Adam Savage's Favorite Tools: Pin Gauges!

Adam looks upon the landscape of pin gauges to dive back into an examination of metrology (the science of measurement!) and demonstrates how he uses this set of steel calibration equipment in his machining projects. They're some of the most useful tools for chasing zeroes in the shop!
Steel Pin Gage Set: amzn.to/3QJtkbH
Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Gauge Block Storage Rack: • Adam Savage's One Day ...
Adam Savage's Epiphany on the Science of Measurement: • Adam Savage's Epiphany...
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Thanks for watching!

[@tested]

Steel Pin Gage Set: amzn.to/3QJtkbH Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Gauge Block Storage Rack: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZKtmJmJlJd_kJY Adam Savage's Epiphany on the Science of Measurement: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3aalYyepa6SmKs

[@joehoandroid]

I wish Adam would use for a step measurement the jaw side of the calipers. You have a much wider contact base you get easier a perpendicular measurement and it is less cumbersome Like here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYmxcpt9fZl7laM

[@commodoresixfour7478]

One of these days I'm going to get a set of Ford - Johansen "Jo Blocks", the original gauge blocks from WWII.

[@98f5]

gayja-vu huh?

[@alonsorobots]

Link no longer works =(

[@baathwater8442]

these videos are literally like a show and tell for adults and i love it

[@bensullivan420]

Gotta check out AvE’s BOLTR (Bored Of Lame Tool Reviews)

[@MrCjbchrisb]

Show and tell for grown ups. Exactly

[@douglasdrain2326]

LOL that is the perfect way to describe these and I find them so soothing.

[@bipslone8880]

Imperial measurement is an American national embarrassment

[@richardmillhousenixon]

@@bipslone8880 Imperial units didn't originate in America.

[@davidriley7287]

Hi Adam, I just thought I would let you know that when using callipers to measure the distance from the edge of a part to your gauge pin you should use the step at the head of the callipers instead of the step on the tail end, the tail step is good for getting into small spaces but the step on the back of the head gives you a much more stable platform when getting your measurements.

[@paulmarsman8758]

it seems one in 50 videos showing how to use calipers actually covers this measurement.... why does 'nobody' know this is a way to use calipers?

[@vboost]

Was just about to say this. Open it longer than what you need to measure then thumbnail hold part against back top of vernier and slide closed to touch part.

[@awbmilne]

Came here to say this. I can hear my EGAD prof. yelling "Use your calipers correctly!" right at 11:50. On the other hand, very very jealous of Adam's contiguous set of gauge pins.

[@sdr3134]

Yep, was going to say this, I'm glad others caught this as well.

[@wobblysauce]

The same was waiting for the smack on the back of the head.

[@FullSendPrecision]

You can also stack the gauge pins to measure holes larger than you have pins for. You can stack two and add the dimensions.... There are some formulas to put 3 together in a pyramid shape and measure pretty big holes with your larger pins!

[@xmtxx]

I nkow that flat gauge are made for stacking (by ringing them). Isn't it a little bit janky with cylindrical gauge?

[@FullSendPrecision]

@@xmtxx not if you’re measuring a round hole.

[@espalier]

Link us up! I need to know how to do that!

[@F0XD1E]

I was thinking about that myself wondering what the math would be if you had to combine 3 pins to measure a big hole. Good to know someone already figured that out!

[@gregparker3873]

@@F0XD1E Just draw the three circles as per the pin gauge in a CAD program, give them all tangent references then draw a 3 point perimeter circle around the lot and the math is done for you!

[@Tinmans21]

I work in a metrology lab and I get to certify all the gages you mentioned! Thanks for giving the metrology world some love Adam!!

[@TexasBulldog74]

Currently in aerospace trying to get into Metrology or NDT. Both fields fascinate me.

[@arealious25]

Same here

[@GIBBO4182]

His enthusiasm for the most mundane things is to be respected

[@PacesIII]

There is nothing mundane regarding metrology and calibration.

[@quickdiy8127]

He's got several thousand dollars worth of product in this video...

[@DamienDusk]

I used to work in a factory that made Bullet casings. We used a great amount of these pins to check the holes on the end of the casings that would hold the primer and where the firing pin would strike. It was insane the precision required of these objects and the pin gauges made it possible to produce quality parts at a high frequency.

[@Alan.livingston]

I use pin gauges as go/no go for primer pockets when I reload. Always good to know when it’s time to bin old brass.

[@justinpedersen9174]

God I'd love to see This Old Tony having a tour of Adam's shop. I'd watch a whole series on these two talking shop

[@PlatinumDestroyer]

man i love hearing about the, minute, scientific side of this stuff. you could go your whole life just using standard measuring tools but this is the real innovation side of human engineering

[@johnmurcott1273]

I first read this as minute at first but the I realised it was minute.

[@jeremiahjohnson5610]

I love these videos so much. I am an oil field mechanic and i have some cool tolls but your pin gauge set is something i am envious of for sure. Thank you adam and team.

[@tested]

Thank you for the comment and thank you for watching. It means a lot!

[@kirillj91j07]

There is another option for measuring small holes, significantly less expensive than the bore gauges you mentioned. You should get yourself a set of small hole gauges, like the Mitutoyo 154-901. Like the telescoping gauges you measure them afterwards with a micrometer, but that Mitutoyo kit for instance is good from 1/8" to 1/2" and they're very inexpensive. They're less sensitive to being held at an exact angle, but you do have to develop a feel for when you've got it at the right size. Highly recommend.

[@edbennett8257]

Not only that, but they can be used to verify roundness of a hole, by measuring at different angles around the hole. Pin gauges only tell you the nominal diameter.

[@kirillj91j07]

@@edbennett8257 Never considered that, good point

[@Andrew-zh5ed]

Yes. I was thinking this exactly. We use these while making aircraft that have to be round and within 2 thousands plus and minus 0. They are quite amazing at measuring roundness.

[@steamgadget]

I've used these with limited practice and can get within .002 thousandths easy. They definitely take a "feel" to get good with but they are extremely accurate. Same amount of practice it takes to measure with a micrometer correctly.. \

[@chancelorofdisdain8425]

Since I aint doin rocket science I simply use a drill bit.

[@wdlindberg]

Early in my career (circa 1979) I spent 6 months in a high precision metal manufacturing plant. I worked in the QA department and we investigated non-conformances that were found by the QC inspectors. We called them deltronic pins. Used them a lot. Because, when drilling/boring lots of holes in things one of the primary go-nogo determinations is whether the hole is the right diameter. We were making a very fancy hydraulic cylinder. Everything was round. The cylinder OD and ID was round; the hollow piston ID and OD was round; the flange was round; the bolt holes in the flange were round; and the bolt pattern was round. In a perfect world all these circles would be truly round and precisely concentric.... turns out the world is far from perfect. Now granted we're talking about +/- 0.001" or maybe even +/- 0.0005" ... but in reality no hole, no bore, no pipe, no shaft, no bolt pattern, etc. is really round. We had to manage the out of roundness (eccentricities), the lack of concentricity and other tolerances to avoid an unfavorable tolerance stack-up that would result in the thing not working. Micrometers, calipers or snap gauges (whether two legs or three) can end up on the peaks or in the valleys of a hole/bore which could result in misleading measurement. A gauge pin or round go/nogo gauge, which is ground while spinning, can be quite precisely round. When inserted in the hole it hits the peaks but determines precisely whether the part that goes in the hole will fit. It was a very intense introduction to metrology and I learned the we don't really know what any dimension is we only know what our measuring tool says it is within the precision of the measuring tool. Sometimes you discover your measuring tool is insufficiently precise because the part does not fit even though the measured dimensions indicated it should fit. Metrology ... great topic and endlessly interesting and challenging !!

[@MrStonemason67]

The simplest of tools are so fascinating to me. I used to work in the construction field and the string line is my favorite go to. Literally whole empires were built to perfection with only a string. Mind blowing...

[@Finnegan6674]

Gauge pins and Jo Blocks are the 2 most useful thins in a shop. I do not know how I would have done jobs without them. I am a retired tool maker and I used them daily. Beside the gauge pins and Jo Blocks being top of the list next would a Uni-Mic and then a digital Caliper. The digital caliper is great for quick comparisons. Take your working size needed and set your zero there and then you can rapidly check other parts and know if they are plus or minus in size. What a time saver. The Uni-mic is great when having to check dimples or steps. in parts

[@h4pp13]

A tool that I use regularly is a spear gauge. This gauge is for measuring bores larger than 50mm up to a size of 900mm in increments of a 0.01mm. We use those to repair gearboxes for the off-shore.

[@csimet]

Hey Adam... on your smallest pin gage set case... you have a labeling error. You wrote .11" as the start of the range and it should be .011". You kicked in my OCD! ;)

[@msa3491]

Paper is a great measuring tool often used in welding fabrication and is also probably excellent for other positioning applications as well where you have a flat surface and can trace positions using crayon shading over the top.

[@KWHCoaster]

Not a machine tool, but one tool I found in Active Surplus in Toronto years ago was a watch makers vise. Great for holding small parts when using a pin vise, micro files, etc. when working on a model part.

[@striperman01]

For all the reasons you mentioned, I love my gauge pins sets. Use them all the time and they are simply beautiful tools! Enjoyed the video!

[@MrRevertis]

Seems like it would super satisfying every time when you find just the right pin and it slides in perfectly.

[@draskuul]

When I was building a pistol (1911) from scratch a few years ago a pin set was one of the best tool investments I made. Now that I'm doing a lot of 3D printing--mostly for practical / mechanical applications--they are still paying off. Definitely worth keeping around for any maker!

[@travistucker7317]

If you built a 1911 from scratch, you sir, are a winner at the game.

[@sincladp]

I’m still amazed after watching this man most of my adult life at how much I learn in a sub-20 minute video. I’m not berated with subscribe buttons and notification bell requests and ads, all to find out something I already knew and 20 minutes lost. Thank you for explaining in such depth and detail so efficiently!

[@quickdiy8127]

The information here isn't too useful, I make less than McDonald's workers and setup CNC machines...gage blocks, pin gages and calipers/bore gauges/ and digital mitutoyo calipers. Have to buy all my own tools they're not cheap either

[@rmkensington]

@@quickdiy8127 your paid less than a McDonald's worker to setup cnc equipment?

[@quickdiy8127]

@@rmkensington setup operate and program

[@origamimavin]

The must-have machining item in my shop is a coaxial indicator. As soon as I learned about what it was, I immediately went and bought one. Being able to line the mill up exactly with a hole is SO important, whether for boring or for zeroing out the mill on a part.

[@jppianoguy]

You need to use the "hidden" step feature of the calipers to get a better parallel measurement.

[@BenChnobli]

Came here to say that. The step feature on the opposite side of the depth gage is more accurate. Anyway, I love those videos!

[@DavidLindes]

Yeah, I was surprised early on that he pointed at the tail end when talking about a step, and then surprised again at 11:51 when he actually tried to measure that way. I'm guessing Adam just doesn't know! Or didn't at time of recording, anyway. Hopefully these comments will help him become aware. :) (Then again, 13:01 almost seems to indicate that he knows there's a better way?? But just doesn't know what it is?????)

[@snower13]

Here is a link to what the step feature is. littlemachineshop.com/images/gallery/instructions/usingcalipers.pdf

[@DavidLindes]

@@snower13 and a bunch of other things, too! Nice reference; thanks for sharing!

[@cholulahotsauce6166]

@@snower13 thank you for your service

[@andrewrapp8734]

My Amazon Alexa picked up your question and stated the exact reply at the exact time that you and your Alexa did. Made me chuckle! Keep up the great videos, have enjoyed your work since I was a kid.

[@dalfonzo656]

I love these videos…I’ve been a machinist 20 years and it’s awesome seeing someone make videos and being so excited about machining and measuring and the like. Keep it up!

[@turbosnail413]

He's so proud of his collection. Just a beacon of joy 😊

[@Geebuv]

I love gauge pins. Always finding neat ways to use them to aid in machining. Probably one of my favorite tools that got me out of a jam recently was collet blocks, nothing quite like them to quickly and accurately rotate stock in your machine.

[@photogartho]

I love the way you roll in and out of the frame. Its FEARLESS (another great Peter Weir flic)

[@peterfox2565]

I have had several sets of pin gauges for a while an I agree that they are awesome. The best way to quickly determine small hole sizes to within about 0.001". I use them more than my set of gauge blocks by almost 10:1. Lastly telescopic gauges can measure accurately to less that 0.0005" if you you are careful but it takes practice and patience.

[@gammawu5383]

I strongly believe this whole “Adam’s Favourite Tools” segment should have been called “Adam Whips it Out”

[@TexasBulldog74]

I work fabrication in aerospace, I absolutely LOVE pin gauges and especially gauge blocks. The ringing (SP) process just blows my mind almost every time..

[@froesey54]

his excitement is contagious he took a topic i diddnt think id care about and made me very fascinated about it. cool video adam!

[@HyturnLoturn]

I worked for the USAF in a metrology lab in the 68 degree room and we got to verify that those pins remain their listed size. Also got to check the ring gage in your bore mic and gage blocks. I love this stuff!

[@TheHylianBatman]

He simultaneously reminds me of an excited child and my dad. I feel like I haven't seen this series in a while! Glad to see it.

[@tested]

Ha! Well said.

[@christurley391]

The jaw end of the calipers is much easier to measure to an edge with. Far easier than using the probe end. You can use it to set your machinist square to digital accuracy as well.

[@turningcog]

This man is responisbe for more than half of the tools ive picked up over the last decade , thanks adam for reccomending worthwile tools

[@dodydunquez8922]

Being a mechanical inspector in the medical and Aerospace it's nice to hear that makers have respect for precision inspection equipment. Now having to work with this equipment is also hard because you have requirements such as Calibration and temperature control environments. Thanks again for your respect of this equipment. 🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️

[@fredbrooks1386]

Many times your videos and products (tools) I will never need, use, or buy BUT, you do a great service to makers like me, you said it towards the end of the video….. you provide a very importance tool ….AWARENESS , Thank you.

[@wolfofdawn4053]

Just stumbled apon this channel today and wanted to say that im so glad to have found it. Mythbusters was my childhood. I loved it more than anything. Ive got fond memories of the episode about ductape that blew kid me's mind. Anyways, just wanted to say thanks and that im hyped to watch through the backlog of this channel when I get the time.

[@ScriptCoded]

That's really interesting! Just want to let you know you can use the top of the calipers to measure steps a bit easier. Looked a bit finicky to measure against the pins.

[@marcoditanna9218]

Edge finders have always amazed me how accurate they can be. It’s also fascinating how they work.

[@jameshaines604]

Man straight up Adam you have literally everything 🙌 thank you for showing us these beautiful pieces of equipment.

[@dawsonpolaris]

As a part of my current job I am rebuilding Fujitsu f-400 bill dispensers. When I came into the task I was told that 'the way' to set the belt tension was liberal use of the 'calibrated thumb'. Unfortunately my thumbs are apparently poorly calibrated so I went looking for something I could measure the tensioning points against. I started out with a set of calipers on a 'properly set' rebuilt assembly then went looking for a proper gauge block but then discovered pin gauges and we are now setting them uniformly and much quicker! Thanks for the content and explanation of how they're 'supposed' to work

[@bmbunch8825]

Love someone like this is showing off the tool and die trade! If you're ever upstate stop on by my shop, been around coming up on 100 years, and have tons a lot of fun stuff to play with. Should get yourself a CMM if you really want to get precise measurements.

[@jerryjohnsonii4181]

Thanks for the knowledge about Pin gauges, Adam Savage !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@WohlfePac]

I love videos like this, it's like a masterclass about prop/maker stuff that's free to the public

[@tonyhallen1062]

Even drunk Adam is many times more intelligent than me. Love to hear him talk, love even more to hear his clarity.

[@halbronk7133]

Gage pins are great. When I worked in a machine shop, we used them as a go/nogo for slots as well as holes.

[@dansullivan7674]

Amazing knowledge! Thank you for sharing.

[@martybadboy]

Over a couple of years i bought an entire pin gage set and toolbox to store them in. I absolutely love it.

[@aaronallgrunn7845]

Love these videos. Shop and tool talk keeps me comming.

[@DThron]

Witness was super formative for me - the scene with the grandfather and the gun was burned into my mind forever! "You can look into their hearts and see this badness?" Incredible.

[@JRiddlebarger45]

Adam, Thanks for making these wonderful videos. I'll never get tired of seeing and hearing about your tools and all the ways to use them. You did forget to mention the Starrett 829 small hole gage set. Its a great alternative to measuring bores as small as .125 and up to .500 with great precision. They can be a bit finicky at first, but with very little practice you can get very accurate measurements.

[@apersonontheinternet8006]

But then you are relying on the circularity of the bore or pocket. The slightest runout could turn a perfectly fine part into scrap pretty quickly that way depending on tolerances. With these pins you can at least be sure that you are on center of the feature as long as you remember to account for the radius of the pin or pins.

[@bentationfunkiloglio]

Most excellent topic my brother. Learned something new today. Thx!

[@swim5000]

Love this video as much as the gauge block one! Will be sharing this with my nanoengineering cohort!

[@chadcontois3445]

I'm glad you get as excited about tools as I do. I personally like having a reason to use a Lip Gage or Disc Gage, depending on who you're speaking to.

[@Anonymous-rh9hk]

I've also seen machinists put a gauge pin in the mill or lathe chuck and use that to precisely align the mill or lathe with the work piece.

[@wesh388]

Wow thank you for sharing all your knowledge. I learned a lot! You show it in a way that is very easy to understand for someone like me with no formal machinist background

[@grabatar]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience, i dont know if i ever need this but if i do, i have you to thank for with this content. Keep your rants up, gives me some nice facts content to enjoy.

[@darknightstudio2543]

Great teachings fella! Loved it.

[@parkerfiskar3589]

Adam is such an interesting person. I love learning about this stuff!!

[@sailingstpommedeterre4905]

Gage pins are awesome...as well as gauge blocks🙂

[@nerdgeekdc]

I'm not sure if Adam did this just for the video, but when I was using telescoping guages we'd usually use a micrometer with a clutch to measure the guage. The clutch prevents it from compressing the telescoping guage. I feel like you can pretty easily get to single thou accuracy with that setup with a bit of practice. Anyways, always fun to hear about machining stuff.

[@jeffmarden9502]

Yeah, and with smaller holes that you can't get a telescoping gage into, there are small hole gages that work on the same premise, to be mic'd with a micrometer.

[@your_uncle_barry_6700]

I love the simplicity of these

[@MsJacknes]

I’m from Denmark and I have a Bachelor in Technology Management and Marine Engineering. As part of our education we have to take a 6 month machinist course and we have about 20 different sizes of 3 point bore gauges!👌 amazing piece of equipment!

[@shortone1320]

Love these videos! It’s throughly odd having someone you look up to be so excited for things I use at my job everyday

[@danrobsonjr247]

It’s great to see your still doing what you enjoy and are on tv/ KZbin. I remember watching myth busters my favorite show and it still is . The best episodes where the lawnmower from hell , the episode in the mountains at the ski resort and the one in placerville area in gold country close to pollock pines where I’m originally from. A bit of history for you to enjoy. The ski resort where you filmed that episode my dad fell the timber making the right of way for those ski lifts working for my grandfathers logging company. And placerville was set to become the state capital however it was changed to Sacramento . And the episode you filled at loon lake in Eldorado county was a lake I camped at and fished also it was an area my great grandfather grandfather and father all logged over the 4 generations my family logged that area where we lived up until we moved out of California in 2019 to Missouri. So some of the stumps where from my family as where some of the roads built to get to that area as was a good portion of hiway 50 . And my great grandfather helped build Jenkensin resivour falling trees using only an axe and a handsaw as they where filling up the lake in 4-6 feet of water in a rowboat.

[@Prodigal.k]

Great video. I work in a machine shop that specializes in tungsten and silicon carbide. Most of the work we do is very precise and requires a lot of different tools to do the job. I do find it a little crazy that you only trust your measurements with calipers within .01-.015". I own a variety of mitutoyo calipers (dial/digital) and use them alot! They are what I mainly use to verify dimensions that have a +/- .005" tolerance while using calibrated standards to check my tools. I use them for checking outside/inside diameters, notch/slot widths, feature locations, and sometimes depths depending on how tight the tolerance. I also use telescoping gages for bore diameters, specifically longer bores because they are nice for reaching down in and checking in multiple places along the bore. What you call a bore gage I call an ID micrometer or tri mic, I use those alot for checking finished dimensions with tolerances as tight as +/- .001 though I've used them to hold +/-.0008 a time or two. Anything tighter than that gets a bore gage set up, using gage blocks to create a standard. I also use gage pins ALOT! My .062-.250 set being the most used but have pins from .005-1". The tool needed depends on the accuracy required but even calipers can be extremely accurate while using calibrated standards and experience.

[@murasaki848]

In our machine shop when I was growing up the first thing Dad had me make was a set of 1-2-3 blocks, which are tool steel (I think he had me make them out of O2) 1 inch by 2 inch by 3 inch blocks that are heat treated and ground as a pair so they are as exact to each other as possible. Next were a set of parallels made in the same way that are about 1/4" below the thickness of the vises on the millers (we had a Jet, and when we could finally afford it a Bridgeport). Both of these were used for setting up/supporting parts for milling and surface grinding.

[@BlitzMekanika]

Thank you for posting this video. I am using it as part of my studies so I can pass my tool maker red seal exam. I also have a pro tip for Adam. When doing comparative measurement with a pin in a hole, place the fixed jaw of the vernier against the pin and the moving jaw which is lower (you may have noticed the step on the back of the vernier) will be made flush against the side of the block: as you adjust it up and down. This is more accurate than using the depth feature. Additionally a Surface table and a height gage with a DTI attached is the most precise way of doing a comparative measurement. Cheers :)

[@SuperCrazytrev]

Hey Adam! Absolutely love your videos! If you ever want to do press fits or have some serious accuracy. Highly recommend taking a look at “+” or “-“ pins! These pins will either be slightly higher or lower in tenths. We use these all the time in our shop to hold tolerances > .001.

[@medmex2164]

Every time i watch one of these videos its like im having a conversation with Adam. I love it

[@markday3145]

Cool tools. The digressions in the first part of the video only added to the enjoyment.

[@JaketheJOATGOAT]

Adam, you would love a good depth micrometer if you don't already have one. It would pair really well with your pin gauges and your gauge blocks. It would really help tie some of your kit together. And if you ever measure the diameter of something with a groove a set of blade micrometers is really nice to have on hand as well.

[@mikebeacom4883]

You can measure steps on the other end of the calipers too. Open the calipers and look at back side, opposite the dial.

[@johnleonard5857]

I love these videos. I work in wood not metal so I don’t need that level of measurement. It’s still really cool to see some of the stuff that is used.

[@Studio603OnTheAir]

I recently had to figure out how to measure wear on screw threads and after researching came to find out that you use 3 equally calibrated pins/wires, laying two close together in the grooves of the threads on top and 1 in a groove at the bottom while looking at the end on axis, taking your calipers you can compress all three points of contact and do the math to find the wear differential from what should be and what is. Your video of gauge pins reminded me of this. Thanks for all the video's.

[@andrebyman8744]

Do you mean you figured this out yourself? This is actually a very common way to measure screw threads when machining them. There is a formula to get the exact pitch diameter measurement this way.

[@deamonengineer6107]

thread cylinders are quite commonplace, also can use thread parallels which use the form of the threads in much the same fashion.

[@poopfartlord9695]

@@andrebyman8744 they said "came to find after researching"

[@Studio603OnTheAir]

@@andrebyman8744 no, I wish I would have, but it came up at work one day and after trying to figure it out without luck I researched it and was really impressed by the method, which made total sense. Adams demo with calibrated pins reminded me of it, pretty cool stuff to build a foundation of Knowlege from

[@Supersean0001]

Found an old pin gauge set in the back of our tool crib one time; hadn't been used in years. (I was working in a jet engine repair shop at the time.) Never had seen anything like them, but I figured out how useful they could be, using them as a sort of go/no-go gauge for bores subject to wear. A whole lot faster and more accurate than trying to use dial calipers on a 0.250" nominal hole. Once I started using it, others saw it, and everyone wanted to use it. But then another engine line got wind of our discovery, and they commandeered our pin gauge set. Those things are highly useful, and not just for machinists. Regular ol' knuckle-buster mechanics can make use of them, too; real easy to determine if a hole is worn out of limits or has become elongated, and none of the "well, maybe you're not reading the caliper right" BS.

[@sailingeric]

I have a pair of 1-2-3 blocks I use a lot for wood working. Would love to get into machining

[@quickdiy8127]

We don't use them so often anymore, I sometimes use em to probe my origins tho

[@Koptokaf]

I really like measuring stuff by zeroing a Joe block on a dial gauge stand and reading the difference on the dial. It's quick to do and truly convenient for parts up to 3-4 inches in height. I don't see this done much "in the wild" as it were, but its very reliable and accurate and has the added bonus of enabling you to do a half ass indication of parallelism.

[@nicholaslennon]

My father worked as a Manufacturing Engineer in a Tool and Die shop. The amount of measuring equipment they had was astounding. I really didn't appreciate the tools and knowledge that place held until I became an independent adult. Tool and die shops are pretty rad.

[@chiparooo]

A set of adjustable small hole gages will handle the measurement of most small holes that the telescoping gages stop at. These are comparative and still need a mic or calipers to take the measurement. They have been around for a hundred years and work great. I will say a set of pin gages is a nice addition to any shops tools. Thanks for sharing!

[@mph3500]

I'm a firm believer in the adage "the right tool for the right job". The Mitutoyo , while pricey, provides excellent results.

[@Theo77_RGG]

I was recently making replacement cylinders for the PKD Blade Runner blaster and was in need of these to check things. As Murphy's law would dictate, the ones I needed were no where to be found in the shop. So I had to make some of my own because waiting on new ones was not in the cards. Took me a few hours to make a couple of pins that fit into the reamed 11.8mm holes perfectly. So tight of a fit that if my finger blocked the other end of the hole while trying to insert it would act like a shock absorber or while trying to pull it out would just suck it back down. I use these things everywhere in the shop along with a set of gauge blocks that were made Sept. of 1942.

[@wingking077]

Go no go! After awhile checking on a projector is a must.

[@RobertTempleton64]

We have the set of .275-.5, .5-1, 1-2, and 3-4 of those exact Mitutoyo bore gages in our lab. They are incredibly useful. And those are calibration 'rings' or ring gages for calibrating/setting the bore gage before measurements.

[@JM800]

By trade I am a machinist/toolmaker. One of my side hobbies is making wrist watches, mostly out of titanium. Moving between the mill and lathe made me come up with a device that allows me to find the center of a circular feature. I do use wigglers, but only on flat surfaces. What I made was a dial indicator that can move from zero to six inches. You can make it longer for your own needs. It basically orbits the part. It's easier if the mill is in neutral. It's fast and I can get it past a half ten thousands. It's been my go to tool when finding the center of a circular feature.

[@chrism7181]

Love ,love, love these vids!

[@douglasmayherjr.5733]

They make spilt ball gauges, small versions of the telescoping gauges for small holes. I agree with the accuracy statement of telescoping, split ball and calipers. Thanks for the videos.

[@SourceBTS]

Pin gauges are great! More useful for precise measurements than bore gauges - at least with the materials I work with. Using a bore gauge to measure a hole made in a malleable material like PEHD 2000 will stretch the hole as soon as the bore gauge starts clicking. Adam, do you have some nuggets or a story to share about machining plastics?

[@mookiiieeee]

CMM (Coordinate-measuring machine) I love that thing at work.

[@budm9982]

Real nice. I learned some stuff here today.

[@dbuehler21]

One hole measurement tool I never see mentioned is an air gage. They are incredibly accurate but also expensive.

[@bpjbp]

You mentioned Boeshield T9. I like using that as a bicycle chain lube. Best that I have found.

[@GriffXJ]

As a metrologist, more specifically a pharmaceutical laboratory metrologist, I thoroughly enjoyed this show and tell session!

[@gamerhenry]

A digital drop mic and granite surface plate. By far the most used and handy equipment at my work that I would spend the money to get for a home shop.

[@DecanFrost]

Love your movie recommendations Adam. It brings me back to a time of true movie mastery and magic, movies i was too young to understand at the time and long forgotten about. Thank you :) Just picked up Witness in 4k remaster beauty. PS: Adam Savage's Favorite Tools/BigBoyToys

[@davidhawkey8426]

Adam, you can use the calipers to measure step using the head end aswell as the tail end. The two halves of the calipers are ground flush. It allows you to set it perpendicular and take some error out.

[@spevakdesigns]

The small hole gauges with the split ball and wedge are pretty nice for small holes too. Cheaper than a true bore gage I think. Starrett 289 set measures from .125" to .5"