Dial Indicator with Magnetic Base, Indicator Holder, Test Indicator, Flexible Magnetic Stand Base Holder with Lever Dial Test Indicator Gauge Scale and Installation Accessories

This purchase was my fault. I failed to look at the size. To small for my project.

Well I started a return.The readings when I tested this were all over the place but you need to understand this has only has a range of 3/10 mm in 10/1000 mm increments so the variations get exagerated. Oh, and this indicator is metric. If you want inch scale get something else.I needed another one of these to align and dial in a new hobby lathe. Hobby lathes are famous for only being accurate within .001 inches but after being shipped halfway around the world don't expect one to be more than .05 inch within accuracy. They have to be checked and adjusted before you start using one but since the best you can expect in precision isn't very high it isn't justified to spend over $150 for the professional lab grade gauges to do the tune up, a generic cheap one will usually do. It takes more than just an indicator like this anyway.When I opened the box the first thing I noticed was the certification sheet was blank. No information at all. That indicates that this was never tested and you get no statement of precision to work from so the gauge had to be checked before I could believe it was reliable.This is not a tool to measure dimensions like actual thickness. It's in a class known as referrence or differential gauges. It just measures variations across a surface or small movements.Quick explanation, you lock the gauge in a holder set the needle against the surface. Unlike a plunger gauge you need to adjust it against the surface at aprox the mid range of dial travel to get movement in two directions, preload it. Then set your zero and move the surface under the feeler point and read the divisions as the needle moves back and forth as the variations in flatness away from your zero. 1 div equals 10um.That's how it's supposed to work but testing on the same point on a 1-2-3 block on a flat plate didn't produce repeatable readings. Just moving the block under the pointer and returning to the same pen mark over 20 times never came closer than 5 out of 20 times that the needle came back to within a half div +- of zero. And the readings tended to move in the direction indicating the block was getting taller.Not sure how precise the gauge actually is because I found out that the miniature magnetic base was causing most of the errors. Without changing the setup I put 2 business cards on top of the block, re-zero'd and removed the cards and waited. After 5 minutes the readings had grown past zero by almost 1/2 a card thickness without being touched.The holder is trash. It has one lock in the middle and a ball joint at each end without a tensioning screw and after twisting it to get the gauge in position just gets looser and looser on the ball ends. Can't tighten it and it won't hold it's own weight without slowly sagging.The set is going back even if the gauge does turn out to be ok. I haven't tested it on a stiffer mount because half the cost was for the pathetic magnetic mount which is garbage and ruins everything.

The indicator holder tightening screw was not good but was easy to make better.

I am well aware that you get what you pay for. And this was the cheapest possible option. But it’s not worth spending what little money we did spend. The stand is difficult to crank down solid, the indicator jumps around for no reason, and you’d be better off spending five times the money and getting something good.

Really like having to turn only one knob to lock the stand into position.