The Micrometer - History and Proper use by Don Bailey

[@mechmotion]

I've been a machinist for almost 14 years, and I'm always looking for informational videos on machining and industrial arts. I'll be spending my lunches watching your videos for the foreseeable future. Keep them coming!

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Thank you we are excited that you pursue a career in our industry.

[@jackfrost2146]

Call me a snob, but if I see someone using the clutch on a micrometer, I straight away assume that he is a rank amateur.

[@glenbjack]

lol not loaning tools is usually only understood by people who use them to make money ..... im with you on not loaning tools out

[@jamierosengarten3263]

You can never measure accurately with someone else's mic's...... every good toolmaker had a feel that his tools are set to with standards...... trusting the tools you use every day is a must!!!!!!!!!

[@zappsacct3617]

My granddad was a machinist one of his quotes was . (I'd sooner let you borrow the wife than my tools) Thanks so much for making these videos and get us in to see some amazing places. It's a real honor to watch you work thanks so much for this Priceless info

[@EPaulIII]

I can say with complete confidence that your grandmother was not Italian.

[@Dr_Xyzt]

Gotta keep the passion for the job alive. Some kids can have a $70K CNC and $15K software, to make a bad design. Others get a superior product with a 50-year old mill with .016" slop, $15 calculator, a pencil, a compass, and an angle finder.

[@eddiekawecki2510]

Very informative, I enjoy all your videos. I would like to ad how important it is not to store your 0-1" mikes and any calipers in the fully closed position but leave an air gap to prevent corrosion, hard to tell but at 14.40 min. in your video I believe you did back it off or maybe not but that is what made me think of it to make this comment. Thank you. Ed K. Cleve. Oh.

[@DeathswingKettlebell]

Wow. I had no idea about the plastic! Also I use my ratchet all the time just for a 1st time measurement then I take a second measurement with the thimble to compare the feel to judge my own reading

[@christopherruble3913]

Mr. Bailey, I Like your style! I understand your point about those mid-western people. I grew up in the mid-west from the age of 5 to the age of 22, and yeah, they can be down right cold and deadpan from time to time. I am glad I had a shop teacher who had sensitivity and a sense of compassion. He is long since dead, but there is not a time I don't think about him and the good machine shop training he gave me. God rest his soul!

[@guyward5137]

If you loan out your Mic its junk when you get it back

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Unfortunately, you're not wrong.

[@yankiedandie]

Don, you and Suburban Tool are a class act. As far as a dropped micrometer, why not mention using optical flats and gage blocks to verify, before sending it out to be relapped/adjusted/calibrated?

[@isobar5857]

Just a thought, as a retired toolmaker / machinist, it's so important to mention the 'heat transferred by your hands' when using micrometers, especially the bigger ones. Usually the bigger ones have a plastic shield on them which should be used whenever possible so as contact with the actual' steel ' of the micrometer is avoided. Had many a merry argument with inspection over the years over who was correct in measuring a component. the inspector would come out of the temperature controlled room and use his 'her micrometer that was 20 degrees C and get a different reading from myself in a room at 16 degrees C. This was particularly noticeable when using a Pi tape for very large diameters.

[@AdamStrange1313]

Etalon mics are still being made in Switzerland.

[@trailkeeper]

i take a guess that basic thickness measurement devices were a thousand years before this precision tech.

[@pbooth001]

Great sense of humor, love it.

[@R2_D3]

The thing I am really thankful for is, the Metric System!! 😁

[@dinglebay100]

Very interesting and enjoyable, learnt a lot, thank you.

[@TheWireEDM]

One interesting micrometer that I've seen is a Braille micrometer. Probably can find pictures from Google, but it basically has a very large thimble and Braille writing around it. Either they are numbers or it says "this has been dropped" :D

[@markrichardson239]

Ratchet mics? Never. Click once, you may be close, but only by accident. Click twice... you have an impact hammer. Click 50 times.... forget it. I own a set of them, but nothing can match the feel.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Mark Richardson The ratchets work ok , but if you want to get to the next level the right feel is the way to go.

[@markrichardson239]

Hey Don; I bought the Weldon sharpening system off ebay. The air bearing rig. I got a comprehensive set for around a grand. But, I am reading this stuff, and I can't figure out which stones I should use for a HSS end mill, or which diamonds to throw at the carbides. Can you beat out the path? Thanks yet again, Mark

[@EPaulIII]

You show a technique for holding the 1" mike by looping your little finger around the C frame. That most certainly would bypass any plastic insulating material that I have ever seen on any mike as the edges of the frame would be both be in contact with your finger or palm. Then, later, while handling the 3" mike you talk about the importance of holding it by those plastic heat insulators instead of by the metal of the frame. This is contradictory. I have been using micrometers for over 50 years and have never looped my little finger around the frame. I hold them with two fingers of one hand and tighten them with the other hand. I arrange the part so that I do not have to hold it. Or, for some small parts, I support the micrometer on the bench, hold the part with one hand and adjust the mike with the other. Either way I have as little contact between my fingers and the metal frame as possible. Another thing: paper can be abrasive. I use my cotton undershirt to clean the anvils. Just unbutton one button on my shirt and pull out a fold of the undershirt. Close the mike on it and pull it out. Cleaning the anvils is absolutely essential as an oil film can measure a tenth or more. Not to mention any dirt that may be there.

[@orange12v]

I have a 6"-7" J.T.Slocomb and it's binding in it's 6" to 6-1/2" range this is with the adjustment nut loose I tried it's thimble (in the UK we call the moving anvil the thimble) from it in my 1"-2" Slocomb it work smoothly and perfect so it must be the frame thread do you have any ideas how I can fix this please?

[@oldschoolmobile]

Nowadays, the newer micrometers have very smooth clutches in the thimble. It's more useful to use that when you're doing a 1st piece and have to get a 1st article report made. That way it takes operator/machinist "feel" out of the equation. For example, I have a Mitutoyo digital super mic that reads down to .00005" and always use the friction thimble. That way when a QC inspector comes along, he can check via the same method and tool, plus double check vs standard and QCs OD mic as well. But yes, it never leaves my box otherwise. 😁

[@MsTekfab]

Good video thanks Don (and Glen) Have you ever read about Sir Joseph Whitworths "Millionth Measuring Machine" you might find it interesting if you haven't. I'm recuperating after surgery and it's amazing what you find to read. Looking forward to the next video ! Mike

[@bernardshrewsbury]

I know machinists (I use the term loosely) that crank the mics down to get a reading and they're always off between .001-.005".

[@dumbovulcan]

Nice Video. I agree the mic needs to be set to your feel. An old machinist that I worked for asked me to measure something for him. He said, I can tell if you know what you are doing by the way you hold the micrometer. I agree. Another boss taught me that you never set a 1 inch micrometer by winding down to zero. You are lapping the faces against each other. Check them on a standard but never at zero. This is one reason I hate electronic mics. It hard to set them properly.Also if you really want repeatability for production use a indicator mic. You can set on a standard and check + - and everyone gets the same reading.Everyone now days wants to use Calipers or as the old toolmakers called them very nears.

[@jackfrost2146]

I really like your presentations, and I'm only half way through them all. However I did have a problem with the bent micrometer cure. Before lapping the faces at the lab, the mike needs to be re straightened which would be more trouble than the mike's worth. Time for the scrap heap.

[@PP-vs3jd]

Was looking for a vid to learn how to use the micrometer to determine crankshaft bearing sizes. This is on point. I'm learning the 'feel' from the ones I have. Thanks for a fun and informative video.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Glad I could help

[@martinwalters1954]

Wish the sound tech knew as much about sound as you do about micrometers. Terrible sound. Didn't want to watch. Noise gate and distortion.

[@sevenninthsfabmachine]

Hey Don, thought I'd mention: seems like your mic is picking up some kind of emf noise. Looks like you had your phone in your shirt pocket, so you may want to keep it a safe distance from the mic next time. Thanks!

[@gmiller123456]

Nice. Made me chuckle a few times and was pretty informative :)

[@SuburbanToolInc]

+Greg Miller We try to add some humor and lighten up the learning process to make it fun. Glad you liked it.

[@vankuipland]

Absolutely agree , don’t use the clutch or “ ratchet “ as we call it this part of the world and use your own micrometer. I have been doing it that way for the last 61 years now. If you let 10 toolmakers take a measurement with the “ same “micrometer you most probably get 10 different measurements.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

How true!

[@fredgoodrum]

This rank amateur would like to know why you do not like use of the clutch. I can only guess, but would like to better understand. BTW, I will always be an amateur but I do like to understand what I am doing. As a result, this video is excellent.

[@SuburbanToolInc]

i am gonna tell you why! its a different feel from round vs flat

[@dannynimmo3052]

Great video! I do centerless grinding primarily .0001 total tolerance frequently, multi diameter profile work on end feed, bar and thru-feed. this is a great training video I will refer people to, pretty much everything a person needs to know at the beginning and real info. as far as adjusting the threads, I wouldn't want anyone else doing that anyway. until they have enough time under their belt to know their limits per se. a person does have to kind of learn the feel of a mic like you were saying. we use a lot of indicator mic's also, we can tie it to a standard and check quickly and accurately plus seeing the entire part while dragging the length of it. for thru-feed while parts come off quickly its a really nice advantage. different subject here I know I just like sharing ideas with good people, was wondering, you probably have different stuff like that that you've kind of developed to over the years

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Good stuff, thank you for watching!

[@pijnto]

great video as usual, have never understood why mic's have a insulator tho hold them when the corrct way to hold them does not contact the insulator

[@markrichardson239]

Don; I heard there was an Imperial Inch, engraved in a chunk of Platinum... or some other horrible material... somewhere's in Great Britian. It is supposed to be... an inch long. Have you checked it?

[@pvtimberfaller]

Its called Invar, an iron/nickle? alloy with a very low expansion rate. The US Dept of weights & measures in Washington DC has the standards for the US.

[@acoustic61]

I don't loan tools period!

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Good policy. Thanks for watching.

[@markrichardson239]

There is what I need to explain to the Clientele. Perfect. Mark

[@JonesAndGriesmann]

12:40 Will someone please tell this kid that he is using that c-clamp the wrong way.

[@heretohear8662]

Outstanding!!

[@stevefroggatt6553]

Gascoigne!

[@johngalt9262]

I appreciate the info, I really do... the audio on this one is distracting. AGC/ALC ?

[@SuburbanToolInc]

+John Galt This is one of our older video's. We have made improvements in the audio and video since then.

[@shedfullnow2007]

GasCoin all one word that's how we say it in Leeds

[@WarrenPostma]

Ha! This is fun. Good stuff.

[@1971thegrinsh]

Fantastic old bean! Love the videos,

[@speedbuggy16v]

bet Fred is irate about getting called out on KZbin!

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Hopefully he doesn't know ;)

[@rebelcounty2078]

Very Funny 😝

[@mpetersen6]

Simple concept. Difficult to get right

[@SuburbanToolInc]

Got that right, sure sign of an art.

[@meocats]

does the squeak wear our the carbide tips?

[@SuburbanToolInc]

meocats Not at all

[@kristoferjonsson3362]

Yes, if you're measuring diamonds. The softer surface will wear.

[@meocats]

carbide guide bushings on swiss lathe wear too even though there's softer metal passing through them.

[@irondiver292]

What watch are you wearing?

[@SuburbanToolInc]

+Lux Caput Shinola

[@radoslawjocz2976]

When you using micrometer you should to use its clutch if you want to obtain good repeatability, because feel is subject to change, also measuring this 4 inch ring was wrong example, because micrometer causing the ring to flex, it is very important, so in this case indicating mictometer would be much better choice.

[@davidwrighton3914]

I never used my clutch on my mics in 46 years ------that's because I was skilled ---10 hours a day for half a century made me that way

[@thundercuck1779]

You can calibrate your micrometer to your "feel" however you like it, by using slips and zeroing it to however preferred pressure you enjoy putting on when you twist. I personally touch on the face, then slide up and down while adding more pressure to removing any rocking. Yes you can measure tenths on a thou graduation mic, but you will always be guessing and never truly know for sure, even if you have measured correctly. Better to get the right graduations for your needs, digital is common place know.