POLL......What do you think of Starrett?

[Finster]

Starrett, the stuff goes for a small fortune. Now, the old stuff was fairly nice in my opinion. However, for this poll I'm only talking about the stuff they have today. Have you bought a new Starrett lately? What did you think overall? I was never a fan to be honest. It's just my opinion but the dial indicators have always been junk. I never liked the "feel" of the mics (now worse than ever) and never like the dial calipers for various reasons. What do you think?

 

[Bob Korves]

Starrett, the stuff goes for a small fortune. Now, the old stuff was fairly nice in my opinion. However, for this poll I'm only talking about the stuff they have today. Have you bought a new Starrett lately? What did you think overall? I was never a fan to be honest. It's just my opinion but the dial indicators have always been junk. I never liked the "feel" of the mics (now worse than ever) and never like the dial calipers for various reasons. What do you think?

I agree with what you are saying. Starrett tools are almost always usable, not junk out of the box, but I agree about the mic. feel and the indicator quality. I have several Starrett indicators, one new in the box, and none of them are my "go to" indicators. They certainly work and can do the job, though. They just lack soul, especially the newer ones. Of course, no new tool has the soul of a true classic or antique which has survived and lives on! No doubt there are many Starrett lovers out there yelling at us...

 

[Dan_S]

To me Starrett is a mixed bag, some stuff is good, some stuff is excellent. Pricing is similar, some stuff is middle of the road, and some stuff is exorbitant compared to it's competitors.

 

[Finster]

I agree with what you are saying. Starrett tools are almost always usable, not junk out of the box, but I agree about the mic. feel and the indicator quality. I have several Starrett indicators, one new in the box, and none of them are my "go to" indicators. They certainly work and can do the job, though. They just lack soul, especially the newer ones. Of course, no new tool has the soul of a true classic or antique which has survived and lives on! No doubt there are many Starrett lovers out there yelling at us...

LOL... yea, I figured I would liven things up a bit. Kinda like a Ford / Chevy debate.

 

[pstemari]

Which mic? Starrett makes 3 lines of plain old vernier mics. The 226 series is noticably better that the entry level 436. The 232 & 2 are very nice.

Carbide faces are definitely worth the extra $.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Ed ke6bnl]

I see starrett like I see snap on. I can't afford it and usually I sell them off for more to my hobby level brand I can justify. just picked up a Suburban tool grinding vice and a set of Suburban 10 piece angle block set at the swapmeet like new cond. way more then I need and can get many items with the sale of those two pieces. This may not be the way to go for others but I am retired on a fixed income and this helps me play. I have sold lot of SnapOn replaced with many Harbor Freight tools Not a flame just my opinion. I wish I could afford the best and all I wanted.

 

[Finster]

Which mic? Starrett makes 3 lines of plain old vernier mics. The 226 series is noticably better that the entry level 436. The 232 & 2 are very nice.

Carbide faces are definitely worth the extra $.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

I've tried them all with the same opinion. Again, not brow beating, just my opinion but to me it's something in the threads or whatever. The anvil and carbide or not, makes no difference from what I have "felt".

 

[Rustrp]

I've tried them all with the same opinion. Again, not brow beating, just my opinion but to me it's something in the threads or whatever. The anvil and carbide or not, makes no difference from what I have "felt".

Me thinks it's your touch. When was it last calibrated?

Edit; Everything I own that's Starrett is decades old so there's no comparison to what someone produces today.

 

[woodtickgreg]

The old stuff that I have scored I like. New stuff is too rich for me.

 

[ghostdncr]

I'm old enough to remember when Starrett was still color-case hardening many of their tools, but were slowly transitioning over to black oxide in its place. That has always struck me as the point in time when the bean counters took over and the company moved swiftly to becoming a shell of its former self. I've still got several of those old color-cased tools I bought brand new as a struggling young machinist and can't imagine ever wanting anything more in their place. The current stuff strikes me as being mostly well-deburred Chinese stuff at a premium price.