Dial indicators and the drill press???

[jackknifeh]

I just watched a video where a guy squared his drill press table with the chuck using a dial indicator mounted on a rod and installed in the press chuck. I want a dial indicator. Problem is I've never used one nor do I know how much a good one will cost. I don't want to get the most expensive one counting on the price to be a quality indicator. Does anyone here have experience with these things? If I get one I DO NOT want one that is at the bottom of the accuracy ladder. A brief search on ebay shows them priced from $11 up to about $90. Also, I'd probably want a set with rods or whatever is needed to do various things. Also, I'm sure they can be used for things I haven't considered. I wanted an angle cube to help me with the bevel angles on knife edges but it wasn't until I realized I could also use one to set the angle on my circular saw.

Here is the video to show what I'm talking about.
https://youtu.be/_yWdZAC1w2I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyone have one, used one or have any recommendations and ways to use these things? Thanks.

Jack

[bdblue]

For quality I would think that you would look at brand names and try to find a name that is known in the machine shop world. I look for used things like that from online auctions. Used should be OK but you have to look for an indicator that is in good working condition.

When I was in college I worked in the structural testing laboratory and we used dial indicators to measure deflections of tests. If a specimen broke suddenly it could put a shock load on a dial indicator as it tried to move a certain amount quickly, sometimes to the point of ruining the device. Most of ours would read in thousandths of an inch but we had one project that required measuring very small movements so we bought an indicator that would read in ten thousandths of an inch.

[Bill1170]

Most drill presses in home shops can be evaluated just fine with an inexpensive dial indicator. I use a Peacock indicator, not fancy but neither is it the cheapest. Also, the spindles on low cost presses tend to be a LOT more accurate than the chucks. This is easily testable with a dial indicator.

I replaced the OEM chuck on my Delta 20" drill press with a high precision Albrecht keyless chuck about five years ago and runout at the chuck went down from about 0.005" to under 0.001". Expensive, and worth it. Hope this helps.