Combination square set.

[Richard.]

God these things have got expensive since I last bought a set.
Well the time has come to buy a new one. I've an old mitutoyo 4 piece set and it's used daily, must be 15 years old now as it was a birthday present in my early fabricating days.
Well it's looking very sorry for itself with knocks, chips, broken bubble etc etc.
Now I know from owning mitutoyo they are very good but are they the only set to consider. I've used a starret set occasionally at work too which seems well made too.
If you could share your thoughts on others they may be considered too. I looked at the direct replacement for. Mine and it's £140-160. I'll pay it if that's what it costs for the best but if I can get as good for less then I'll go that way.

 

[Parm]

I've got a hand me down Starrett set with square, centre square, and protractor. It's quite good for my hobby use

 

[armalites]

I bought this Bahco set some time a go and I'm very happy with them.

Nice quality for the money and one is 400mm which comes in useful

http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/product.php/section//sn/BAHCPACK1#.V2U_-uRkbfY

 

[MattH]

Mitutoyo or Sterrett all way.

 

[justin]

I am thinking about buying the £40 rdg tools set of ebay. Hopefully they are not too bad, for the amount of work I do I can't justify spending big money.

 

[Richard.]

Mitutoyo or Sterrett all way.

Are Moore wright in that list too or not. My verniers are Moore Wright which have been good to be fair.

 

[Maker]

Are Moore wright in that list too or not. My verniers are Moore Wright which have been good to be fair.

I would include them.

 

[MattH]

Are Moore wright in that list too or not. My verniers are Moore Wright which have been good to be fair.

I would include their older stuff but I can't say I am a fan of the modern stuff.

 

[Richard.]

I would include their older stuff but I can't say I am a fan of the modern stuff.

Ah I see. Well that's them out because I'm not buying a pre owned, pre dropped, set. It's new only

 

[julianthegypsy]

Are Moore wright in that list too or not. My verniers are Moore Wright which have been good to be fair.

Aren't they owned by Starret these days anyway?

 

[Richard.]

Well I think back now and that mitutoyo set has given me more than 15 years of service and it's only down fall has been due to me been clumsy and dropping them a good number of times so I'll stick with what I know and go with that. I found a full set for £126 posted so it's ordered. The rule won't be used much mind as I have 600mm version of it which I use more often. Cheers fellas for the input.

 

[Johnseat]

I am thinking about buying the £40 rdg tools set of ebay. Hopefully they are not too bad, for the amount of work I do I can't justify spending big money.

Same here pal, for how much I'd use it I can't justify £100+ on a top quality set.

 

[Richard.]

Same here pal, for how much I'd use it I can't justify £100+ on a top quality set.

My fear isn't so much how often its used but more to how long will it be right. I'm a real stickler for accuracy infact its a real problem as it tends to cost me more in time through trying to resolve something that's out by fractions and would never go noticed.
I spent the other day cutting thin slivers off an Alu bar then rotating them 180 degrees and cutting again. I had 0.2 mm run off over 40mm on my band saw. That's how bad I can be. It drives her indoors round the twist.
I got the saw to 0.1 run off over 40mm and called it a day.
This was after micro fettling.
This is the reason I went mitutoyo. It's certainly not because the others are no good it's because I have a problem if things I do are not bang on the money.

 

[Kent]

For a four piece set think what each sells for - it's not exorbitant for decent measuring tools

 

[Richard.]

It got to me too mate. I'm at 0.1mm now with hours of fine fettle. I'm quite happy with that now as we are talking paper thickness out on a 30 year old bandsaw

 

[MattH]

It got to me too mate. I'm at 0.1mm now with hours of fine fettle. I'm quite happy with that now as we are talking paper thickness out on a 30 year old bandsaw

Just to throw a spanner in the works on that one mate, a set of calipers is not the right tool to measure tiny variations in thickness like that. You should be using a micrometer. ;-)

 

[Richard.]

Just to throw a spanner in the works on that one mate, a set of calipers is not the right tool to measure tiny variations in thickness like that. You should be using a micrometer. ;-)

Ha I did measure it with a micrometer and got the same (results) 0.1 variation. But for the purpose of the photo I had to use a vernier as my micrometer is an old one not digital.

 

[MattH]

0.124 degrees. How can you live with that?

 

[Richard.]

0.124 degrees. How can you live with that?

Put it like that and it's not too bad.
Iirc the micr showed a variation of 0.11 mm the verner as you see was 0.10

 

[Richard.]

For a four piece set think what each sells for - it's not exorbitant for decent measuring tools

It is when I remember them at half that price. Yes we are talking ages ago and yes I know how these things increase in price over time and yes we get what we pay for. I know this. I was just shocked to see triple digits when I searched for them.