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Mensuration & Layout Tools
mensuration - The act, process, or art of measuring.  Measurement of geometric quantities.

Also refer to, how to drill a hole where you want it & how to drill the center of a rod.

Various types of squares, small rules, & protractors. Starrett (USA) & Mitutoyo (Japan) are of highest quality.

Outside calipers, spring divider, hermaphrodite & inside calipers.


Scribes & automatic center punches.


81 piece, Grade B, hardened, rectangular precision gage block set, from 0.050 to 4.0",  ±0.000050" at 20°C (68°F).
Excellent for use with height gages, depth gages, sine bars, sine plates & sine vises, etc. (import)


Granite surface plates (± 0.0001") in 18"x12"x3" (85 lbs.) & 12"x9"x2" (30 lbs.) sizes.
The relatively heavy plates have Teflon pads on the bottom to ease movement on the bench.

 
A simple, all wood (glued only, no metal) cover to protect the surface from damage.

    
A carbide-tipped (Mitutoyo) dial height gauge on a granite surface plate (± 0.0001") make an accurate combination for laying out precisely scribed lines.
High accuracy can be achieved using gage blocks to set the heights. Use layout die to make the scribe marks easier to see.
Surface plates are useful for precision alignment when assembling parts, too.

Depth attachment. Rod accepts different 4-48 threaded indicator points.

Measure distances between holes using a center-finder attachment by Mitutoyo.


Starrett surface gage & Starrett Last Word dial test indicator on the granite surface plate measuring a 1-2-3 block.
If possible, move the part not the gage when indicating a surface.

Two dial indicator comparator stands. Used for quality assurance (QA) size measurements of many parts.
Serrated anvils are purportedly more accurate.


Mitutoyo electronic indicator gage (½" range) with Noga magnetic base indicator holder (both from Japan).

A Mighty Mag (USA) magnet holds ⅜" (or smaller) stemmed indicators.

Different types of dial gage interchangeable 4-48 threaded indicator points.
To keep from straining or breaking a gage's internal alignment pin, completely depress the plunger
so the rack absorbs the loosening & tightening forces before changing the points. Never use Loctite.

Back-plunger dial indicator set (India) with 'G' clamp, universal clamp, swinging-arm assembly, tool post holder,
 holding rod, Tommy bar & anvil. Swinging-arm assembly enables the back-plunger dial gage for use on internal
work to a depth of 1.6" (40mm); similar to a lever-type gage. Allows multiple types of mounting possibilities for
gaging applications like concentricity checks, alignment of machine tools, testing parallelism & surface plate work.

Back-plunger dial gage with swinging-arm attachment.


Dial depth gage (India) with a 0" to 10" range & where one gradation = 0.001".

Micrometer depth gage with a 0-6" range & where one gradation = 0.001".

Digital depth gage with a large base.

Carbide-faced inside micrometer gages. Top gage range is 1"-2" & bottom gage range is 0.2"-1.2". 
They were supplied with 1" & 0.2" inside ring standards. One gradation = 0.001".

Telescoping & half-ball Mitutoyo inside gage sets. 
The half-ball type can get into A shallow, blind hole better than a ball type.
Expand into hole, lock & then measure the gage with a micrometer or caliper.

 Pin gages for measuring holes & slot widths.
0.011" to 0.061" x 0.001" minus Class ZZ pin-gage set (50 pieces).
Tolerance +.0000" -.0002".  10µm finish or better.  Hardness 60-62 RC.

 0.061" to 0.250" x 0.001" minus Class ZZ pin-gage set (190 pieces).
Tolerance +.0000" -.0002".  10µm finish or better.  Hardness 60-62 RC.

Detail of a pin gage set (still in the grease). Two-inches overall lengths.

Mitutoyo digital measurement tools: depth gage, caliper & micrometer (older models).

Mitutoyo Absolute Digimatic caliper (Japan).
An excellent digital caliper that is very accurate throughout its entire measurement range.
Always maintains zero, large LC display, 3½ years battery life & no irritating auto-off.

Hardened & precision ground depth base attached.


A digital caliper that measures & displays inches, millimeters & fractions to 1/64th inch.
Handy for wood work & sifting through raw stock. This LCD has a somewhat narrow optimal viewing angle.

Superior quality Mitutoyo (Japan) digital micrometer that reads down to 0.00005" or 0.001mm.
The scales are engraved, not chemically etched thus have superior readability & durability.
Micro-polished, carbide-faced working surfaces & an effective spindle lock.


The holder adjusts to different angles.

Small, 0.5" (non-locking) & 1" micrometers.


Micrometer set zero through six inches, in wooden case (import).
One, two, three, four & five-inch sized standards plus adjustment wrench are included.
The plastic insulating grips on the standards reduce warming effects (expansion) due to handling.
Mainly acquired for use on the 9x20 lathe. Excellent accuracy & a good value.
The wooden case was re-glued in places & then sanded. Reads to 0.0001".

0-1" range, 0.07" diameter anvil, tube wall thickness micrometer that measures to 0.0001".

0-1" range, 0.19" diameter anvil, tube wall thickness micrometer that measures to 0.0001".

Carbide-faced electronic blade micrometer for measuring in narrow recesses.
Non-critical parts are plastic. 0.00005" minimum readout.

Carbide-faced point micrometer for measuring in tight areas. 0.0001 readout.
Points have a radius of approximately 0.012".

Disk micrometer with 0.0001 readout.

Caliper-type micrometer measures to 0.0001".  Measuring anvils are approximately ¾" above the micrometer.

Deep throat micrometer; 1" maximum measures to 0.0001" & 6" deep objects.


The excellent, rugged LS Starrett No. 711, Last Word dial test indicator & attachments (USA). One gradation = 0.001".

These two models have levers to select the direction.

A Gem dial test indicator. One gradation = 0.001".

An excellent Brown & Sharp (Swiss) dial test indicator set. One gradation = 0.0005". Auto-direction feature.

Fowler dial test indicator set (import). Moderate quality. One gradation = 0.0005".

Co-Ax indicator (import) that takes measurements while the spindle is spinning (800 RPM maximum).
The point can be used to locate a punch mark.

Sparro 1^st Word dial test indicator holder (USA).

Using a Sparro 1^st Word holder & a LS Starrett Last Word dial test indicator
to check the tram of the mill/drill. Nicely made, very rigid indicator holder.

Noga NF1018 indicator arm (Japan) with ⅜" & dovetail clamp
This style arm is very quick & easy to setup plus it has very good rigidity.


Noga arm held by a modified, V-groove tool post, mounted off the headstock side T-slot of the Taig mill.
Setup shows indicating a work piece before rotating to a specific cutting angle.
The Noga arm is good for tramming mills, lathes & rotary tables.

Zero-set universal dial test gage attachment (import).

A Federal 0.0001" dial test indicator shown being used to check the Parlec vise's solid jaw tram.

This style universal dial test indicator holder gives a broad sweep of the mill table.

IndicOL #178 (USA) dial test gage holder attaches an indicator to the mill's spindle. Best in class attachment.


Tramming a 6", 4-jaw chuck on a rotary table.
 

Transfer punch sets: Fractional - 3/32" through 1" by 1/64th", 0.0025" undersized.
Numbered - 1 through 60.  Lettered - A through Z.  Metric - 1mm through 13mm by 0.5mm.
 Black anodized & heat treated. Some of the original stands were replaced with Huot brand.


Transfer screw sets for mating parts especially blind holes. Hardened screws stored inside handle.
Handle end has a hex driver that serves as wrench. Top to bottom examples: ¾-10, 4-40 & M10-1.5 (metric).

Blind hole center transfer set in ½", ⅜", 5/16" & ¼" pairs. For wood.

Imperial & metric (yellow) screw thread gages (2), fractional & numbered drill size gages.
These plate-type thread gages would be more accurate if they were twice as thick.
Having just a few threads, it is easy to make an error.

These gages check both nuts & bolts. Metric have black oxide & Imperial have galvanized coatings.
Superior to plate-type gages which use only a few threads per size for testing.

Accurate, all-metal protractor set.

An optical protractor.

OPTO-METRIX Optical Protractor OP-1a
US Patent No. 4,257,164