- Joined
- Jul 2, 2014
- Messages
- 7,594
Paul, it is not so much the NIST certification, which can be pencil whipped very easily. This is an item that you cannot test yourself. Pick people you can trust. If you get a used one, get it certified after purchase by well regarded pros. It is a reference surface, that your work, tools, tooling, and scraping will count on to be what it says it is. I am a really frugal guy, always looking for a better deal, but I don't want to be second guessing if my surface plate is adequately flat or not. Contrary to hearsay and advice in this thread, you cannot tell if a surface plate is suitably accurate or not with what we typically have in our modest shops. If someone does not care, then fine, go for it. Just know that you are constantly guessing. On layout work and other lower accuracy work, it does not matter. For setting a sandwich and a cup of coffee on , it does not matter. On a precision scraping job or machine rehab, it does matter. For metrology work, it does matter. For testing your tools and tooling, it does matter.Bob, Shars says they can provide a NIST traceable plate for an extra $75.00 would this fit the bill? If not I'm about to buy a new one from either ACE, Standridge, or perhaps Precision.