Dial Indicator
Glossary · Inspection & Quality
At a glance
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- Inspection & Quality
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- 3 terms
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- Written in the shop
A dial indicator is a contact instrument that shows small movements of a plunger or lever on a dial, used to compare a surface against a reference rather than to measure absolute size.
In practice
Indicators measure change, not size. They are used to check runout, to align a part in a chuck or vice, to tram a mill head, and to compare a surface against a gauge block or a known good part.
Why it matters
Nearly every accurate setup begins with an indicator. Time spent indicating a part in is not overhead — it is the difference between a part that measures right and one that has to be made twice.
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