Few eBay pickups. I had some eBay bucks that were expiring, so splurged on some new 10-24 spiral flute bottoming taps. I bought some Morse ones a while back but didn't notice that they were for tapping heli-coil holes for 10-24 threads. Now have the real deal.
I don't know why, but my personal preference for micrometers is the old tumbler-style digitals. I can do the simple math of adding 25, 50 or 75 to the thimble number, but prefer the direct-reading number. Plus, no batteries to change though it would be nice to Zero at a target and mic the delta.
Anyway, I have 0-1" EZ-read Fowler screw pitch mic's at both lathes and had been looking for some 1"-2". Bought one for $80 delivered which included a 1" and 2" standard. Guess that'd be handy for zero'ing the mic if it happened to be closer to one end than the other.
I don't know the recommended process for setting these up, but here's my process. These mic's have locks on both the thimble and the anvil. I put the proper points in place (like 9-13 tpi) and turn the micrometer to 1.0000 (on a 1" - 2" model, 0.0000 on a 0-1"). Lock the thimble and unlock the anvil. Push the anvil back for clearance, set the standard in between the points, squeeze the anvil so it's hard into the standard and lock the anvil.
I tried turning this one to 0.0000 but it stopped travel at something like 0.125. So, pulled two small screws from the back to remove the cover and slip the counter off the mic. There's a brass gear on the thimble that engages with a gear in the read-out gear box. I manually spun it to 0.0000, backed off the thimble a turn or two so it could travel to under 1.0000, and slipped the gear box back on. Easy peasy: Zero the mic, lock the thimble, loosen the anvil lock level, set the 1" standard in place, squeeze the anvil and lock it down. Then it dawned on me that perhaps a 1"-2" mic should zero at 1.0000, not 0.0000. . . Simple math, but off came the read-out gear box, spun the gears to 1.0000 and reassembled. That gave me an upgrade for my Grizzly 14x40.
Not wanting my Clausing 12"x24" to feel left out, I kept my eBay search for "Fowler screw micrometer". Another one popped up at a starting bid of $40 with free shipping. No standard in this one, but I already had an extra. I ended up being the only bidder for $40 delivered for the second one. No problems with the read-out gear box on the second one. My eBay search for "Fowler screw micrometer" is now officially off my eBay search list!
Thanks for looking, Bruce
