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I finally bought a $200 digital indicator and it caught a 0.002" offset I missed for weeks
That thing paid for itself in one afternoon finding a wobble in my vise setup that was ruining every part, has anyone else had a cheap tool save them that fast?
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oliviagrant1mo ago
0.002" for weeks?" Dang that had to sting.
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ray36320d ago
Get yourself a tenths indicator and a solid granite surface plate. That 0.002" might look small but it'll mess with your head for weeks if you don't pin it down early. I chased a similar issue on my Bridgeport for three weeks before realizing the ram wasn't actually parallel to the table. A simple sweep with the indicator and a quick shim job fixed everything. Keep a log of these finds too, helps when something weird pops up again six months later.
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pat_coleman1mo ago
My Mitutoyo caught a 0.003" taper in my milling vise after I had been fighting with shitty finishes for nearly a month back in 2019. @oliviagrant, that stings but at least you found it before scrapping a whole batch. I spent like $150 on a cheap digital level that showed my lathe bed was twisted 0.005" across the length. That little thing paid for itself in an afternoon too, saved me from chasing my tail on every single part for weeks after.
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