OMG I found something at HF I needed

[Danglerb]

I was starting to think that I owned everything from HF that I could use, but no I found something. Fixing a bad oring in a hose coupling for the kitchen faucet has been trying to kill me for a few weeks, old people are not meant to work under sinks. 30 min trying stuff under the sink followed by 3 days of Tylenol, repeat until wife stops saying just call a plumber.

Oring fits inside a coupling too deep for me to measure with my HF $0.99 plastic calipers, and low and behold while wandering the aisles I found a set of T gauges https://www.harborfreight.com/6-piece-telescoping-gauge-set-5649.html for $12.79 post coupon which revealed the subtle mysteries of made in China plumbing fixtures.

Coupling thread was M12/20 sealed with some non standard sized rubber washer, so I assumed the rest was metric, and now could measure the ID where the part with the oring needed to go as 11.6mm, .... and I needed a 1/4 x 3/8 1/16 square oring, which is just smaller than 2mm that it can squish into.

Weird buying something at HF and not getting anything free, one more thing that ***** about the China flu.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I got those to measure for a gear press fit onto a shaft. The same job showed me the 20 ton orange press has its limitations and a 50 would be handy.

 

[TuxThePenguin]

I didn't realize HF sold those. I've been trying to find a set on Ebay from one of the usual brands (Starrett etc.) for a really good price but the auctions I tend to see aren't as cheap as I am.

How does the quality seem? Gonna likely last a while or did you just get 1 of 3 uses out of them before you expect them to break?

 

[mc4life27]

I didn't realize HF sold those. I've been trying to find a set on Ebay from one of the usual brands (Starrett etc.) for a really good price but the auctions I tend to see aren't as cheap as I am.

How does the quality seem? Gonna likely last a while or did you just get 1 of 3 uses out of them before you expect them to break?

I didn’t know they sold them either and I will have to go check them out. But not sure if you knew this or not but on my calipers if you stand them up in end and open them
Up you see the little skinny piece of metal that comes out. That is made for the same kind of thing. Just run the little metal rod down the hole and read the calipers.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[dogdog]

The Telescope gague is ok... I don't think it's that accurate to be a good machinist use, but everyday use would be fine. I have a pair from them years ago.


you can't find them from your local machinist supply stores ?

https://www.travers.com/search.aspx?keyword=telescoping gages

 

[Buckgnarly]

I didn’t know they sold them either and I will have to go check them out. But not sure if you knew this or not but on my calipers if you stand them up in end and open them
Up you see the little skinny piece of metal that comes out. That is made for the same kind of thing. Just run the little metal rod down the hole and read the calipers.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

That measures depth, telescoping gauges measure diameter.

 

[unknownroad]

Thanks, this looks ideal for the ol' "Would have been perfect for some past project if I'd known it existed, and since it's cheap I'll buy one in case I ever do that again (even though I probably won't)" collection!

 

[WILD-BILL]

The Telescope gague is ok... I don't think it's that accurate to be a good machinist use, but everyday use would be fine.

I've had that set for over a year and while I'm not a trained machinists I am the main fabricator at our shop and have used them a lot with great success.

They've held up just fine too. That said, If all I did was machine work I'm sure I'd upgrade but not because they've ever given me an issue.

 

[nadogail]

We called them "Snap Guages". IMHO, They don't need to be precision, the micrometer you measure them with does.

 

[M6erfan]

The important thing with telescoping gauges is knowing how to use them. For cylinders it takes some 'feel' to get proper readings.

 

[dogdog]

I've had that set for over a year and while I'm not a trained machinists I am the main fabricator at our shop and have used them a lot with great success.

They've held up just fine too. That said, If all I did was machine work I'm sure I'd upgrade but not because they've ever given me an issue.

That is the expectation I had when I bought those gauges... It doesn't lock too well I think. at least the set I have.

 

[Danglerb]

Limited use by me, and just the littlest one. They "feel" like junk, seem to work fine. The 99 cent plastic caliper only shows down to .05mm, but thanks to my aging brain I can verify that the measurements were repeatable as I kept forgetting them, before writing down everything. My skill level is most likely the limiting factor in accuracy.

The T gauge locks by tightening from the end of the stick. My technique was to rock the gauge in the bore a couple times then close to max squish point lightly engage the lock, rock the last bit and fully engage. Last bit of rocking I want to feel the gauge losing contact very close to the max point. Remove as insert at an angle.

One advantage of cheap tools, no false sense of ability.

 

[PCustoms]

The 99 cent plastic caliper only shows down to .05mm, but thanks to my aging brain I can verify that the measurements were repeatable as I kept forgetting them, before writing down everything.

Just an FYI accuracy, precision and repeatability are 3 separate issues. Also that plastic caliper is probably moving well over 0.05mm as it changes temperature (if it's "readout" is even correct to start).

 

[Danglerb]

10C change for PVC is 50mm/100M, I was measuring stuff about 10mm so thats what about 0.005mm expansion. Lucky for me I keep my 99 cent plastic caliper temperature stabilized.

 

[driftpin]

Those T-gauges look like they get the job done, and at a reasonable price.

Plenty of vacant space on the shelves at the HFT stores I've visited.

Today I was in Harbor Freight looking for a pin vise, I didn't find one. Guess it's a trip to Home Depot for a General brand pin vise.

While poking-around in the store, I did buy a box of assorted Viton o-rings. I also bought a set of clamps for hoses of various sizes. The clamps are not serrated hose clamps, they're for temporarily stopping hose flow for some repair or another.
https://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece-fluid-line-clamp-set-65116.html

I figure if I make two repairs with either set, I've made my $ back on them. I spent <$15, and the convenience of not having to go to the store is worth what I spent, next time I use either set.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Another tool that I found handy for about the same work, little firm joint inside/outside calipers. They spin around for either use. They cost me 99 cents for Two Axe brand. I used them to set the steam turbines in power generation section at a big pulp mill.

I bought a cheap set of snap gauges fro Princes Auto. $9.99 .They were kind of gritty.

 

[Jacobson]

Are you measuring the diameter of a recessed hole, or the depth?

 

[Danglerb]

Diameter, its a hose coupling on a pull out kitchen faucet. Brass cylinder, part I needed to measure the inside diameter of, and a brass adapter that fits down inside it about an inch and seals via oring in a groove around the nose.