S.

I used an Etalon the other day and it was very nice.

I have a couple of gage blocks to check my mikes with too. I don't like to have to set them at zero and hope that is good for the whole range. I have one block that is .500000. Guaranteed to 4 millionths. I rarely need that type of accuracy but it is a nice peace of mind to set your mikes as close to perfect as possible.

How many of us really check that stuff. When is the last time you had a torque wrench certified? I have to for aircraft work. Never had one off but that sticker is important.

I used to have a set of Etalon mics from 5"-12", but I sold them as I never used them gunsmithing. They are a superior product, Swiss I believe.

My mics, depth gages, dials, straight edges, rules, etc are all Starrett from 25 years ago except my Mitutoyo digital calipers for the loading bench and a backup SPI digital for the Mitutoyo. If I could do it all over I would have set aside my misguided distrust of Japanese products and bought all Mitutoyo. Same in the accuracy dept but better legibility and seals than Starrett.

The Starrett stuff from 25 years ago is good stuff. I like Mitutoyo digital stuff but I still like the Swiss the dials and regular vernier mikes.

When I worked as a machinist we had to calibrate everything once a year.
My Starrett calipers would sometimes get a chip caught in the rack gear and it could jump a tooth.
I would just keep flushing it with oil and try to flood it out.
I did have to send them in to the factory once.

It's not a bad idea to have an old fashioned vernier caliper around. I use reading glasses with mine these days though.

I traded my verner for digitals decades ago. A couple days ago I found an old plastic pair in the tool box. I will give them to a very young friend. I hope he will be able to learn how to use them.

I wouldn't use plastic ones to measure hotdogs.


The vernier ones are fine if you wear an optivisor!

What would you use for a hot dog, Dennis?

Vernier calipers, if made with the necessary precision, are potentially the most accurate of them all. With only one moving part there isn't much to get out of whack. I still use mine, but only if I have a lens with which to read the scale.

A vernier caliper is not hard to use, at all. Like Gary says, what's to go wrong?

If you want to try a more difficult vernier, try a 20 second transit.

I have both, but use a mic if I need an accurate measurement.
Dennis, I was jerking your chain.