Guides · Used gages
Used Gage Guides: Buying, Checking and Selling Used Gages
Plain checklists for what to look at before you pay for a used gage, and what to send when you're selling one. Pick the gage you're dealing with.
Hand gages: buying used
Used Gage Buying Checklist: What to Check Before You Pay
Printable checklist for buying used calipers, micrometers, indicators, height gages, bore gages, pin and thread gages: what to check, how to read a calibration cert, the photos to ask for, and when to walk.
Buying Used Micrometers: The Bench Check, Optical Flats and When Re-Cal Isn't Worth It
How to check a used outside micrometer before you buy: zero, the ratchet, spindle feel, anvil flatness with an optical flat, readings across the range, sets and standards, digital mics, and when a calibration costs more than the mic.
Pin Gage Sets: Class ZZ vs Z vs X, Plus vs Minus, and Buying Used
How pin gage classes ZZ, Z and X differ, which way plus and minus pins go for GO and NO-GO, what a .061-.250 set holds, and how to check a used pin gage set with a micrometer before you pay.
Gage Block Sets: Grades, the 81-Piece Set, and Checking a Used Set
What gage block grades 00, 0, AS-1 and AS-2 mean (and the old Federal grades), what an 81-piece set holds, and how to check a used gage block set for rust, burrs and wringing before you pay.
Thread Plug Gage 2B vs 3B: How GO/NOGO Works and How to Check a Used Plug
What 2B and 3B mean on a thread plug gage, why the GO member is often the same and the NOT GO is not, how to use a go/no-go plug, and what to check before you buy a used thread gage set.
Surface plates and CMMs
Used granite surface plate: what you can check yourself
Buying or selling a used granite surface plate? What you can check yourself from photos: size, grade tag, chips, stains, the stand, and a simple repeat-reading screen.
What to Look for When Buying a Used CMM
What to look for when buying a used CMM: probe head and controller, software license transfer, air bearings and air supply, a repeatability test at the center and corners, the verification report, and what the move really involves.
Used CMM Price: What Actually Sets the Number
What drives a used CMM's price: controller generation, software license transfer, probe head, condition, and the rigging and verification costs. How to read listings, find real comps and work out total installed cost.
Selling gages
Selling Used Gages: How to Inventory, Photograph and Describe a Lot
Checklist for selling surplus calipers, micrometers, indicators, thread and pin gages: how to sort and inventory a lot, clean it without hurting it, the photos to send, and what helps or hurts value.
Machines and CNC tools
Buying or selling a machine rather than a gage? The used CNC guides on usedcnctools.com cover machining centers, lathes, rigging and valuation. Need parts measured instead? See AI Inspection Tools.