new starrett quality

[safety1st]

hi,
thought i'd check how good is the quality of new starrett items.
i am referring to their traditional items like combination squares, micrometers, and such.

their fit and finish is usually great, but i am just wondering what the experts think is their accuracy out of the box.

this question came up because i recently bought their protractor for the combination square (USA made) and was surprised to see that it was off significantly, perhaps by maybe a degree or two.
it also had some whitish power on it. perhaps a return. needless to say i'll be returning it.

thanks in advance!

[Phil Thien]

Any chance it was counterfeit?

Starrett items are individually inspected prior to shipment.

[Timberwolf]

hi,
thought i'd check how good is the quality of new starrett items.
i am referring to their traditional items like combination squares, micrometers, and such.

their fit and finish is usually great, but i am just wondering what the experts think is their accuracy out of the box.

this question came up because i recently bought their protractor for the combination square (USA made) and was surprised to see that it was off significantly, perhaps by maybe a degree or two.
it also had some whitish power on it. perhaps a return. needless to say i'll be returning it.

thanks in advance!

.......................
I think some Starrett tools are now being made offshore...don't know which ones tho..

[safety1st]

I am wondering about it now. Though there was an inspection note in the box though.

Purchase was from Amazon. The model should have been the smooth finish, but there was the wrinkle finish on the item. A little fishy. Anyway I am going to ask for a replacement.

[Tony Z]

Starrett made in this country are marked "made in USA". If not marked, they are made offshore.

With that said, I buy many inspection tools of this nature, and during calibration procedures before putting on the plant floor, Starrett quality remains great. Further, I believe the offshore experiment ended about a half dozen years ago. At that time, I bought some closeout items, that were made offshore, and could find no real difference.

In the type of manufacturing we do, I pay close attention to what employees have for their own tools: bring a mic bought at the local "tent of tools" for $3.95 or an adjustable wrench, you'll be shown the exit door. Our tolerances measure in the tenths of thousandths many time and gage, machine & operator R and R audits are regularly done.

If an item is truly marked Starrett and off, go back to the vendor and request a refund or the item to be recalibrated.

[Timberwolf]

I am wondering about it now. Though there was an inspection note in the box though.

Purchase was from Amazon. The model should have been the smooth finish, but there was the wrinkle finish on the item. A little fishy. Anyway I am going to ask for a replacement.

.................................
Tony owns a manufacturing plant.... You can believe what he says...

[Admiral]

I am wondering about it now. Though there was an inspection note in the box though.

Purchase was from Amazon. The model should have been the smooth finish, but there was the wrinkle finish on the item. A little fishy. Anyway I am going to ask for a replacement.

Just for chits and giggles, who was the Amazon vendor?

[Timberwolf]

IIRC, the Starrett HARDENED tool heads were smooth, but most had the word "hardened" stamped on the body somewhere. The "wrinkled " finish indicated not hardened.

[AHill]

I saw a recent How It's Made episode where they manufactured Starrett micrometers.  They constantly were performing inspection and calibration during the manufacturing and assembly process.  If yours is off, I'd take the advise of others here.  All of my Starrett devices were purchased in the past 15 years, and all but one were US-made.  The US-made ones are dead-on accurate.  The one that wasn't was a framer's square made offshore and it's way off square.

[safety1st]

turns out my starrett is not marked USA, and true for couple of ones i got recently. bummer.

they were all from amazon itself, not from 3rd party. says on their site that country is USA and also on starrett's site.