HAIMER Coaxial Indicator - Inch Version

Makes work set-up in machine fast and accurate. No more accounting for the radius of an edge finder! Take the time to get the T.I.R. on the probe as small as possible. It will be worth the effort.

Very nice instrument, but the English manual is wanting. Written by a non-native English speaker, so the idioms and words don't translate well. Also, instructions for zero'ing runout omit the near certainty that you'll have to loosen the socket cap screw (SCS) in the shank enough so that the four opposing screws for zeroing the head's eccentricity ("concentricity") work (DO NOT OVER-TORQUE). (Had to call factory to make sure I wouldn't damage unit). Factory says torque on shank SCS should be 6 N-m or 4.4 ft-lbs. I'd say it's less than that. Once you re-torque the shank SCS, back off all four opposing set screws and GINGERLY zero the runout. Don't use the set screws to shift the head... use your hand to shift the head relative to the shank and snug the set screws only to hold your final adjustment in place, otherwise, you'll be (literally) screwing around with the runout for an hour. The head is very finicky during this runout-zero'ing procedure: as you snug up the set screws, it moves around more than you'd expect. Consequently, my first session took over 30 minutes as I learned the feel of it. Once you've dialed it in, it's a very fast and accurate means of finding edges and corners in 2D and 3D respectively. NOTE: the long probe has an 8mm ball on the end, which is huge. This is necessary, owing to the trigonometry of the way the head actuates the dial indicator. My point here: don't expect to reach deep into a narrow hole to find an edge... the geometry that makes this a fast and accurate 3D taster also makes it incapable of that kind of probing. Not sure how this would fare in a tool changer. I have a Bridgeport with a Maxi Torque-Rite, and it seems to survive a few cycles of that without going out of cal. Other reviewers seem to have mixed results with tool changers knocking it out of zero runout. (I agree with the one reviewer who says it seems easy to knock out of calibration.) Dedicate a tool holder / shank to this, clamp it in tight, and then zero your runout. Re-check the eccentricity regularly. Once you get the hang of it, it's not hard to re-zero

The Himer is a great insterment, BUTI have purchased haimer before and they were as the included test certificate said they were.I bought and returned first one because it is .032 out of center and .0015 out of null.Thought that might be a fluck.The second one came in after returning the first one and the centering setscrews were not even touching the centering ring and was out of center by .028 and null of .0005.I feel i am getting either a rebuilt not certified or a used one that has been way miss adjusted. The cert serial number matches the gauge. Haimer would not let this out of there building with a certification.

Gets you to zero on the spindle a lot easier than other edge finders. 3/4" shank is also very nice (not metric). Used this to true up my vise to the spindle and then check tram with said (new) vise.MUCH easier/faster than using the 'traditional' dual gauge tramming units. I can now set this to a value (or a 0) and run it across the vise to check. No more checking the same reference point on the item (for the dual gauge units) and hoping that you have things dialed in properly. Set the value at one end and run it across. Same for checking other axis of the vise to spindle. Makes setup easier/faster without needing to figure out the edge finder to spindle center values. Also removes any potential errors in interpreting when you need to apply the offset.Highly recommend for anyone with a milling machine that wants to make their setup process either easier or faster (or both).

On concept, this thing is AMAZING! In practice it leaves something to be desired. I started off calibrating the center and the set screws were too stiff to turn. After calling Haimer, I learned that they commonly have these shipping from the factory with the bolt on the shaft end tightened too tight. I followed their advice and broke the bolt loose, followed by re-tightening is to their spec. I was relived when this initially appeared to have fixed the issues. After re-calibration, it worked well. After a few uses, I noticed that my tool path didn't line up, so I retested the indicator and found it off center again. I assumed it was just me, re-calibrated it again and put it back into service. When this happened again I called them. They suggested that the tool changer was jarring the tool and that I should hand load it.OK, so I now I'm hand loading the tool. After a week, I tested it against an traditional indicator and programmed a tool path to verify the indicator. It was obvious this thing had drifted again!!!!!I called them, and that's when I was told that their warranty was something like 30 days, and that they primarily shipped these to Europe for service. I expected better for an expensive indicator. They gave me some BS about metrology equipment and that my expectations were too high.Essentially it's a great tool when it works, and I now keep a .0001" dial indicator on a mag base handy to check it periodically so I don't start making bad parts again. I wish this thing could hold it's center......... I guess it's still quicker and better than the old school edge finder, but this has encouraged me to look at a probe system.I'm not sure, but I wonder if the "Next Generation" has an improvement to the set screws.

I like that

Worth every penny. I procrastinated for a long time as I have plenty of other measuring tools. However the first time I used it I knew right away that it was going to be my go to tool from now on

Very pleased with this purchase! High quality 3D Taster at a reasonable price. Works very good and is accurate.