Mitutoyo height guage parts

E.Carlson

E.Carlson

Joined
Mar 28, 2016
Messages
811
I've never used a height gauge, but I was delivering a knife to a guy that runs a machine shop earlier and he gave me this:
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It is missing the scribe and clamp and there is no model number on it.
Anyone familiar with these or where I might be able to get the missing pieces?
 
Enco, MSC, or McMasterCarr.
I think the stub is pretty universal.
You should find quite a few Mitutoyo options.
 
Yeah, looks like MSC has the right stuff IF I found the right part numbers. 80 bucks to get it all together again. Worth it?
 
Are you just going to use it as a scribe to lay things out or are you going to measure with it?
 
IMHO no it's not. It's a vernier, which while totally functional, is outdated technology. A fairly inexpensive dial or digital will be easier to use and likely give as good or better results (depending on how well you can read the vernier scale). Or try to shop around a little. You might be able to find an off brand clamp and blade that will work for a lot less money which would make it worth it. (Assuming you can read the scale)
 
MKarish said:
IMHO no it's not. It's a vernier, which while totally functional, is outdated technology. A fairly inexpensive dial or digital will be easier to use and likely give as good or better results (depending on how well you can read the vernier scale). Or try to shop around a little. You might be able to find an off brand clamp and blade that will work for a lot less money which would make it worth it. (Assuming you can read the scale)
Click to expand...

Yikes, hopefully Matthew Gregory doesn't see this one...
 
Well for starters I was just going to scribe for layout with it (big step up from using a drill bit for my center line) but I imagine there are many other uses for it that I haven't thought of yet. I have heard many times around here that a height guage is invaluable.
 
It can be for layout. My comment was more directed towards the idea that you need Mitutoyo parts to complete your gage. When the scribe and clamp brand don't really matter much since you have adjustment to zero. Using it to scribe I would just make sure you're getting a clamp and scribe that match your tool post and reach your surface plate, that has a carbide face so you don't peen it over scribing.

But if you're not using it for precision measurement don't spend the extra money to get the exact "right" parts. And if you are going to use it for precision measurement, still don't get the right parts and use a test indicator as your probe. Then you can check all kinds of fun stuff.
 
Wouldn't the drop on the scribe need to be equal to the height of the base? Does that make sense?
 
Yes within reason but there is adjustment to zero it. How much deviation you have adjustment for I don't know. Can you take a closer picture of the slide?
 
i have one works great in the shop for scribing things not fast for me to read so when i jsut need to check flatness or the like i get the dial indicator out tiink i got my scribe for it at CDCO
 
I recently went through this with an old Mitutoyo, I found the replacement parts on Enco/MSC. There are two stub styles so pay attention to the specs.
 
That's hysterical!!!!

Yeah, I prefer Vernier. As far as being outdated, sure, I guess. Not sure how what effectively works out to be a ruler gets outdated, but okay.

Regarding accuracy, I'll definitely differ on this one. Dial and digital indicators can easily fall out of calibration. You would REALLY have to work to get a Vernier knocked out.

One caveat to my position, though, which may make more sense to some... what I am doing with mine could hardly be construed as 'production' work. I do things one at a time, and nothing is rushed. If your time is money (which could be the case for some of you guys) then it only makes sense to speed up your readings with 'modern' metrology systems.

I bought my replacement scribe from MSC, I think, btw. Your height gauge looks identical to mine - pretty sure the scribe you need is Mitutoyo part#900173. The clamp should be available, too, I'd think.


Josh Rider said:
Yikes, hopefully Matthew Gregory doesn't see this one...
Click to expand...
 
Matthew Gregory said:
That's hysterical!!!!

Yeah, I prefer Vernier. As far as being outdated, sure, I guess. Not sure how what effectively works out to be a ruler gets outdated, but okay.

Regarding accuracy, I'll definitely differ on this one. Dial and digital indicators can easily fall out of calibration. You would REALLY have to work to get a Vernier knocked out.

One caveat to my position, though, which may make more sense to some... what I am doing with mine could hardly be construed as 'production' work. I do things one at a time, and nothing is rushed. If your time is money (which could be the case for some of you guys) then it only makes sense to speed up your readings with 'modern' metrology systems.

I bought my replacement scribe from MSC, I think, btw. Your height gauge looks identical to mine - pretty sure the scribe you need is Mitutoyo part#900173. The clamp should be available, too, I'd think.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm about as far away from "production" as you can get. It's one at a time start to finish for me. I also have a knack for older tools over stuff with batteries. I'm really just looking for a better way to check center an flatness and things like that.
Like I said it was given to me so I might as well give it a new life. Not to mention learning a new skill when it comes to reading the vernier scale.
 
If you pull the phillips screws off the vernier side, you should be able to see how that can adjust up or down to maintain zero with different feet.

The other method is to use shims between the scribe and the arm as the clamps usually provide room for this. But you may only have .030-40 of adjustment so getting a scribe with the right drop is important. If you can't find the drop listed then I guess you'll be better off buying the correct replacement part.

Either way that's a nice tool you've got.

Most test indicators come with a little bar that the indicator can clamp on that most people don't know what to do with. That's to slide in your vernier clamp to use it as a surface gage or even a squareness gage if you know how square your vernier is.
 
Thanks for the help. I think since I found the exact parts that were original I'm just going to go for it. 80 bucks isn't all that bad (probably give the guy who gave it to me a discount on his next knife too). Although now it looks like test indicators are something I may need to start researching...because now I'm curious. The quest for tools is never ending huh?
 
E.Carlson said:
I've never used a height gauge, but I was delivering a knife to a guy that runs a machine shop earlier and he gave me this:


It is missing the scribe and clamp and there is no model number on it.
Anyone familiar with these or where I might be able to get the missing pieces?
Click to expand...

If you're just going to scribe with it.

Before I spent real money on real parts

I'd just grind a HSS lathe tool blank to a scribe with a flat bottomed chisel grind.

and make some sort of clamp based on photos of existing clamps.


Then instead of reading the vernier I'd just set it like you would with gauge blocks

But since I don't have gauge blocks, I'd put a drill under the scriber to set the height.
Since I have and everyone should have full fractional and number drill sets, that gives lots of setting options
 
I have a better chance at finding the right gage blocks than the right drills. Between home and work I probably have 6 half empty drill indexes floating around :confused:

E.Carlson - a dial test indicator mounted in your vernier will give you an absolute point of reference to zero, rather than one dependent on your "feel" of bottoming the scribe out on the surface plate or part. With jacks to do a 3 point level, you can then check the true flatness of a knife. Once you've checked flatness, you can check true parallelism and account for deviations in the flatness.

It's probably over kill until you get to the point of surface grinding knives flat. But if you do do that, it will come in very handy by telling you exactly where to shim and how much to take minor warpage out of blades or other things.
 
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