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

[pjs]

I bought a new #134 cross test level and it is so far off as to be unusable. I have dollar store levels that are superior to this.

 

[Millalot]

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.

Sorry no text was trying to put a photo of an old tool on web site but could not see how to do it.

 

[claymont19703]

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 basically used Starrett tools for the forty-five plus years I was in the industry; I was a millwright/outside-machinist. I wouldn't say I was a fanboy, but for most part, their products did what was expected of them. The only ones that could have been better were the back plunger indicators, 196 I believe, and the 6" dial calipers. The indicators were treated as consumables, the dial calipers were sent back a couple of times for repair.
At times they weren't the most up to date in their style and technology of their tooling, they were far from static in upgrading their technology when it needed to be. Their products are pricey, but what quality precision product isn't.
Here's an interesting look at their plant:
Starrett Factory Tour

 

[EmilioG]

Starrett makes a lot of good tools. I pick and choose what I find is great quality for the price. It depends on the tool.
This poll doesn't cover all possible opinions, so it's hard to answer. There are a lot of Starrett tools that just don't fit into today's
machining world. Almost obsolete. Starrett may have to be more forward thinking if they want to survive.

 

[Finster]

Well, the poll is landing where I figured it would. I am surprised that someone voted for the lowest ranking. I wonder if they were serious or messing around?

 

[scwhite]

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 like all of my Starret tools but they are all old
And work perfect.
I have not bought any new Starret tools in
25 years .

 

[RandyM]

I loathe electronic tools and tend to buy old-school items—last word, actual dial indicators, master vernier calipers, etc.

I agree here. I don't know much about digital mics, calipers and others buy I can say that I will never trust them. Heck, I still use veneer calipers all the time. I find it hard at times to trust dials without measuring for repeatability. Yea, I don't own a single digital measuring device. I don't need it and don't want it.

I am of the same mind guys. I don't necessarily loathe the electronic stuff, my beef is that they take power to operate and being a hobbyist the equipment may sit for months without being used. I really dislike feeding them with batteries. Bad batteries can ruin the equipment and are dead when you want to use them. I kind think a low battery can give you inaccurate readings as well. It's funny how digital can give some people a false sense of accuracy as well. OK, I feel better now.

 

[ch2co]

I have to admit, guys, I have a lot of Starrett tools (compared to how many other brands that I have) that are all of high quality.
However I don't think that any of them is less than 30 years or more old. The only new Starrett thing that I have is a very nice drill/tap
size chart on my wall.

 

[pstemari]

As I said, I've got a mixture of old and new, but the new stuff is fine if you avoid the bottom tier tools.

That said, 196 indicators don't work worth a damn—the new 650 BP indicator is a lot better.
The Last Word is a very delicate design. The Interapid DTIs are a lot more robust, but difficult to read.

For dial calipers I have B&S/Tesa. Vernier calipers, one rather cheesy Mitu and a beautiful Starrett master.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Finster]

As I said, I've got a mixture of old and new, but the new stuff is fine if you avoid the bottom tier tools.

That said, 196 indicators don't work worth a damn—the new 650 BP indicator is a lot better.
The Last Word is a very delicate design. The Interapid DTIs are a lot more robust, but difficult to read.

For dial calipers I have B&S/Tesa. Vernier calipers, one rather cheesy Mitu and a beautiful Starrett master.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Like I stated before, in my opinion, TESA makes the best dial calipers going today. In fact, I just picked up another 6" pair on E-bay this morning for a little under $50 as a backup. I just love them. I've never used calipers that were that accurate or felt that good until I discovered TESA. I have set of 12" Helios veneer's. I picked them up cheap and they are very old ones. They seem pretty good and I think they are before Helios started making crap? I'm keeping my eyes out for 12" TESA dials if I can ever find a set at a good price but they don't go cheap. For as much as I use 12" calipers, veneer's will get me by.