[leldai73]

I'm looking at buying 2 brown and Sharpe digital Mic's 0-1 and 1-2 "new in box" for 175 dollars, my first question is has any one used them and are they as accurate as any other Mic, also would any one else pay that much for them.
I am a little concerned that i will be laughed out of the shop if i have digital Mic's, some of my professors look down on digital tools, but these ones are top of the line and seemed to be reasonably priced. so i'm torn.

I currently do not own a set of Mic's but i am going to school to become an "automated manufacturer" and machining is a big part of the major. any input would be appreciated

[powerrodsmike]

I actually prefer the old style mechanical micrometers as the readout makes a bit more sense to me. That is just me though, and my work rarely requires me to have the resolution that a digital micrometer will give.

Brown & Sharpe is a very old, still very well respected manufacturer. I'm not sure thet I would pay that much for a set of mics, but I'm sure that new in the box they would easily go for that price from a retailer.

I have and use Brown & Sharpe mic's and calipers in my shop every day. ( my micrometer is a 1954 model. works as good as anything else I have)

Check rutland or enco. I'll bet they have what you are looking for in a very competitive price range.

Here is a website that has many brands and comparisons of features on all types of measuring equipment. I spent several hours on that site one day and found it a wealth of seemingly unbiased info.

http://longislandindicator.com/index.html

Here is a page where those guys will actually review your intended auction purchase.

http://longislandindicator.com/p90.html

Later,
Mikey

[Kampr]

When I ran a steel slitter many moons ago they switched over to almost all digital reading calipers and micrometers. I would not be embarrassed to use them in front of anybody. I think that they were all Starret which is very good stuff. That's what I would buy if I used them every day. That's not to say other brands are not just as good though. The digitals worked great for me because they were easier for my old eyes to see. They were very accurate but if I remember correctly they would only read down to .0005 where the mechanical types would read down to .0001. There are not that many readings that need to be that accurate and two people reading the same micrometer would often get two different readings because of different pressure each one applied. Most of our slitter width reading tolerances had to be within .005 and some closer than that. Some of our gauge tolerances had to be within .002.

I'm asuming that the digitals have electrical sensors to tell them what the reading is. My digital caliper has a sensing bar (probably not the correct term) on the side to give the readout.

Some people don't like calipers but they were better for reading widths on a steel slitter because they had more edge reading area and could read several different widths without changing micrometers. The wider area of the caliper gave more accurate readings for width readings because it would be squared up with the steel perfectly where the micrometers could be off just a little if not placed on across the steel straight. That depended on the person using it though.

Kampr

[Deuce]

Like PowerrodsMike ... I prefer the old style ...

I have a set of 0 to 6 Starrett ... in the big case ( one box for all the Mics ) that are over 40 years old. I bought them in 1966. They were like new but not brand new. Used one today

I am old school ... hate electric gizmos ... ( electric fans on 32 Fords are my#1 pet peeve ) and I can trust my old Staretts ...

Brown And Sharpe made great stuff ... years ago ... and they may be OK ... but there's nothing much to go wrong in a old style mic ...

[lowstreet]

They will work fine for you.
I did gage calibration for about five years.

[russlaferrera]

I have used both for the last 5 years. My eyes are getting bad and the digital mikes are better for me. In our shop 4 of 5 are using digital mikes and calipers. They all love them. Note: most of them are in their 30s. So this is not an age thing....russ

[61bone]

Brown and sharpe are quality tools and will serve you well with proper care.Don't forget to check the set occasionally. I personally prefer the mechanicals but after years of using them I get readings at a glance and have no reason to get direct readouts. like everything else, accuracy is practice, practice, practice. Even the digitals are no more accurate than the person running them.

[oldschoolrods]

Where in PA are you going to school? If your anywhere near williamsport go to Grizzly tools, I bought some precision tools from Grizzly and they are real good quality and will probably only cost about 60 bucks or so.

[leldai73]

Originally Posted by oldschoolrods

Where in PA are you going to school? If your anywhere near williamsport go to Grizzly tools, I bought some precision tools from Grizzly and they are real good quality and will probably only cost about 60 bucks or so.

I'm going to Penn tech, I see you are too. I probably see you walking around. enjoy the start of our next semester tomorrow by the way.

As far as grizzly "precision" tools their quality is...to put it nicely, not up to the task of daily use or tight tolerances. They are imported from china...probably good for stuff that dosent require alot of precision.

[oldschoolrods]

Yeah I'm at penn tech too, I used them when I was in the diesel major, they worked pretty good there, but for your maching now that I think of it maybe not. Good luck this semester

[Frisco]

Originally Posted by leldai73

my first question is has any one used them and are they as accurate as any other Mic,

I am a little concerned that i will be laughed out of the shop if i have digital Mic's

Things to consider about digital readout precision measuring instruments (micrometers, dial indicators, calipers, etc.).

They need to be "zeroed" when they are turned on and should be checked often during use.

Calibration should be checked at a minimum of once a year by a qualified metrology lab.

Batteries will eventually go "dead" and need replacing.

Dust, dirt, debris, etc. will effect the reading and accuracy of any precision measuring instrument.

I am a retired Master Toolmaker and still prefer to use my Starret, Lufkin and Browne & Sharpe non-digital measuring instruments. The digital units seem to be a good choice for quick non-critical measurements. There are many high priced digital measuring instruments that are excellent but are designed more for a lab environment than the individual machinist/toolmaker/tech inspector.

[fiscus]

I prefer the old-style non-digital readouts, they are at least as accurate and the batteries will never go dead. When I was in machining school I had a chinese-made 0-1" micrometer, and actually it was very good and accurate. If you take it apart and compare to a mitutoyo its the same thing pretty much. So the brand doesn't matter too much if its good quality, and if you take good care of it it should do just fine. It all comes down to preference. My advice, since you're still in school is to buy the cheapest you can find, because **** happens, especially in school. I have had other students (and teachers!) borrow and drop my stuff right in front of me! I'm glad it wasn't expensive stuff! And at my present job my employer supplies all the measuring tools, I keep all my stuff at home.