Micrometer feeding and care advice

So my father-in-law just donated a bunch of tools to my cause Included in there is an old micrometer and cylinder bore gauge! Both are still in their original casing and seem to be working well.

I would like your opinions and experiences in caring for such precision instruments, specifically lubrication and storage. e.g. is WD40 good for the moving parts, or is that like pouring canola oil in your engine? Should they be stored in a cool dry place, or does temperature and humidity have little effect?

Thanks

I have a mic thats probably 50 years old and is still very serviceable.Once or twice a year I wipe it down with wd-40,then use a shop towel and wipe the wd-40 off.I then put a light coat of sewing macine oil on it ,let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe that off.Mic works fine,no rust and I store it in its case in my shop.They are meant to be used so I dont think u can really hurt them unless u abuse them.bj

Personally, I wouldn't put WD40 on anything. The residue left after the light stuff flashes off seems to be related to barnacles.

I'd be inclined to occasionally LIGHTLY wipe it down with some good machine oil followed by a wipe with a clean, dry cloth. Keeping any tool in a dry, temperature-controlled environment will prolong it's life, though this is clearly more important is some states than others.

This is the proper stuff to use on your precision measuring tools: www.amazon.com/Starrett-53216-Oil-1620-4oz/dp/B000KUA2FI




It's what I use and I have a whole tool box full of mics. Use them every day. I'm sure WD works fine if you keep up with it, but in the long term it doesn't seem to last. For a home user, a micrometer is the type of tool that you might use once a year so it sees a lot of time in storage. You definantly need to keep those tools in their original cases, and DRY DRY DRY. Rust is no good on mics. Temperature won't hurt them, but for optimum precision your measuring should be done at a controlled temperature. Quality control labs use a standard temperature of 20*C or 68*F for precision measuring. That's done because parts will expand when higher temperature.

So out of curiosity, what brand are the measuring tools?

Awesome advice, thanks

Testarossa, it's funny you should ask the brand after linking the Starret oil ... both the micrometer and bore gauge are Starret Is this a good brand?

Unfortunately the bore gauge won't be super useful to me as it's smallest measure is 2 1/2 inches while my GPz 550's cylinders are around 2.15" ... so close! But the micrometer will be invaluable in trying to rebuild my bike

The micrometer - measures from 0" - 4" ... perfect!


The cylinde bore gauge - measures from 2.5" to 6" ... so close!

Congratulations, you got some very good measuring tools. Starrett is THE name in American made measuring tools. Starrett is one of the big three in metrology along with Mitutoyo, and Brown & Sharpe.

Take good care of those tools, and your grandkids can still use them. Another pointer on the mic. Those different length bars are standards to check the mic with. When you change the anvils out to adjust the measuring range, be sure to check the mic against the standard to make sure that it measures correctly.

Somebody spent good money on those tools. The 0-4" od mic set would run you about $350US these days.

Good to know I suspected they'd be decent pieces, he was a helicopter mechanic afterall

Do you know if Starret sells replacement rods for the bore gauge?

Just peaking out of the box you can see the inside micrometer that uses the same rods as the bore gauge, but they're too long to be of use in my 550's cylinders. While shorter ones won't work in the bore gauge itself (the shortest one I have barely sticks past the knurled screw), shorter replacements should be good in the inside micrometer, and I can use that to measure the cylinder bores.