As a newbie to metalworking, I am having to buy plenty of tooling, mostly from Enco. It is astounding the difference in price between 'import" and "USA" products. Like everyone else I am sure, I wish my dollars to obtain the right value. But am unsure as to where I can go "cheap" and where I should not.
I figured a quality chuck was worth it, and opted for a Bison, even though that was about 3X the cost of the Asian model. I also purchased non-Asian drill bits, figuring a cheap set of those would not be worth the potential trouble. But, bought a cheap mill hold down kit since there is no real precision here. But what about a micrometer, calipers, dial and test indicators, and other measuring instruments? Mitutoyo and Starrett are far, far more costly than imports, but what I am getting if a cheap measuring instrument measures consistently?
What general areas do you feel safe in buying cheaper vs expensive, and what areas do you feel it is important to buy high end? Things I need now are reamers, hole transfer set, 1" - 2" micrometer, height gauge (big price range here), Noga type mag base and arm (Noga and less costly imitations available), hole gauge set (another big range in price), angle plates, V-blocks. etc.
Thanks,
- Phil
I figured a quality chuck was worth it, and opted for a Bison, even though that was about 3X the cost of the Asian model. I also purchased non-Asian drill bits, figuring a cheap set of those would not be worth the potential trouble. But, bought a cheap mill hold down kit since there is no real precision here. But what about a micrometer, calipers, dial and test indicators, and other measuring instruments? Mitutoyo and Starrett are far, far more costly than imports, but what I am getting if a cheap measuring instrument measures consistently?
What general areas do you feel safe in buying cheaper vs expensive, and what areas do you feel it is important to buy high end? Things I need now are reamers, hole transfer set, 1" - 2" micrometer, height gauge (big price range here), Noga type mag base and arm (Noga and less costly imitations available), hole gauge set (another big range in price), angle plates, V-blocks. etc.
Thanks,
- Phil