iGagingDigital Micrometer w Data Output 0-4"/0.00005"/0.001mm

I own about $3000 worth of Mitutoyo, Fowler, and Starrett precision measuring instruments, which I bought around 20 years ago. and decided to give these a try since the 3-piece set alone costs what a single vernier micrometer used to cost, plus the LCD readout is easy to zero and the resolution goes down to 0.00005! I knew the set was of course, made in China.Well I received the item from Amazon Prime yesterday (after just a 2-3 day ship time), and boy, am I impressed! These are not cheap plastic thingees. The castings are quite hefty and pretty much free of any casting flash, porosity, or imperfections. No, they don't have the pretty, textured, powder coating like on the Mitutoyos, just plan gunmetal blue paint. Yes, the thimble and ratchet are plastic whereas the ones on the Big Three above (were) aluminum, but they have a precision feel when you rotate them, fine teeth on the ratchet, and just the right resistance. The thickness of the carbide inserts at the spindle and anvil aren't as generous as the Big Three used to be, but they are carbide. I checked to see how well the tips meet on the 0-1" micrometer and they were perfectly aligned, and the finish on the lapped carbide surfaces are as good as the Big Three. Even the white lettering on the insulated handles were without flaw. The locking lever doesn't have any slop and holds the spindle firm. None of the Philips screws on the micrometer were over torqued and stripped (maybe the ones on the handle might be barely perceptible, perhaps). The LCD readouts were flawless: crisp, no crooked readouts, with a resolution to 0.00005". Overall, the micrometers have a solid, quality feel to them.The contents of the kit are impressive, with three spare batteries (the micrometers already had batteries installed, although one was dying), a nifty wrench to remove the battery cover (so you don't need a quarter), calibration standards for the 2 and 3" micrometers, and even a ball end attachment for curved surfaces. The foam cushioned storage case for everything was superb.How do the micrometers work? I used it to check out the tolerances of a pair of 1-2-3 Gauge Blocks (also sold by Anytime Tools) and the results were impressive indeed. The gauge blocks have an advertised tolerance of +/- 0.0001" but I got readings between 0.0000-0.0001 on all surfaces. Many of the surfaces measured accurate to 0.00005"! I then rechecked zero on the micrometers and they were spot on back to 0.0000".Anytime Tools? You can depend on me to buy tools from them any time!

I bought this because I got used to digital measurement equipment at work. It’s easy to use, and accurate. I’ve checked it against mechanical calipers and I’m confident in its ability. It’s now my primary tool for this range.

Another great product I got off Amazon. I own a nice 1" range Mitutoyo digital micrometer which cost over $150 with tax, and it's what I used to compare the quality of these way cheaper Chinese micrometers. The Mitutoyo has a little better feel when adjusting it in and out. The Mitutoyo looks a little nicer with it's satin aluminum dial with it's markings, something that the iGaging doesn't have. But as far as accuracy, the thing that's the most important, the IGaging is just a tad bit better, .00015 or so, than the Mitutoyo when it comes to repeatability. If these iGaging micrometers keep working for years to come, I'd say they're a real bargain when compared to the high end micrometers.

4.5 stars I have never used an expensive micrometer that all the reviews recommend. But then, I don't want to spend $150 either for the things I'd use this for. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well this works, and the digital readout is great (compared to the manual ones.) I subtract a half star for the "user manual" being so sucky. You're going to have to figure a few things out on your own. I use this for measuring monofilament leader material and tippet for fly fishing. The labels are usually wrong on the spools. I plan to use it for other handyman jobs as well. It has a plastic handle and cover, which is good because it insulates the metal tool from your hand heat, which causes expansion and throws off small measurements. It gets out of whack by about .00005" pretty easily simply by opening and closing, but that is within the stated tolerance of the tool. If you need precision beyond that, buy a more expensive micrometer. Having said that, it's very easy to recalibrate to 0 on the fly too - just hold the button down for a few seconds.

This micrometer is well made, accurate and great value for money.

I bought this to measure the thickness of some paper. It did that perfectly, but what I didn't expect was how often I would use it after that. I've measured things like wire thickness (helps to know what size heat shrink to get), sheet metal (for writing a manual), components (for figuring out how long or thick screws need to be), and lots of other stuff. Basically, it is *vastly* more useful than I expected it to be.As for the accuracy, I'm completely satisfied. Yes, sometimes when I close it it says 0.001 mm (or 0.0001 inches) instead of 0.000, but I don't need more accuracy than that. To give you an idea how close that is, a piece of paper I just pulled out of my printer is 0.105 mm. If you need more accuracy than that you're going to have to expect to spend a lot more money on a more accurate instrument. Given the price I simply can't fault this tool.The UI isn't great, but it's quite usable. Switching between mm and in requires holding down a button for a bit longer than it should, as does setting the zero, but it's not a big deal. And the fact that it *has* the ability to switch between the two at all is a huge win, IMHO.All in all it's easy to use, more than accurate enough (at least for me), and inexpensive. Good tool, great value.

I have several low end micrometers so I'm used to the fact that "zero" is largely a matter of finger tightening tension and your consistency with tightening. These have that problem as well. They also use a micro-USB for the data output (optional function), so they work well with a laptop but have no way at all of working with the SPC cables or SPC Bluetooth data devices I already own for the iGaging calipers. This is extremely disappointing. They don't make a USB to SPC adapter either.

Works great i like it

May not be really precise and mine also broke (the plastic dial), but I found a way to work with it and was able to adjust valve clearance on my van (3M-FE engine) with a good outcome.

Perfecto