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Dial Bore Indicator Recommendations

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TedD

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Any recommendations (links, mfg, models, etc..) on which dial bore indicator one should look at? Seems there is an extensive price range. Prefer the digital readout but more concerned about decent quality for a reasonable price.
 
TedD said:
Any recommendations (links, mfg, models, etc..) on which dial bore indicator one should look at? Seems there is an extensive price range. Prefer the digital readout but more concerned about decent quality for a reasonable price.
Click to expand...
EZ-Bore has a decent one that i'm considering for $90.
 
Sunnen makes a very nice gage. It is probably going to be more of a higher end gage with carbide tips but you get what you pay for. I guess it all depends on what you are trying to do with it. The few we use here are graduated in .0001 increments. I never liked the feel for any of the digital gages. We also reference our bore's we turn with intra-micrometers. Reason being is the bore gages have the measuring contacts 180 apart and will not represent roundness as well, not that they are graduated to read as close but it will definately show imperfections in roundness.
 
barluc99 said:
Sunnen makes a very nice gage. It is probably going to be more of a higher end gage with carbide tips but you get what you pay for. I guess it all depends on what you are trying to do with it. The few we use here are graduated in .0001 increments. I never liked the feel for any of the digital gages. We also reference our bore's we turn with intra-micrometers. Reason being is the bore gages have the measuring contacts 180 apart and will not represent roundness as well, not that they are graduated to read as close but it will definately show imperfections in roundness.
Click to expand...

Very true....but, $90 or 'Sunnen' ($900)? Keep in mind that these motors 'move around' the moment they are fired up...how 'good' do they NEED too be? JMO
 
http://www.mscdirect.com/product/06456016
this is all I ever used. Nice thing about it, you measure this with your micrometer and you measure your piston with the same micrometer. No need to check your inside gauge against your outside gauge, you use the same gauge to measure both. Real easy to use. I had both types, but preferred this.

Comments compliments criticisms and questions always welcome.
 
Al with the dial bore guage, you set it once zero it in your micrometer, and take as many point measurements in the bore that you want never having to remove it or reset it. Telescopic guauges had their place and time, I found them to be the most frustrating device ever, you are always second guessing it.

Buy an inexpensive bore guage set it with a micrometer and go to it.
 
Snap gauges and a mic. are ok for a backyard builder or the hobbyist when fitting pistons and have their place for other measurements . A good quality dial bore gauge that reads in tenths is a must if your planning to build many, it will help you see wear and cylinder taper a lot faster and see what honing heat does when checking between honing passes will do ,even with coolant. You can achieve a straighter cylinder and achieve it faster with a dial bore gauge !OMO
 
If you do buy a dial bore guage, it would be a great idea to also buy a calibrated rind guage to check it, if you think it will always be the same after you set it only once, you got a lot to learn.
 
By all means go with a dial bore gauge, and if possible spend some cash and get a good one. Compac (Swiss) is probably the best made today, if you can find one expect to pay about $3,500. Dorsey is American made and resembles the old "Standard Gage" unit that was popular for decades. Mitutoyo makes the cheapest gauge of acceptable quality, I use a small one for connecting rods that I upgraded with a better dial indicator. You can pick them up for about $600. Don't even consider anything made in China. Lots of them are made there and sold under names that you would otherwise assume were good gauges..
http://datasheet.octopart.com/DS-B1-10123-Dorsey-Metrology-datasheet-10315140.pdf
http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/...searchterm=Mitutoyo&navid=4294949640+12107853
 
Chipg56 said:
By all means go with a dial bore gauge, and if possible spend some cash and get a good one. Compac (Swiss) is probably the best made today, if you can find one expect to pay about $3,500. Dorsey is American made and resembles the old "Standard Gage" unit that was popular for decades. Mitutoyo makes the cheapest gauge of acceptable quality, I use a small one for connecting rods that I upgraded with a better dial indicator. You can pick them up for about $600. Don't even consider anything made in China. Lots of them are made there and sold under names that you would otherwise assume were good gauges..
http://datasheet.octopart.com/DS-B1-10123-Dorsey-Metrology-datasheet-10315140.pdf
http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/...searchterm=Mitutoyo&navid=4294949640+12107853
Click to expand...
Dang....we're not building Italian Ferrari's here....we're building Chinese 'Clones'! I've been using a 'yard stick' up too this point in time....:)
 
jack burroughs said:
If you do buy a dial bore guage, it would be a great idea to also buy a calibrated rind guage to check it, if you think it will always be the same after you set it only once, you got a lot to learn.
Click to expand...
As far as a lot to learn I have used and set more inexpensive guages and repaired and calibrated more than I want to remember in an educational facility. If the user is new it does not matter if it is a $100 unit or $3500 unit the reading is only as good as the user.
When checking a cylinder a dial bore guage will retain it's setting quite reliably I did not expect some one to set the dial bore guage once and forget it. A calibrated ring would be nice but what many of you forget is many that are asking on this forum are setting up or learning. So many find it hard to swallow spending $600 plus on an engine then a suggestion comes along to spend $600($3500) on a tool. You may be giving advice to an eager DIY owner that is going to hone his cylinder with a flex hone, but he will be feel good about his efforts and he will be easily able to measure to an accuracy of .0005". If he can afford a $100 dial bore guage and learn how to use it that is money well spent for them.
 
Thank You Kart43. That pretty well sums it up for me.


Kart43 said:
As far as a lot to learn I have used and set more inexpensive guages and repaired and calibrated more than I want to remember in an educational facility. If the user is new it does not matter if it is a $100 unit or $3500 unit the reading is only as good as the user.
When checking a cylinder a dial bore guage will retain it's setting quite reliably I did not expect some one to set the dial bore guage once and forget it. A calibrated ring would be nice but what many of you forget is many that are asking on this forum are setting up or learning. So many find it hard to swallow spending $600 plus on an engine then a suggestion comes along to spend $600($3500) on a tool. You may be giving advice to an eager DIY owner that is going to hone his cylinder with a flex hone, but he will be feel good about his efforts and he will be easily able to measure to an accuracy of .0005". If he can afford a $100 dial bore guage and learn how to use it that is money well spent for them.
Click to expand...
 
Kart43 said:
Al with the dial bore guage, you set it once zero it in your micrometer, and take as many point measurements in the bore that you want never having to remove it or reset it. Telescopic guauges had their place and time, I found them to be the most frustrating device ever, you are always second guessing it.

Buy an inexpensive bore guage set it with a micrometer and go to it.
Click to expand...

they were never frustrating to me. In my day, I ran right up with the fastest the country had to offer. When I ran the McCullough's I always did my own engines.
I never said dial bore gauges were bad, use them if you want, all I said was telescoping gauges worked just fine for me.



Comments compliments criticisms and questions always welcome.
If the data does not match the theory, get a new theory. (Al Nunley)
 
A good builder with a good feel for snap gauges can feel many things!!! been using snap gauges all my life. I do own a dial bore but have found that my gauges tell me what I need to know when comparing to the dial bore. Practice makes perfect.
 
I have been using an inside micrometer for the forty four years that I have been building my motors. Never had a problem, Mc's, Komets, Yamahas, flat heads, Animals, or clones.
Jim
 
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