Best Dial Test Indictor for the Money

http://longislandindicator.com/p21.html has a good discussion of indicators, cosine error, tips etc. for the most part I use mine for tramming and with a surface plate and surface gauge to measure how off I am on something. I'll see if I can get a picture for you sometime soonish.
 
Harvey Melvin Richards said:
I have one that is both Lufkin and Compac.
Click to expand...

Cool.

I have one Alina K-21 vertical long point DTI made by Compac and have a Lufkin with the same very cool face as my K-21 and the long point but in horizontal format. Also made by Compac. Been wanting a horizontal to complement my vertical Alina.
Wouldn't have even known to look for a Lufkin except for great writeup on the LIIS website.
 
astjp2,
Did you make this?
Looks like a KingWay knock off.
If this is your design, or if you have non-patented prints would you be willing to post them?

Please.
Daryl
MN


astjp2 said:
Here is an idea or 2...
Click to expand...
 
That is just a piece of cast iron bar that I cut a groove in, turned down to a nominal size and drilled 3 holes in, 1 straight up, 1 at a 45* angle and the other at a 90* the rest is just some ground rods that I bought from Mcmaster and a few uprights from some old mag bases I bought on ebay. I could probably come up with the dimensions. Tim

Uglydog said:
astjp2,
Did you make this?
Looks like a KingWay knock off.
If this is your design, or if you have non-patented prints would you be willing to post them?

Please.
Daryl
MN
Click to expand...
 
I own two Interapids , a mitutoyo and a Starrett 196 back plunger. All nice, but I would love a new Compac 215GA with that big clear dial.
I hear that the Compac is built like a tank. Large bearings that will not wear out prematurely. Con; the dovetails cannot be replaced, they're part of the body,
so don't ding it. :)
 
I have lots of indicators of all vintages and repair indicators as part of my job. The "best indicator for the money" is defined by how repeatable it needs to be and for how long, the environment it's going to be used in, and the skill level of the user. Frankly, lots of old timers never really put their indicators through the paces as they sat in the tool box most of the time.
In my personal shop I use Interapids for all vertical work (under a mill spindle) 100% of the time and I have a few of them. I worked for a company in the early 80's that had 60 Moore Jig Grinders which are probably still considered the most accurate machine made. In 1982 I was told that I was going to be trained to run one I was required to purchase an Interapid 312V-1B indicator and an Indicol holder. IIRC the cost was around $300 back then and I was making about $4.75 an hour. The thing is, that indicator has been in continuous use for 35 years now. I've picked up a couple more at flea markets in the last few years for $60 or less. Most of my horizontal indicators are older Mitutoyos with a sprinkling of B&S .0005" and .0001" left over from the end of my professional machining career.

In the factory I work in we use Peacock brand horizontals with long tips. I'd never heard of them before I started here, and they're not very expensive. ($80?) They can take a beating like I've never seen before and continue to maintain repeatability. Many of them are 15 to 18 years old and pass calibration every three to six months.
 
EmilioG said:
I own two Interapids , a mitutoyo and a Starrett 196 back plunger. All nice, but I would love a new Compac 215GA with that big clear dial.
I hear that the Compac is built like a tank. Large bearings that will not wear out prematurely. Con; the dovetails cannot be replaced, they're part of the body,
so don't ding it. :)
Click to expand...

I have three 214 GA's and one 215GA, along with an Interapid. I just gave away a really nice jeweled Mit to a friend. I have a slew of dial indicators, too. Of all of them, the Compacs are the smoothest and are a real pleasure to use. I also have two Compac 523 LA dial indicators and those are very accurate, smooth and repeatable. My Mit dial indicators are good but they don't even come close to the smooth action of a Compac indicator. The only one that comes close is my B&S 0.0001" indicator and that one cost some bucks.
 
The Compac 215GA is on sale at LISS with a 10 or 20% discount. The 215GA rarely comes up for sale on Ebay.
I would probably only buy new, unless it looked amazingly new. Repair costs on precision instruments must be kept in mind
when buying used. A repair bill will quickly make the cost of ownership beyond the price of new.
 
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