Spent $400 on a fancy digital edge finder and it's been nothing but trouble

Honestly, I bought one of those wireless ones with the light-up display thinking it would save me setup time. Ngl, the battery died halfway through a run of 50 parts and the thing lost its zero, scrapping about $150 worth of material. Has anyone found a good old-school mechanical finder that just works every time?

3 comments

3 Comments

reese_patel2mo ago

Ugh, that's the worst. I've been burned by those fancy gadgets too. Honestly, I just went back to a basic Haimer 3D taster. It's still a dial indicator style, but it's dead simple and you just know when it's right. The feel and the repeatability are perfect, and there's nothing to charge or pair. Sometimes the old way is just the right way.

xena8862mo ago

Yeah, the Haimer is great, but it's not really a dial indicator. It uses a precision spring and a dial to show the deflection. A true dial indicator just measures movement along one axis. The Haimer's genius is combining that into a 3D touch probe. What's your favorite feature on yours?

shah.zara1mo ago

Scrapping about $150 worth of material" is the exact reason my wallet hides from me. I tried one of those glowing wonders and my big moment was watching it slowly dim to black like a sad robot dying. Went back to a basic dial indicator and it feels like coming home to a toaster that always works. My talent for picking the fanciest thing that breaks is honestly impressive.