Making a Chinese Co-Ax indicator useable

[johnnyc14]

I bought this co-axial indicator from Accusize a couple of years ago and I use it quite often. The very first time I used it the tiny set screw that holds the adapter arms in place stripped out with just finger effort tightening. It was like the hole was one size bigger than the screw. It was 4mm I think and I just drilled and tapped it out to 8-32 because I had a screw and the right tap on hand. Today I finally got around to making a new set screw with a knurled handle on it. The two holes in the side of the body of the indicator were drilled but never tapped for the handle that's supposed to fit on either side to stop rotation of the tool body. I finally got around to tapping them out to 5mm X .8 today. All the adapter arms were machined with only a flat on one side when there should be opposing flats on both sides where they fit into the indicator so today I finally got around to milling another flat on all 6 of the arms. I spent about an hour dicking around with this thing and finally made all the parts work like they are intended to. The actual indicator and the coaxial mechanism is well made and I have no complaints about how it works now.

This is the original set screw.

This is the one I made today.

Tapping the holes for the handle, they were not tapped from the factory.

Milling a second flat on the indicator arms.

It cost about half what a Japanese one would have cost and less than a quarter what a Blake would cost so I got what I paid for.

John

 

[benmychree]

I have a Blake COAX that I bought new and have used for many years; the accessories were not made with flats on both sides, only on one side. I bought the long bent probe extra, but it diminishes the sensitivity of the tool so much that I think I would not have bought it if I knew; same goes for the straight (long) one. I have seen the Chinese ones, and they are not well made or as sensitive as the real thing.

 

[darkzero]

I also have a Blake, got it in excellent condition cheaper than what an import set would cost brand new. As said, the Blake feelers only have one flat on the feelers. I hear the part that commonly fails on the imports clones is the mechanism for the v shaped arm. Also to note, the import feelers do not fit Blakes. The import feelers have a larger diameter.

 

[Bob Korves]

I also have a Blake, got it in excellent condition cheaper than what an import set would cost brand new. As said, the Blake feelers only have one flat on the feelers. I hear the part that commonly fails on the imports clones is the mechanism for the v shaped arm. Also to note, the import feelers do not fit Blakes. The Blake feelers have a larger diameter.

The thin flat where the probes mount breaks off if you look at it hard. Also the dial indicator portion is really poorly made, at least on the broken one I picked up cheap. Not sure it is even worth fixing. I sent it to MR Tool Repair, he quoted $55 to repair it, I told him not to bother with it...