DIY Bench top thickness gauge

[ken cierp]

Here's a thought starter - easy to make - convenient to use
Takes an hour to make -- the dial indicator is off Ebay

[peter havriluk]

Ken,

I have just that sort of dial indicator hanging around in a toolbox looking for a home. This tool seems just the right place for it. Any critical dimensions in the tool? How deep a throat between the dial indicator and the support bolt? The support bolt which looks like it's used as a rigid stop for the swinging arm - - - is the head of the bolt just press-fitted into a hole in the bottom of the arm?

Thanks very much.

[ken cierp]

Just construct it to a size that fits your needs, keep it rigid. There's a brass insert for the stop bolt.

[peter havriluk]

Thanks for the clarification. Much obliged.

[peter havriluk]

Any benefit to using a small stovebolt so the pin on the gauge can be zeroed against a crowned metal surface?

And I can't visualize what is involved (yes, I know I'm a bit dense, my wife says that's pretty easy to spot) with a 'brass insert for the stop bolt'. Looks like the nut on the bolt stops motion downwards and there's a hole in the bottom plate to allow for the nut's adjusting the bolt's length, but the top, the part I can't see where the bolt is staked into place , I also can't visualize.

Thanks very much.

[ken cierp]

That would work fine

[peter havriluk]

I added a bit to my query, but I think it arrived after Ken had so promptly replied to my first question. The confusion is of my doing, and I'm sorry to have caused a tangle. Having said that, I still am at a loss, and I'm copying my late addition to my earlier question:

And I can't visualize what is involved (yes, I know I'm a bit dense, my wife says that's pretty easy to spot) with a 'brass insert for the stop bolt'. Looks like the nut on the bolt stops motion downwards and there's a hole in the bottom plate to allow for the nut's adjusting the bolt's length, but the top, the part I can't see where the bolt is staked into place , I also can't visualize.

Thanks very, very much.