Grabbed a $250 probe off eBay instead of a new one from the dealer, big regret

Honestly, my old probe finally gave up the ghost last Tuesday on a tight tolerance job, 0.0005 on a bore. Dealer quote came back at $780 and a week wait, so I figured I'd gamble on a cheap one from an eBay seller in Ohio. Ngl, it looked perfect in the photos, same part number and everything. First setup I ran it against a known block and it was off by 0.003, which is way too much for what I do. I spent the whole day tweaking the calibration table and it kept drifting on me. Ended up biting the bullet, paid the $780 for the real one, and air shipping got it here in two days. Has anyone else tried those budget probes or am I just the dummy here?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa_carr1d ago

Take a step back and ask yourself if 0.003 is actually the end of the world here. I mean, for a lot of work, that's totally fine, and honestly, some brand new probes drift too until you warm them up and seat them right. You dropped 780 bucks plus shipping on a part that might have just needed a longer break-in period, or maybe a different touch-off routine. I have a cheap indicator I use for rough checks and it's never been within a thou, but I know its quirks and work around them. Sounds like you got spooked by one bad morning and went straight to panic mode. Maybe keep that cheap one as a spare for less critical jobs and see if it settles down after a few hours of use.

thomasgonzalez1d ago

Honestly I panic-bought a $40 indicator once because my cheap one read .005 off and I still don't know if it was the tool or my shaky morning coffee hands, so I feel this. @tessa_carr makes a solid point though, maybe I should just trust the warm-up before I trust my wallet.