Edge finder

[mike-sid]

What is a good edge finder? Starrett? Mitutoyo? Which style are best? The common type or the new digital ones? I have a chepo one now that is flakey and looking to replace it, but the more I look into one, the more options or styles I find. Is there a basic set or selection of sizes and styles I need?
Mike

[f350ca]

I have a Starret one right now, seems to work well and is well made, will take an occasional over speed. Have had a couple of import ones over the years, they seemed as accurate but accidentally hit the start button at 2 or 3 thousand rpm and they come apart pretty quick. Tried an electric one, where the light comes on on contact, again seamed accurate enough but wasn't worth the trouble to track down a new battery when the original died.

[EdK]

I like Fisher Machine Products edge finders. It's a small company that makes tools in the USA. They seem to have closed down their website though.
You can get them from here:

http://littlemachineshop.com/products/pr...%20Machine

I also have a Brown and Sharpe edge finder that works fine. Stick to Fisher or any name brand like Mitutoyo or Brown and Sharpe and you should be fine.

Ed

[Highpower]

I agree with the above. I have a few different brands of edge finders as well as a Starrett wiggler set.

Something I find extremely useful myself, is using an 'audible' edge finder if you have a DRO on your machine. You can't watch the edge finder kick out and the DRO readout at the same time. But you can watch the readout on the DRO while listening for the click, click, click of the edge finder.

One you set your zero on the DRO, you can go back and double check if you found the edge correctly. Just slowly approach the edge again with your finder, and you should hear the clicking again as soon as the DRO hits 0.000 on the display. If it's not coming up all zero's again I know my approach was a little too fast or hard and I can tell if I missed the mark a bit.

Works for me anyway.....

[Vinny]

I just ordered one of these on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BROWN-SHARPE-599...3394f3a30f

$16.54 shipped. There's an extra 15% off today.

[TomG]

I don't care for a lot of things Starrett makes, but I do like their edge finders. I made a video on using mine to find the center of a hole and it was repeatable to well under .001".

How to Use an Edge Finder to Locate the Center of a Hole

Tom

[mike-sid]

Another nice video Tom. I ordered a Brown and Sharp audible edge finder. I got a 3/8" one. It's got to be better than my no name import one.

[Highpower]

That is a good choice also Mike. Just out of curiosity, did you do a thorough cleaning of your import edge finder before starting to use it? 

Some of the rust prevention sprays they use at the factory are like glue and will keep the head from moving easily. Maybe a good cleaning will get it working like it should. There isn't really much else that can go wrong with them. I have a set of import edge finders with four different styles of heads that works nearly as well (after cleaning) as my name brand finders.

[Arbalest]

A simple bearing race pressed on to a ground shaft works well and cost me nothing as I had the bits to hand.

[Highpower]

(03-01-2015, 01:30 PM)Arbalest Wrote: A simple bearing race pressed on to a ground shaft works well and cost me nothing as I had the bits to hand.

That is true, as we have seen John (doubleboost) prove time and time again in his videos - with one caveat....

The bearing has to be able to fit into the area around the edge you are trying to locate. Inside of a channel or a small hole for example as Tom pointed out earlier in one of his videos. Still a great idea for outside edges though.