the Truth about Feeler Gauges!!??

[oley55]

Yes, no doubt these feeler gauges are useless in my opinion. That was the point of my original post, you can not blindly trust your instruments (in this case no name USA feeler gauges). BUT it does irk to have persons come up with every human/stupid error committed by me as the cause rather than consider for a moment their are actually faulty feeler gauges out there in the world.

Granted I am not trying to QC the mirror on the Hubble Telescope and my tools are not trusted high end, but good enough for most of what I do. I have little trust in my Chinesium electronic caliper and can't figure out why in the world they even depict values down to ten thousands. I very rarely get repeatable values in it to thousands, let alone tens.

Attached are measurements of the .003" gauge from a micrometer and two calipers. I'd be more than happy to mail it to an expert for proper measuring. No doubt my tens will likely be off, but I'd would love to know I am capable of measuring thousands. Just PM me your address and it'll be in the mail today.

 

[oley55]

"got these results; .002"=.0036", .003"=.0052", .004"=.0040"

Reading to a tenth is not the problem here.

Exactly!!! So easy for these threads to go off into the weeds.

 

[rsmithsr50]

show us the mic in the closed position.
sorry I still do not buy it
lyman mic ?
they do not make one feeler at a time. I do not see an entire run of feeler gages made/marked wrong
yep mail the feelers to me.
i'll post pic of the results

Yes, no doubt these feeler gauges are useless in my opinion. That was the point of my original post, you can not blindly trust your instruments (in this case no name USA feeler gauges). BUT it does irk to have persons come up with every human/stupid error committed by me as the cause rather than consider for a moment their are actually faulty feeler gauges out there in the world.

Granted I am not trying to QC the mirror on the Hubble Telescope and my tools are not trusted high end, but good enough for most of what I do. I have little trust in my Chinesium electronic caliper and can't figure out why in the world they even depict values down to ten thousands. I very rarely get repeatable values in it to thousands, let alone tens.

Attached are measurements of the .003" gauge from a micrometer and two calipers. I'd be more than happy to mail it to an expert for proper measuring. No doubt my tens will likely be off, but I'd would love to know I am capable of measuring thousands. Just PM me your address and it'll be in the mail today.

 

[oley55]

show us the mic in the closed position.
sorry I still do not buy it
lyman mic ?
they do not make one feeler at a time. I do not see an entire run of feeler gages made/marked wrong
yep mail the feelers to me.
i'll post pic of the results

here's some pics, closed front and back, zero and faces of anvil and spindle. PM me your address.

 

[rsmithsr50]

OK measure any bullet at the base.
a 308 would be good
show in one large pic..then zero in on the reading.
mic appears to have carbide faces which is good

 

[butchlambert]

here's some pics, closed front and back, zero and faces of anvil and spindle. PM me your address.

Oley, if your measuring devices measure large, just tighten the thimble until it is accurate.

 

[oley55]

OK measure any bullet at the base.
a 308 would be good
show in one large pic..then zero in on the reading.
mic appears to have carbide faces which is good

OK, I measured two .308" Hornady Match and one .224" Sierra Match King. I also mic'ed a couple Chinesium M2 (minus- .0002") pin gauges (4&5). I had previously mic'ed some of these pin gauges in sequence and found there were some minor inconsistencies (technique or tools??).
1. .308" = .3079" (shown in pics)
2. .308" = .3082"
3. 224" = .2242"
4. .308" (-.3078) = .3076"
5. .309" (-.3088) = .3087"

having trouble uploading additional pics. I may have exceeded my allotment. At any rate it appears my Lyman (Chinesium) mic is producing something like +/- .0002". But who knows without a real calibration block. Still good enough for what I do, or so me thinks.

 

[oley55]

remaining pics of second 308 and 224. also pic of the nubs from the clipped n mailed gauges.

 

[rsmithsr50]

GO lower on the 308 bullet.

all the way at the base

 

[oley55]

GO lower on the 308 bullet.

all the way at the base

do you mean at/over the point where the boat tail begins? Otherwise I have no clue how I would make a repeatable measurement at the base of a boat tailed bullet. Curious what the different measurement location is doing for us, a poor mans calibration block or what?

 

[luckyshot52]

I have a set of feelers I've had for 50 years. They've seen a lot of use over the years. I checked a bunch of them and was pleasantly surprised to see all checked were still in what I would consider specs. As are any other feelers I ever checked over the years.
I dont think it is the tools or user.
I'd throw them out and get a new set.
And if you want to make a go guage longer scotch tape is a lot easier

 

[oley55]

GO lower on the 308 bullet.

all the way at the base

OK, done. Measured two 308's picked at random. Both mic'ed at .3083". I only pic'ed the vernier scale on the second bullet though.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Be aware that holding that mic or holding the part being measured will change that measurement. We cant reliably work to the ten thousandth level no matter what the internet says. Anyone thats actually been in the business of using measuring equipment will tell you that. Dont lose sleep over it- theres nothing in shooting that requires measuring to the tenth.

 

[shoot4fun]

Be aware that holding that mic or holding the part being measured will change that measurement. We cant reliably work to the ten thousandth level no matter what the internet says. Anyone thats actually been in the business of using measuring equipment will tell you that. Dont lose sleep over it- theres nothing in shooting that requires measuring to the tenth.

All my groups, sir!
All are .1 MOA (if I do my part).

 

[Gappmast]

Oley55 I think you have jumped through enough hoops for these guys I'm convinced you can measure within a few tenths. At this point we just have to say you have a bad set of feeler gauges.

If all you feelers were off the same amount I would say it was the mic. You are getting vastly different readings on feelers that are only a few thousands different in size. The threads on a mic are not going to vary that much in a couple thousands. The Lyman mic you have is Chinezium made. I have a Lyman ball mic which is also Chinezium and have checked it against Mitutoyo mic and found it to be accurate.

Butchlamber is just pulling your chain on tighten the thimble until it reads right.

 

[Ramblerman]

Be aware that holding that mic or holding the part being measured will change that measurement. We cant reliably work to the ten thousandth level no matter what the internet says. Anyone thats actually been in the business of using measuring equipment will tell you that. Dont lose sleep over it- theres nothing in shooting that requires measuring to the tenth.

Totally agree... I only worry about tenths when they start adding up enough to go to the next thou I don't wanna be at

 

[Leo Smith]

In 50 years, That's the first time I measured my feelers. Go figure.

 

[rsmithsr50]

yes
I was looking for a "typical" number..
something over 308 and you got it
I will back up and say it appears thru some weird wormhole you have a bad set of feeler gages.

OK, done. Measured two 308's picked at random. Both mic'ed at .3083". I only pic'ed the vernier scale on the second bullet though.

 

[Gappmast]

Probably somebody mixed up the boxes when they where size marked. There might be a few engines running around with noisy valves because of too much clearance. Or worse yet burnt valves from lack of clearance

 

[rsmithsr50]

so the 3 feelers showed up in the mail today.
measured both English and metric
marked .002 is .0037
marked .003 is .0053
marked .004 is .004
yep some really weird assembly in marking and putting together.
( do you want them back ??)