A while back I bought a cheap HF dial indicator, #623, a 1" travel x .001" increments, I paid roughly $14. I expected that it would be marginal and basically a one time use tool. I am absolutely surprised with the performance, I used the indicator to align the feed pump coupling, the reason it was bought and I found it to be butter smooth and repeatability is great.
I used it to set up a fixture on the mill, then rechecked it with a Federal brand indicator, and got the exact same results. I'm going on 6 months and it seems to be the go to lathe indicator, I not sure if it because it works and easy to read or if its the fact if it get broken, I will feel far less of a loss than with one of the Brown & Sharpes, Starretts or the Mitutoyos I own.
Obviously, I'm not building NASA quality projects and I'm not saying they are better than anything else, maybe I got one on a million, but again I am extremely surprised by the indicator.
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-trav...r-623.html
I used it to set up a fixture on the mill, then rechecked it with a Federal brand indicator, and got the exact same results. I'm going on 6 months and it seems to be the go to lathe indicator, I not sure if it because it works and easy to read or if its the fact if it get broken, I will feel far less of a loss than with one of the Brown & Sharpes, Starretts or the Mitutoyos I own.
Obviously, I'm not building NASA quality projects and I'm not saying they are better than anything else, maybe I got one on a million, but again I am extremely surprised by the indicator.
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-trav...r-623.html
jack