Canasia Sports

I aquired 2 used starrett 711-F indicators.  I am used to the type of dial indicator that uses a plunger that moves straight in and out. The 711-F uses a point that pivots. It appears to me that if the point of indicator is at an angle, then the reading on the indicator would not be correct.  For example, suppose that the  indicator is horizontal, and the point is slanting down at a 45 degree angle.  Now suppose something pushes straight up on the point of the indicator and makes the dial needle show a displacement of .005.  Did the point really move .005 as the dial says, or did it actually move .707*.005 = .003535 ? Also, under the dial there is a little lever, that slides between two positions.  What does that do? Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank You

The little lever sounds like the one that determines which direction the stylus reads. Shift it back and forth and the stylus should change the direction it reads from. GJR

I aquired 2 used starrett 711-F indicators.  I am used to the type of dial indicator that uses a plunger that moves straight in and out. The 711-F uses a point that pivots. It appears to me that if the point of indicator is at an angle, then the reading on the indicator would not be correct.  For example, suppose that the  indicator is horizontal, and the point is slanting down at a 45 degree angle.  Now suppose something pushes straight up on the point of the indicator and makes the dial needle show a displacement of .005.  Did the point really move .005 as the dial says, or did it actually move .707*.005 = .003535 ?         IIRC, these are set up to be accurate at some specific contact angle, and as you change from that, the accuracy degrades.  But these are not designed for precision measurement

Also, under the dial there is a little lever, that slides between two positions.  What does that do? Reverses the direction of the spring that is restoring the point - in one direction the spring is lifting the point up, in the other it is pushing it down. Jim ===================================       please reply to: JRR(zero) at watson dot ibm dot com ===================================

Also, under the dial there is a little lever, that slides between two positions.  What does that do? Reverses the direction of the spring that is restoring the point - in one direction the spring is lifting the point up, in the other it is pushing it down. Does it *also* change the direction that the dial hand rotates for a given motion?  I.e. whatever direction the spring is pushing, moving the point against the spring turns the dial clockwise?  Or does it change only the spring, while the dial rotation keeps the same sense with respect to the point?         Dave

Does it *also* change the direction that the dial hand rotates for a given motion?   The dial always move the same direction for a given pointer motion.  The difference is the force direction of the pointer return spring. Jim ===================================       please reply to: JRR(zero) at watson dot ibm dot com ===================================