Spent $600 on a used touch probe and it paid for itself in 3 weeks

Picked up a Renishaw probe off eBay from a shop that was closing down. Had my doubts about buying used but it was calibrated and worked perfect out of the box. Saves me so much time on setups I honestly don't know how I ran without one. Anyone else take a chance on used tooling and have it work out?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaron_mitchell13d ago

I bought a used Renishaw probe off a guy who was retiring from his garage shop. Turned out the styli were worn and the calibration was off by about five thou. Cost me almost as much to get it re-calibrated and fitted with new styli as I saved on the purchase price. Now I just stick with my good old edge finder and a test indicator for setups. It takes me a little longer, sure, but I know exactly where my tool is and I'm not trusting someone else's worn out equipment. Six hundred bucks is a lot of inserts or end mills if that probe ends up being a dud. You might have gotten lucky, but I'd rather spend my money on new stuff I can warranty.

riverh4913d agoMost Upvoted

Same here. Picked up a barely used Mitutoyo indicator at an estate sale for twenty bucks. Got it home and the stem was bent just enough to make it read off by about half a thou at full travel. Spent more on getting it straightened and recalibrated than I would have just buying a new one from the catalog. Now I stick to buying tools with a return policy and a warranty that actually means something. That peace of mind is worth the extra cost when you're holding tight tolerances.