measuring up

Today I spent some time cleaning up the Mitutoyo 10" height gauge obtained last weekend. A little Simple Green cleaner/degreaser and judicious dabs of Autosol polish were employed to get the grunge off.

Too bad I didn't take a "before" picture. It looks pretty good, but could probably stand a little more effort in the various nooks and crannies.

I am fortunate to exist on the periphery of some very talented machinists & toolmakers, one of whom took the time to expertly re-grind the chipped edge of the carbide tip. He noted that the grade of carbide was not what he expected to find on a Mitutoyo; it was much more brittle than other examples he's seen (~30 years in the trade). However, there is now a new, sharp edge on it that will suffice for marking anything I might ask it to.

I have added a small section of flexible tubing over the tip to protect it from future injury while not in use. I should be thankful that the vendor didn't take such good care of this precision instrument himself; the damage allowed me to purchase it at a much reduced price.

EDIT -> I cleaned off my surface plate and tried out the unit - dead on 0.000".