Cheap Asian tools...

[John Coloccia]

I'm in an ornery mood tonight, so I thought I'd tickle the dragon's tail with a completely non-controversial topic. Mwah hah hah

Read on...

Apologies for the rotated images. It's a feeler gauge...a .0015" feeler gauge.
195875


Noooooo....it's actually a cheap .004" feeler gauge. GRRRRRRRR. Stupid, cheap Chinese tools!
195876


::::sigh::::
195877

Anyhow, I got my chuckle for the evening. Maybe Veritas makes a feeler gauge...I'll settle for anywhere in North America. LOL. :)

[glenn bradley]

Yep. http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?c=&p=32527&cat=1,43513,51657

[Rich Engelhardt]

The real question is - which is off, the digital caliper or the feeler guage ?
;)

Much as I love my cheap HF digital calipers & use them all the time in the wood shop, I don't let them anywhere near my reloading equipment.

When I size a slug to .431" and stick it on top of a big dose of Hercules ( I know, it's Alliant now - but - I like the old name better), I want to be sure it's spot on.
Dropping the hammer on something that generates upwards of 40,000 psi. about 18 inches from your face can ruin your day real quick if things are "off just a hair". ;)

[Larry Edgerton]

I don't buy cheap tools because they always make me mad and I smash them with a hammer. There are no bad tools in my shop, but a lot have gone through the dumpster......

Larry

[John Coloccia]

The real question is - which is off, the digital caliper or the feeler guage ?
;)

Much as I love my cheap HF digital calipers & use them all the time in the wood shop, I don't let them anywhere near my reloading equipment.

When I size a slug to .431" and stick it on top of a big dose of Hercules ( I know, it's Alliant now - but - I like the old name better), I want to be sure it's spot on.
Dropping the hammer on something that generates upwards of 40,000 psi. about 18 inches from your face can ruin your day real quick if things are "off just a hair". ;)

The feeler's off. All of my calipers are fairly high quality and reliable.

[Neil Brooks]

Skim-coat.

;)

[Matt Winterowd]

I don't understand the problem. That's only a 266% error. Easily withing the design tolerances. :rolleyes:

[Paul McGaha]

I've actually got a set of the Lee Valley feeler gauges. Really nice.

PHM

[John Nesmith]

Gee, it's only off by two and a half thousandth's of an inch. How accurate do you need to be? :)

[Frank Drew]

I don't understand the problem. That's only a 266% error. Easily withing the design tolerances. :rolleyes:

Yeah, I mean, really... picky, picky picky!

:D

[Harvey Pascoe]

After you've been burned enough, you won't even be tempted anymore. By Asian, I trust you exclude Japanese. Chinese digital calipers are okay though. Got two and they at least agree.

[Andrew Joiner]

John the gauge you show is a General, made in USA right? So the cheap Asian tools thing is a joke?

[Neil Brooks]

John the gauge you show is a General, made in USA right? So the cheap Asian tools thing is a joke?

Oh, now THAT's funny.

Never even THOUGHT to look !

LOL !

[John Coloccia]

John the gauge you show is a General, made in USA right? So the cheap Asian tools thing is a joke?

Exactly. My first thought when I measured it was "Cheap Asian tools!"....then I looked at the cover and a bit sheepishly chuckled to myself :)

[Mike Cruz]

I was recently cutting some pieces for my brother's staircase. I showed him my coolest-thing-in-the-world Wixey angle gauge. I cut the piece 3 times...wondering why it wouldn't give me the desired angle I needed. I racked my brain. How could I mess this up. The digital angle finder CAN'T be wrong!. I decided to just go by the TS's indicator...spot on! The Wixey is easily 3-5 degrees off! Grrrrrrrrrr....

[michael gates]

Doesn't it just need to be calibrated, like most digital tools require?

[keith micinski]

3 to 5 degrees is absurd amnd probably should be visual by eye. You might want to make sure your calibrations are right.

[Mike Cruz]

Um, you set it on the table and push the on button. Then you hit the calibrate button...it reads "0", then put it on the blade...it reads "90". As you crank the blade, the little numbers start going from 90 to whatever angle you are trying to cut. It was off something like 3-5 degrees. I did it 3 times, same result.

[Mike OMelia]

....

0.004/2.54 ~= 0.0015

[Chuong Nguyen]

I got this Made in USA Craftsmen feeler guage set.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00940804000P?prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3
cheap in price too.
Old

[glenn bradley]

Um, you set it on the table and push the on button. Then you hit the calibrate button...it reads "0", then put it on the blade...it reads "90". As you crank the blade, the little numbers start going from 90 to whatever angle you are trying to cut. It was off something like 3-5 degrees. I did it 3 times, same result.

<<< threadjack >>> I had a Wixey that lost it's mind like that. They replaced it for me. <<< end threadjack >>>

[John Nesmith]

All you need to do is:

1) Locate a permanent marker
2) Black out the .0015
3) Write .004 above or below it

Done.

[Dan Hintz]

I got this Made in USA Craftsmen feeler guage set.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00940804000P?prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3
cheap in price too.
Old
Got the same one years ago... along with their wire version. Don't think I've ever checked their precision.

[John Coloccia]

Got the same one years ago... along with their wire version. Don't think I've ever checked their precision.

The only reason I caught it is that I took it out to use it and I could feel that it was no way .0015.

[John Coloccia]

....

0.004/2.54 ~= 0.0015

If you look closely you'll see that it's clearly marked as .038mm as well. It's just manufactured wrong. It's thicker at the edges, and closer to .0015" towards the middle. I'm guessing that a whole roll of feeler stock was bad so there's probably tons out there with the same issue.

[Dan Hintz]

The only reason I caught it is that I took it out to use it and I could feel that it was no way .0015.
It's worth checking, for sure... it could explain why a car was running rough if you're using it to size spark plug gaps. :D

[Darius Ferlas]

All you need to do is:

1) Locate a permanent marker
2) Black out the .0015
3) Write .004 above or below it

Done.

Nah, it will introduce only more confusion by the thickness of the line made by the marker ;)

As for the "digital" part of the measuring tools. In many cases, the "digital" part only refers to the display, while the actual mechanisms are still analogue, so must be accurate because it is digital is often baseless.

[Chris Tsutsui]

Lets hold on a minute before we let my fellow asians off the hook.

These are a few ideas:

1. General uses a chinese machine that thicknesses the feeler gauge stock and that is what is malfunctioning.

2. General buys this feeler gauge from china in pieces, does final assembly in USA, and since 50% of it is made in USA, they can call it "Made in USA".

3. The feelers are so thin they are sticking to each other and this is user error. (just kidding) :)

Anyways if you have a micrometer then I think it will be better than a caliper for small measurements. I use my mitutoyo 1" micrometer to test my hair to see if my wife is right about my hair getting thin.

[Dan Hintz]

I use my mitutoyo 1" micrometer to test my hair to see if my wife is right about my hair getting thin.
does she use a Wixey to determine if you're off kilter?

[Barry Wixey]

does she use a Wixey to determine if you're off kilter?

My wife does......

[Mark Conde]

Isn't the real issue with the lack of quality control and the manufacturer not adhering to better spec. tolerances? Does not really matter if it's made in America,
Asia or Timbuktu. Right?

[David Weaver]

If it makes you feel any better, I have a cheap chinese feeler set like that from littlemachineshop or some other discount place and I believe that the number on the feelers for those is also just a loose suggestion. Some of the smaller sizes are stiffer than some of the sized marked as larger.

[Chris Tsutsui]

My wife does......

Lucky for me, the Wixey angle cube doesn't have the capacity to measure how off kilter i am.

[Bo McCorkle]

Im a machinist and the stuff I destroy fairly.regular such as dial indicators are eese but my measuring.goodies pins and feeleers and calipers and mics I have moved to all.swiss stuff. They are proud of.it.but then again I KNOW its spot on. Eese feeler gauges I use for shim stock on fixturing and lathe chucks......