What do you think about craftsman/Snap-on precision measuring tools?

I don't know about current Craftsman mics, but I have 0-1 and 1-2 mics from the Craftsman "professional" series and they are really first rate. I have heard that they are made by Starrett. They come up on ebay but often get bid up real high. I use mine a lot and really like them. I also have had Starrett, Mitutoyo, and still have Lufkin (which I also like).

Grant Erwin

Zac wrote:

Neither sears nor snap-on manufacture their own measuring tools.

I would tend to go with a brand that did, like starrett, mitutoyo, lufkin, etc. If you are starting out, consider haunting ebay for used tools. You can save some money that way if you are somewhat knowledgeable.

Jim

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They appear to be Scherr-Tumico. I have a 0-6" set just like that in the photo that I'd sell for $150 (1/2 of Sears price for the 0-4" set). In new condition other than rather ugly ID marks on the frames of the mics.

Ned Simmons

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I got three Craftsman micrometers in the early 1970s (0-1", 1-2" and 2-3"). At about the same time, I got a 0-1" micrometer at work (civilian employee of the US Army) from GSA. GSA, at that time was buying from Scherr-Tumico. Comparing that to my personal Craftsman, the

*only* difference was the Craftsman name engraved in the same font style which Scherr-Tumico used for their micrometers at the time. Even the instruction sheet was identical, except for the front panel, which was printed to be Craftsman. I am *sure* that the Craftsman micrometers at that time were made by Scherr-Tumico, which turns out to be a good brand.

There are enough differences visible in the enlarged photo from the web site which you posted so I believe that their micrometers are no longer made by Scherr-Tumico. I have no idea who *did* make them, but they don't look like Starrett, to me, either.

And I have no idea how good the Snap-On ones are, or who really made them, for that matter. All I know is that when I got my micrometers from Sears, the ones from Snap-On were a *lot* more expensive -- enough so to probably negate the "discount" which you get.

Note that the most common *good* brands these days seem to be Starrett and Mitutoyo. Brown & Sharpe are actually Tesa micrometers made in Switzerland, and are quite good, too. I have some of those in special purpose micrometers -- e.g. thread pitch micrometers, and am quite impressed.

Actually, for a lot of purposes, even the Chinese ones, which are dirt cheap, will work quite well for some time. I don't know if they wear faster.

If you need to take advantage of a "lifetime guarantee" on a micrometer, you've been abusing it, or been very unlucky with something falling on it. Keep it well oiled, and store it in a protected drawer, and it should last you beyond your lifetime.

Good Luck, DoN.

Agreed. Or someone who imports a good quality mic under their own name, like B&S importing the Tesa micrometers.

Does Lufkin still make such tools? I thought that they had dropped out of that field, and are just making things like tape measures these days. Otherwise, I would *love* to get a brand new small-hole gauge set from them.

Agreed. And not just when starting out -- but when adding the expensive extras to your instrument collection, like tri-mics (precision bore gauges), thread pitch micrometer sets, and similar things.

And be careful on eBay. When I was nearing completion of my set of Tesa/B&S tri-mics, there were two auctions at the same time for the same set. One was beautifully described, lots of detailed photos (and had some special wrenches missing). The other auction had poorer photos (but good enough to be sure that the set was complete), less descriptive text, and it closed *before* the other one. I got the less well described set for about $200.00 less than the other set was already at at the time of closing of that first auction. And it the better-described set went up another $150.00, IIRC, before it closed.

In case you are wondering, when I got the set, I found it to be in perfect condition, so I had no complaints.

Oh yes -- the set with the fancier description still had a month or so left on the calibration stickers, which I would expect to be valid only within the company which issued them. But -- they made a big point about them still being in calibration. Since each set had enough calibration rings to verify all of the micrometers in the set, I wasn't worried, for my purposes.

Enjoy, DoN.

The only difference I can see between the Crafstman mics and the Scherr-Tumico set I have is that the Scherrs have chromed ratchet stops where the Craftsman appears to be black. Even the case is identical except the latches are a different style.

Coincidentally, the case is stamped "US Govt Property".

Ned Simmons

The older Brown & Sharpe ones were manufactured by them I believe, and are the equal of the starretts.

Jim

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You might ask about carbide faces.

wws

3 of my micrometers are Tesa, great tools. I still have the first 6" Tesa dials that I bought brand new for $39.95. That was just a couple years ago......

mj

The ratchet stops of my Craftsman ones were also chromed at the time I got mine.

And the ribbing visible on the frame of the larger mics is not present on my older Craftsman/Scherr-Tumico. (I've got up through 3"), and the frames on mine are smoothly C-shaped, not semi-rectangular like the current Craftsman ones. Are yours equipped with semi-rectangular frames?

The "case" of my Craftsman ones was a plastic pouch with a snap to hold the lid folded. :-)

Probably came from the same period that I had mine at work.

Enjoy, DoN.

Shaped just like those in the Crafstman pic and ribbed with a black wrinkle finish. These are solid frames. Are yours the old tubular (Tumico = tubular micrometer company) frames?

The acquisition date on the case appears to be 1992.

Ned

Nope -- solid frames. Sort of an I-profile, with a smooth 'C' curve.

I could photograph them and put them up on a web page if you care enough. (I'm not going to suggest e-mailing images around, and I could not receive them anyway, as I have a size cutoff on incoming e-mail to keep the flood of virii down. :-)

The size limit has sure minimized the problems with the incoming virus junk. Now if only I could figure out why eleven spamers are of the opinion that my colon needs cleaning -- what do they know that I don't? :-)

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Much later, then. I think that mine were from about 1972-74 or so. I guess that the company can change frame style, and color of the ratchet mechanism over that time if they want to. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

The real identifier for me, for the scherr-tumico micrometers, is the spindle lock. Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, all use a knurled ring that surrounds the spindle. But Sherr-Tumico (at least the one I own) has a tiny lever handle on the side of teh frame - with knurling on it. This seems to be a precise identifier.

Jim

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so do some of the NSKs

I have a full set of 0-8" and each has that lock lever

Gunner

No 220-pound thug can threaten the well-being or dignity of a 110-pound woman who has two pounds of iron to even things out. Is that evil? Is that wrong? People who object to weapons aren't abolishing violence, they're begging for the rule of brute force, when the biggest, strongest animals among men were always automatically "right". Guns end that, and social democracy is a hollow farce without an armed populace to make it work. - L. Neil Smith

On 5 Dec 2003 00:50:18 -0500, snipped-for-privacy@d-and-d.com (DoN. Nichols) wrote: Craftsman doesn't guarantee measuring tools like they do hand tools. But I think a lot of people believe they do.

Not present on mine. The lock is a ring at the join of the barrel to the C-frame. (Instead of in the middle of the band of the C-frame which surrounds the barrel in most micrometers.)

However, what *I* consider the unique feature to the early 1970s Scherr-Tumico micrometers (and the early 1970s Craftsman ones as well) is the zeroing feature. In most, there is a sliding tube on the barrel which is rotated with a wrench which engages it near the join to the C-frame. These, however, have about 1/3 of the length of the thimble free to rotate on the main thimble, using a similar spanner wrench. There is a secondary knurled band just before the separate section, and the separate section has its own knurled band.

This particular design is one of the drawbacks of this micrometer, as it is difficult to zero the thimble without disturbing the setting. You have to hold it by the main body of the thimble, after locking the spindle, and hope that you don't jerk things enough to override the spindle lock.

I begin to wonder just how many styles of micrometers Scherr-Tumico made through the years. :-) I'm still waiting to pick up one which justifies the company name -- the tubular frame.

Enjoy, DoN.

Interesting, that lock is one of the nicer features on that particular micrometer. The other is a non-standard 'quick-reading' graduation scheme, which while fast and nice, is so different than the standard scheme that I avoid using that micrometer, simply because it takes so much time to convert over in my mind.

Yes, this one has that. The worst of both worlds I guess!

And Scherr was originally a maker of wood toolboxes, like gerstner. I own a very old and rickety Sherr toolbox, that I use up here in the attic to hold radio tools and whatnot.

Jim

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