Can anyone recommend a good Dial Indicator Roller Contact Tip ?

[KBeitz]

Can anyone recommend a good Dial Indicator Roller Contact Tip ?
Does anyone make one that just clamps on to the dial indicator?
I need to adjust some sawmill wheels.

 

[TomS]

Can anyone recommend a good Dial Indicator Roller Contact Tip ?
Does anyone make one that just clamps on to the dial indicator?
I need to adjust some sawmill wheels.

MSC has them. Here's the link to a set of tips that includes roller tips. https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/01889971?rItem=01889971

 

[benmychree]

Starrett makes them.

 

[KBeitz]

Wow they are expensive... Maybe I can use a roller off a microswitch...

 

[BaronJ]

Hi KBeitz,

Why not make one ? You can get a precision bearing from a scrap HDD.
I made an elephants foot recently and have just got some material to make a roller one myself.

 

[RJSakowski]

I wouldn't think that the rollers on microswitch would be accurate enough for precision measurements. That isn't their intended purpose.

One consideration would be the small bearings found in computer hard drives. The bearings on the read/write head can be really small.

edit: BaronJ, you beat me to it!

 

[BaronJ]

Hi RJ,

Sorry about that

Seriously though, I've salvaged a number of bearings from various makes of HDD and found the head R/W bearings are superb. I have only today, pulled a couple out of some Maxtor drives that are 6 mm diameter that have a 4-40 thread on one end and are 6 mm long plus the threaded stud. It is one of these that I propose to use for my roller indicator tip.

I also want to make a 90 degree arm at some point and one of these bearings would be perfect for that job.

Just a tip for anyone salvaging some of these bearings ! They are superglued into the aluminum housing and need to be heated before they will press out without damage. I use a cooks torch and apply heat only to the outside edge of the aluminum housing and then press them out using a hollow bar held in the drill press chuck. You don't need to heat them for very long, only twenty seconds or so. The aluminum expands and breaks the joint.

 

[KBeitz]

I wouldn't think that the rollers on microswitch would be accurate enough for precision measurements. That isn't their intended purpose.

One consideration would be the small bearings found in computer hard drives. The bearings on the read/write head can be really small.

edit: BaronJ, you beat me to it!

I think it would be all I need for centering a band saw blade wheel...