[Farmall] tools

[Mike Sloane]

Well, everyone to their own. I have plastic calipers, a set of good 
quality micrometers, a decent dial caliper, and a Chinese digital 6" 
caliper. The nice thing about the plastic caliper is that it can bang 
around in the tool box and not be damaged. The accuracy isn't great, but 
for half of my measurements (diameter of a hose, inside  diameter of a 
pipe, length of a pin, thickness of a brake lining, etc.) it is "good 
enough". For many of my other measurements, the digital caliper works 
very well, and I found that removing the battery in between uses makes 
the battery last darn near forever.

But when I need to measure things like bearing shells, crankshaft 
journals, and that kind of thing, out comes the set of micrometers.

I guess the issue is "what are you measuring and why?" If I was doing 
critical metal machining on a lathe or mill, then I would strongly 
recommend the best measuring tools you can afford. But for 95% of 
repairs on old tractors, middle quality measuring tools will do just 
fine. If you look at the specifications for those machines, most of the 
numbers are in a range well within the accuracy of middle quality tools.

I am retired, so I have to make do with what I can afford, but if you 
have more money, there is nothing wrong with the very best. As they say 
in the car ads "your mileage may vary". :-)

Mike

farmallgray at aol.com wrote:
> Bob, I would stay away from the plastic calipers. We have one at work
> we keep under the counter for rough measuring.The jaws that measure
> inside are worn about 1/8". You can buy a fairly decent stainless
> dial caliper for $20-40 that will probably serve your purposes if you
> are not doing machine work.I personally don't like the digital lcd
> calipers. I guess I'm old fashioned. I can see the little gear rack
> in the dial caliper and understand that a gear moved against it and
> know how it works. How do the digital ones work? I don't know. I'm
> sure they are fine and accurate and all; just not my cup of tea. I
> also feel that the fewer tools I have that take batteries the better.
> My luck the battery would be dead when I really need it.LOL! BTW have
> you seen the new motorized adjustable wrench advertised? What a joke
> that is!
> 
> 
> 
> Todd Markle
>