Electronic Digital Dial Indicator with Magnetic Base Holder Fine Adjustable Long Arm 0-1" / 25.4mm Inch/Metric Conversion Professional Gauge 0.01mm/0.001"

I “rationalized” owning a dial indicator for first time, used for checking runout on drill press and displacement on stress-strain device after the usual checking thickness of paper, etc. build quality seems good, magnetic base secure, and digital display easy to read. Repeatability of readings seems good. I like that you can tighten all 3 joints with one knob and still have the extra vernier knob for fine tuning. I found with arm fully extended out it struggles a bit to hold position- this would be akin to a human holding a 50# weight close to one’s chest or at arms length. So I found that setting up arm at something less than 120 degree angle is better. I admit feeling shame for buying this tool built in China; I would have preferred to pay a little extra for something built in US, but only thing I could find was Starrett at about 7 times the price- could not justify that expense for my relatively small home uses.

In my initial testing it seems to work perfectly well, as expected. The total range is just over 1 inches (mine goes to 1.056" or 26.82 mm) so you can easily measure a full 1" reference. There is a button-cell battery behind door #1 (which was included, and already installed) but I am curious about door #2 which the brief instruction page does not mention. It seems to reveal four PCB edge connector pads, I'd guess for a data transfer cable. EDIT: If you lookup the Hackaday project "Digital Dial Indicator CNC Surface Probe" you can in fact get the digital readings into a computer automatically, IF you build a separate circuit. It's a custom 1.3V signal, clock and data protocol; oddly enough it's BCD in inch mode, but straight binary in mm mode. Anyway, not an officially supported feature, so the cable for this is not sold AFAIK.

Excellent value priced tool, but maybe not the best choice for precision machining production. I use it with good result in my wood shop, and have no complaints regarding that level of accuracy and precision - 1/64" vs 1/1000". Magnet does hold well to my cast iron lathe bed and walls. Only thing I will say about magnetic failure is that the on/off switch requires more effort to move to on than to off. If bumped fairly lightly the switch jumps back to off position which may cause the guage to fall. Otherwise this is a very easy to use for mounting on ferrous surfaces. Only actual complaint I have is that I cannot mount the guage using the backplate kug in spite of the instructions included. The lug is 1/4", but the mount is much too narrow to allow a fit. The guage does fit fine if mounted with probe sleeve, just be sure to avoid overtightening and damage to the sleeve and probe. RECOMMENDED for non-critical applications. YMMV

Exactly what I was looking for at the right price. Magnet strength could be a bit stronger but quality , accuracy, is a good fit for my needs.

Works as advertised and needed, good quality unit.

Had a bearing go bad in my Mercedes and decided to fix it myself. Bearing must be seated to a tolerance of .01mm to .02mm to meet specifications that would be impossible to do by "feel" as many claim. This precision instrument totally filled the bill. I got the digital version (glad I did), due to the ease in reading the large LED display. This instrument is quality built and feels sturdy, has a nice heavy-duty carrying case, includes 21 various tips for the instrument's measuring probe, includes a battery and instructions. After installing new wheel bearing in my car, it is buttery smooth and I saved over $500. note: Everything went so smoothy I began having second thoughts on the instrument's accuracy. I have since tested it against my wide assortment of feeler gauges and it reads precisely what is stamped on the gauge, including my smallest one that is .04mm. Very happy with this purchase and highly recommend it to anyone seeking this level of precision.

its my first time using a run out dial, but I found it simple to set up - very nice that the turn of one knob stablizes the entire support arm. Some have mentioned the magnet being weak - seemed plenty strong to me as all it has to do is hold the device in place while you rotate whatever it is you are measuring. (Is it possible they didn't turn the switch to engage the magnet at all? seems unlilkely, though) The plastic case is good to have, but isn't very sturdy and I fear the flaps won't last long. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get the parts back in the case, not really a custom fit

The magnetic base wouldn’t hold itself to the steel and cast iron vertical surfaces of my drill press. The digital indicator seemed to work fine. I returned for a refund.