dial gauge ?

In article <[email protected]>, Hoyt Weathers
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I ordered and received from McFelly the magnetic base, arms, and their dial
> gauge.
> The dial gauge can not be zeroed as far as I can determine. I have worked
> with it for
> two days. In addition, I am unable to assemble the danged thing. There were no
> printed instructions whatsoever on anything - none, nada. The junk was made
> in China.
> I plan to order the same thing from Lee Valley, which looks the same, if they
> have
> instructions included. Comments and suggestions?
> Hoyt

Have you used one of these indicators before? You know that you can't
'zero' it out without pushing in the spring-pin mechanism right? I'm
not meaning to be insulting but there are many common misconceptions
with the operation of these precision instruments. The unit is meant
to be zeroed out as a 'benchmark' measurement to determine the variance
+/- from that point. That total amount of variance will be your runout
measurment. Sorry if this wasn't the greatest explanation but it's a
basic concept once you understand it. If you already knew all of this
and your indicator just happens to be complete junk, then I suggest
getting a better quality one (depending on the tollerance and
resolution you need).


HTH


Andrew.

Leon, I must make a correction to my post. The dial gauge was ordered from Lee Valley
and not from McFeeley. I received a Starrett 12 inch combo square from McFeeley. I
have never used a dial gauge before. As per your suggestion, I tried to turn the
gauge. It would not turn until I loosened the larger of the two stem heads. That
allowed me to turn the dial and put the 0 under the needle indicator. Then I
tightened the stem head. Now the 0 is at the 9 O'clock position with the gauge held
vertically. I can work with that. Thanks for your help Leon. I am now a happy camper.

Hoyt

Leon wrote:

> IIRC to zero in you turn the dial. Actually you don't have to zero it.
> E-mail McFeeleys and I bet they promptly send you instructions.
>
> "Hoyt Weathers" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I ordered and received from McFelly the magnetic base, arms, and their
> dial gauge.
> > The dial gauge can not be zeroed as far as I can determine. I have worked
> with it for
> > two days. In addition, I am unable to assemble the danged thing. There
> were no
> > printed instructions whatsoever on anything - none, nada. The junk was
> made in China.
> > I plan to order the same thing from Lee Valley, which looks the same, if
> they have
> > instructions included. Comments and suggestions?
> > Hoyt
> >

Thanks for your reply Dave. Leon suggested the same. I tried that and it worked. I now
have the gauge zeroed.
Hoyt

Bay Area Dave wrote:

> can't you loosen the lock screw and rotate the bezel?
>
> dave
>
> Hoyt Weathers wrote:
>
> > I ordered and received from McFelly the magnetic base, arms, and their dial gauge.
> > The dial gauge can not be zeroed as far as I can determine. I have worked with it for
> > two days. In addition, I am unable to assemble the danged thing. There were no
> > printed instructions whatsoever on anything - none, nada. The junk was made in China.
> > I plan to order the same thing from Lee Valley, which looks the same, if they have
> > instructions included. Comments and suggestions?
> > Hoyt
> >

can't you loosen the lock screw and rotate the bezel?

dave

Hoyt Weathers wrote:

> I ordered and received from McFelly the magnetic base, arms, and their dial gauge.
> The dial gauge can not be zeroed as far as I can determine. I have worked with it for
> two days. In addition, I am unable to assemble the danged thing. There were no
> printed instructions whatsoever on anything - none, nada. The junk was made in China.
> I plan to order the same thing from Lee Valley, which looks the same, if they have
> instructions included. Comments and suggestions?
> Hoyt
>

On Sat, 06 Mar 2004 22:04:35 -0600, Hoyt Weathers <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I ordered and received from McFelly the magnetic base, arms, and their dial gauge.
>The dial gauge can not be zeroed as far as I can determine. I have worked with it for
>two days. In addition, I am unable to assemble the danged thing. There were no
>printed instructions whatsoever on anything - none, nada. The junk was made in China.
>I plan to order the same thing from Lee Valley, which looks the same, if they have
>instructions included. Comments and suggestions?
>Hoyt

You'd best shell out a little more of that depraved money you have
under your bed, and get better quality.

I was looking for a dial indicator some time ago and read repeatedly
that the cheap 9Chinese) stuff isn't even good for toilet paper. I got
a good quality dial on eBay, you may find one there, too. Maybe a
better quality dial and a lesser quality holder? I saw an ad, at a
site referred by one of the answers to your post, offering a complete
set of dial, magnetic thingy and a few attachments, for about I think
$20-30. This will be trasheroo-

Like woodworking, good tools are a must-

James
[email protected]

IIRC to zero in you turn the dial. Actually you don't have to zero it.
E-mail McFeeleys and I bet they promptly send you instructions.


"Hoyt Weathers" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I ordered and received from McFelly the magnetic base, arms, and their
dial gauge.
> The dial gauge can not be zeroed as far as I can determine. I have worked
with it for
> two days. In addition, I am unable to assemble the danged thing. There
were no
> printed instructions whatsoever on anything - none, nada. The junk was
made in China.
> I plan to order the same thing from Lee Valley, which looks the same, if
they have
> instructions included. Comments and suggestions?
> Hoyt
>