Share the Love:
Caring for Your Gages
A Little Love Goes a Long Way
Extend the life of your gages and maintain the highest quality with just a little gage care. Taking care o
f your measurement tools will ensure that they stay at their best for the longest time. Here are a few simple things that you can do to maintain nearly all your gages, as well as more specific suggestions for individual parts and gages.
Basic Gage Care:
- Keep all unprotected metal surfaces coated with light oil.
- Avoid dropping the gage or subjecting it to any vibration or impact.
- Keep the gage dry and away from any machine coolant spray.
- Do not force the movement of any of the mechanical parts. The mechanics are designed to move freely.
- Keep the indicator face clean.
- Never oil the indicator, as the oil will attract dirt and dust.
Advanced Care:
» MRP® Rails:
- Inspect MRP rails for straightness: roll them on a qualified flat surface to look for bends or hooked ends.
- Do NOT use pliers when tightening the knobs on an MRP-2000. Hand-tighten only.
- The rails are thin-walled mechanical tubes and pliers will make flat-spots and indentations. This takes away from the accuracy of the gage and the knobs will set in the existing indentation every time, instead of at the desired location.
- The ridges on the knobs can wear off quickly if you use pliers, and then the knobs can no longer be sufficiently tightened.
» MRP® Wear Pads
- Check the wear pads for excessive wear. Replace pads if there is 0.010″ difference from across the length or width of the pad.
- A worn pad changes the location of the gage plane on a tapered connection and leads to inaccurate measurements.
» Functional Roll Gage Roll Screws
- Occasionally replace screws
- Old fasteners may become loose during operation.
- When the “thread lock” wears off the screws after many change-overs, the screws tend to “lock-up” the rolls when tightened. The rolls are supposed to rotate during gaging and reduce the amount of wear.
» Indicator Set Screws & Split Bushings
- Do NOT over-tighten the set screw that holds the indicator in place.
- Always use the appropriate split bushing
- Never tighten directly onto the indicator stem… it will bend.
» Indicator Travel
- Check that the indicator spindle moves free and clear and does not bind.
» MIC TRAC™ Blocks 
- Store in a dry environment (foam plastic case).
- Do NOT store them in direct contact with wood or in a wood box. This can lead to rusting.
» Setting Standards
- Immediately send dropped rod or frame standards for re-calibration!