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[Highpower]

Well for the first time in my life I can say I got myself Grade A stoned!  

A new Starrett Toolmakers flat. It keeps getting harder and harder for me to move around a 4" thick (B grade) granite plate these days for some reason. So I wanted something more portable.

On the flip side of the coin it makes me really sad to see how far Starrett has fallen. The carry case they continue to show on their website is long gone. What used to be a well made box with dado joints and a luggage style carry handle now appears to come from the Far East Big Rock Candy Mountain and put together with mitered joints and sports a 7,5mm kitchen drawer pull for a carry handle.  

Even Starrett is too ashamed to put their name anywhere on it.

   

   

[EdK]

What size is that surface plate? 9x12?

Ed

[Highpower]

Ed,

12x8x2 and weighs around 20 lbs.

https://www.starrett.com/category/precis...tBy=wp/asc

I got the flat from MSC but the case drop shipped directly from Starrett.

[Dr Stan]

Used the image off the Gerstner site, but mine is identical. Pro Series 2613 in solid cherry.  I now have a complete set consisting of the chest, riser and roll a round.  My retirement present to myself. Going to Manila with me. Wanted these since I entered the trade in 1973.

[EdK]

Very nice!

Ed

[Highpower]

I keep a cheap ($9) Harbor Freight 6in. digital caliper on my desk for quick / rough measurements. I'm finally tired of having to pull the battery in and out every time I want to measure something thanks to the battery drain these economy calipers are known for.  

Decided to put the gift card to use that my MIL gave me for Christmas and replace the HF tool with a little 4in. Mitutoyo so I don't have to deal with the battery problem any more, and to also save a little space on my desk. Didn't work out the way I thought it would. The calipers work great of course but I discovered two issues.

1) I wound up bleeding the first time I opened them in my hand. The end of the bar at the depth gage has an absolutely beautiful grind on it that is dead square with 90° corners on every axis. But... it is also dead sharp as well! I had to de-fang the edges with a diamond lapping stick since the short bar digs into my palm when I'm holding it in one hand. Same issue with the depth gage rod when I open the jaws with one hand. Goes straight into my palm.  

2) "Save some space" says I???  Not when they ship the things in a 6in. case!    

Bottom line is they are an excellent tool just like any other Mitutoyo gear. I just have to remember to use two hands to operate them to keep from bleeding to death.  

   

[Vinny]

The newer HF calipers seem to be easier on the batteries.  I keep one on the desk too.   Of course a dial caliper's batteries last pretty much forever.  Haven't had to change them in mine yet!

[Highpower]

Yeah, my other Mitutoyo calipers the batteries last at least a full year in them. The couple of HF calipers I have are from a decade or two ago. I'm lucky to get a week or two from a battery if I forget to take it out after using the caliper. Always dead the next time I go to use it. At least it's good to hear they have improved them somewhat these days.

[rleete]

I have one of the Mitutoyo 6" calipers that I bought for one of my first jobs, back in the mid to late 1980's. I have put new batteries in it only 4 or 5 times since then. I use them in my home shop, where I used to have them at work. The HF ones are used mostly as scribes, because they eat batteries so much.

But since I got my Starrett dial calipers, that's pretty much all I use.

[Highpower]

I still have a couple of dial calipers. One of them is the first pair of calipers I ever bought probably 40 years ago from Sears & Roebuck (Craftsman). Still work perfectly and just as accurate now as they were then. Problem is I can't see the graduations on the dial anymore without the help of an opti-visor. Quicker and easier to just grab the digital ones now.