Precision alignment tools

[Glenn Howard]

Does anyone own or have any experience with this set or any others from LittleMachineShop.com?

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2518&category=

It seems to be a good deal considering everything that's included. These guys have the best prices I've found so far for dial indicators. But like anything else, sometimes you get what you pay for. If they aren't accurate, I'd rather spend a little more and feel confident with my tool set ups.


Also, where can I pick up a precision steel rod to use for testing drill press runout?

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

if I remember correctly, I saw same kit in Harbor Freight. I did open the box, but did not like quality.
Ed.

[Lee Schierer]

It depends on what you are trying to align. If you are aligning woodworking machinery, then any dial indicator is better than none at all. In my opinion we get carried away with accuracy when workin g wood these days. There is no need, other than the bragging rights perhaps, to be closer than .005" or .010" on any wood measurement as wood will move that much just from daily humidity changes. Using micrometers for wood working is definitely overkill. I do like using dial calipers (actually digital ones are better) for checking wood thickness from my planer. My guess is that the magnetic base will find little use in a wood shop.

I aligned my TS with a $20 dial indicator from HF screwed to a piece of wood clamped to my miter gage and it worked just fine. The digital calipers I have are 6" and I paid less than $20 for them. I had a pair of dial calipers before that, but they didn't play well with saw dust.

Spend more time wood working and less time being precise.

[Gordy Anderson]

Does anyone own or have any experience with this set or any others from LittleMachineShop.com?

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2518&category=

It seems to be a good deal considering everything that's included. These guys have the best prices I've found so far for dial indicators. But like anything else, sometimes you get what you pay for. If they aren't accurate, I'd rather spend a little more and feel confident with my tool set ups.


Also, where can I pick up a precision steel rod to use for testing drill press runout?


I don't have that particular one, but I did just buy a kit from them that had the magnetic base, arm and dial indicator. The arm was a little awkward, but I would guess they all would be. I made it work though, and finally have my saw tuned so I can cut a square piece of wood, and it doesn't hit the blade guard or create a gap against the fence. I was pleased with the kit and the service. Gordy

[Dave Falkenstein]

IMHO a "good deal" and precision measuring tools do not go well together. Take a look at the TS-Aligner, Jr.:

http://www.ts-aligner.com/tsalignerjr.htm

TS-Aligner, Jr. will also measure drill press runout, and a whole bunch of other shop alignment and measurement tasks.

[Glenn Howard]

Wow! I did not expect to receive such diametrically opposed opinions! But I guess that's what an opinion is.

[mark page]

I have the TS Aligner, but is not a cheapo to purchase. No qualms about it yet as it has served me well. It's another one of those buy once, cry once purchases.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

The caliper is problematic.

I have my old Brown and Sharp caliper and I have to be extra careful to keep the rack and gear assembly super clean. In the shop this wasn't such an issue you always set it down on the dial face so ships couldn't fall in. But, in the shop the dust "floats" in to the rack and gear causing problems.

You are way far better off getting a digital caliper from Starrett or if you are like me and want a bombproof caliper and don't mind breaking out the magnifier get an old school "Vernier" scale caliper. They never fail.
My 12" caliper is a Mitutoyo vernier scale and I use it all the time.

As for the indicator. Get yourself an old Federal or Starrett or Brown & Sharp off the Flea bay. Bear in mind that most of them have damn little spindle travel.
Get a mush spindle travel as you can find. I have an old Federal with a couple inches of travel and let me tell you it's damn handy.

In fact most of what you need is available pretty cheap on the flea bay

[Chris Knudsen]

Hi Glen,
if you are looking for a great all around set up tool, take a look at the One way multi guage. http://www.oneway.ca/workshop/multi-gauge.htm
I have found this to be an extremely versatile tool and keep one in my calibrating kit at all times.

[John Schreiber]

Wow! I did not expect to receive such diametrically opposed opinions! But I guess that's what an opinion is.
I understand what you are saying. I tend to go cheap and I do just fine.

For woodworking, what I want is a tool that can measure precisely and repeatably over the course of a few minutes. I can do that cheap, but it doesn't get me accuracy or durability. For that, you need to get quality tools and they cost real money.

The difference between precision and accuracy is important. I can look at the gauge on a dial indicator and tell that there's run out on a shaft and roughly how much, or I can tell if my equipment is aligned because I get the same measure at one location as I do at another, and I can tell if my planer is cutting accurately by measuring at different points on the board.

But I wouldn't claim that with my equipment I can measure something to a thousands of an inch and that if someone else measured it, they would come up with the same thing.

I'd like to have the good stuff, and if I were a machinist or had money to spare I might, but I manage just fine.

[Jerome Hanby]

No offense to anyone and pre-apologies for what I must be overlooking, but...

The TS Aligner Jr looks a lot like a single side crosscut sled whose fence has a dial indicator jig running along a strip of t-track. I'm sure the tolerances are much finer on the TS Aligner Jr but is that really necessary to adjust a table saw? The angle gauge is a nifty idea, but wouldn't a Wixey angle gauge be cheaper and more user friendly?

Disregarding the price, that TS Aligner Jr is a nice looking piece of equipment!

[Dennis Peacock]

The TS Aligner Jr is a nice setup....but I couldn't see paying that much for a setup jig. I used a piece of wood snugly fitted in the miter slot with a cross piece of wood attached to it with a single screw in the end of the "stick". I think the idea was one I got for Shop Notes or some WW rag like that. Marked a single tooth on the TS blade, set the screw head to where it just slightly touched the saw tooth, then moved the saw tooth to the back of the saw table slot, slide the wood/screw "jig" back with it and checked it with a feeler guage. When the screw head touched the same tooth both in front and in back of the TS blade throat? It's lined up.

I've talked to several Pro-Woodworkers....they all say that it's "how does it cut" rather than what does it read on the digital calipers. :)

I'd like to have some nice setup tools one day.