# Homemade HOC Gauge



## AZChemist (Nov 7, 2018)

Luckily I have a buddy whose as passionate about his mowers as I am and a much better machinist as well.

Accu-gages are great, but a little on costly side. This was a great frugal alternative.


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## walk1355 (May 31, 2018)

Where do I sign up to buy one of these from you?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Very nice!


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## AZChemist (Nov 7, 2018)

walk1355 said:


> Where do I sign up to buy one of these from you?


I'll ask him. Dunno how much interest there would be. Some complained about the slight flex of the 0.33" bar on the accu-Gauge so I went with 0.5" 6061 bar stock.

And as finish form goes a flybar pass was never taken to clean up the extrusion. Figure it's going to get scratched up anyways. Some may not be happy with the raw look.

Here's another photo of his machining.


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## tomartom (Dec 9, 2018)

That's quality work there. Great idea!


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## walk1355 (May 31, 2018)

I'd buy one of these if it was less than $50


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## dacoyne (May 27, 2018)

I would buy one of these


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## Jrich (Jul 9, 2018)

I would buy one too.


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Great idea...depending on cost sign me up


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## AZChemist (Nov 7, 2018)

It would be hard pressed to get it under $50 Walk1355. For an entry point of $129 from accugage it is hard to profit from considering the time involved.


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

@AZChemist, looks awesome! Question, where did you get the dial indicator from? And the tip that is on the end, did that have to be purchased separately?


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## AZChemist (Nov 7, 2018)

Yes all the parts are off the shelf and redidly available online. The dial can be found anywhere. Amazon. eBay. Which ever retailer you prefer.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

i got an indicator to do exactly what OP has done however, i'd be interested in knowing where you got that tip as well.


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## AZChemist (Nov 7, 2018)

Same applies to the tip. Purchase them at which ever retailer you prefer. 
Get one that suits your needs. Lengths vary. Depending on your bar thickness adjust accordingly.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

AZChemist said:


> Same applies to the tip. Purchase them at which ever retailer you prefer.
> Get one that suits your needs. Lengths vary. Depending on your bar thickness adjust accordingly.


I think some people here are looking for links to the exact products you used :thumbup:


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Accuproducts does sell just the head. It is only $5 with $17 shipping. If you call them, they could ship via USPS for cheaper.


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## Sunday (Nov 7, 2018)

Awe @AZChemist , you posted a thread about the gauges i made 

I thought id add a little more to the original post and where i got the parts from. Sorry guys, I don't plan on selling these. There's just not enough time while I'm in college to make everything i want too lol.

So my goal when i made this was to use mostly off the shelf parts, the only thing that i had to do was machine the bar stock. You don't really need to get so fancy, get a bar and grind it until the dial indicator fits and boom. done. Where to get the bar? for myself and @AZChemist we go to scrap yards that sell metal by the pound, alum, stainless-$2/lb, steel-$.6/lb. I like to use a metal weight calculator before i go just to estimate how much i'm spending, one can be found here: https://www.industrialmetalsupply.com/Weight-Calculator

More on parts:
To mount the dial indicator i went to ace and got a .250" ID bushing that has an .625" OD, the length is somewhere around 1.250".

I used the bushing because if/when i face the bar the bushing is the easiest piece to trim down to make up for the material lost on the bar. It's also the easiest piece to face off so that i can make 0.000" fall in the 12 O'clock position.



When you go on the accuproducts website to get the indicator head you'll see outrageous shipping, you have to call for them to recalculate shipping.

The indicator head can be found here:
https://accuproducts.com/index.php/mower-gaging-tools/indicator-head.html


Any dial can be used as long as the back panel can be turned 90 degrees. Turning the back allows the indicator to be bolted to the bar stock without making an adaptor.

The dial indicator can be found here:
https://www.shars.com/products/measuring/dial-indicators/1-dial-indicator-001


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