Micrometric screw

If you need to measure the section or thickness of any piece, you are interested in knowing what a micrometer or micrometer screw is. With this piece it is easy to obtain precise data in a very comfortable way, thus improving the results of any job.

One of the most common tasks when doing any carpentry, plumbing, machining or similar work is to take measurements. Something that is fundamental, if we want to do a good job, since the easiest way to ruin any of these tasks is to do everything by eye and ignore the measurement tools.

This leads us to a second issue, such as the need to use measurement tools that are adapted to what we need to measure. A fundamental issue if we intend to obtain accurate and quality measurements. 

To measure the thickness of screws, nuts, tubes, sections and other elements, the most recommended tool is the micrometer screw. A tool that, although it is not very common, the truth is that it is very useful in these small jobs. Something that you can check if you continue reading our article, where we discover the secrets of this plugin and how it can help you make any task easy, with maximum precision.

Parts of a micrometer

One of the things to know before starting to measure with a micrometer is the parts that this tool has. Depending on whether we are dealing with a digital micrometer or a traditional one, we will see certain variations, which affect the way in which we read the measurement result or what we can measure.

The first thing we find in this product is the area of ​​the body or frame. This piece is the one that opens the screw area, and it is where we will place what we want to measure . It is located between two elements, called anvil and spindle. The anvil is the fixed part, while the spindle is the mobile part. This is moved by the ratchet, which moves it inside the body until it joins the anvil.

The micrometer is finished off with two elements. One of them is the scale, which varies according to the unit of measurement that we are going to use. The other element is the graduated drum, where we are going to read the measurement. These two pieces are replaced by an LCD digital display when using a digital micrometer.

This would be the approach of an outside micrometer. The parts of an internal screw vary a bit, since the type of measurements to be made are different. For this reason, the anvil and the spindle that we have mentioned become two elongated tabs , which are inserted into what we want to measure. As always, it is important to choose the right size lashes according to the size of the object, although we will talk about this in more detail when we explain how to measure it with one of these products.

types of micrometers

Since we are not always going to measure the same thing, there are different types of micrometers. The one we have defined in the previous point is the external micrometer, which measures the total thickness of a given piece. If what we want to measure is the inside section of a tube , for example, then we will need an inside micrometer, which differs by opening from the inside out. The third option is the so-called depth micrometer, with which this parameter can be comfortably measured by means of rods, which move with the movement of the aforementioned wheel inside the object to be measured.

Regarding the form of measurement, when the micrometer screw uses the aforementioned wheel, we speak of an analog one. If it is replaced by an LCD screen, we would be facing a digital micrometer. The latter has the advantage of eliminating display errors and generally offering greater accuracy in operation. It all depends on the quality of the chosen product and the performance it is capable of offering us.

As a third option, we have the dial micrometer, which changes the measuring drum for a dial with a needle, where the measurement we make is shown. However, it does not show a measurement in millimeters, but the variation between a model piece and a similar one, being used to measure the margin of error in manufacturing processes. For this reason, its scale uses percentages, which tell us how much thicker or thinner the measured object is compared to the original piece.

How to measure with micrometer

Once we are clear about the types and parts of the micrometer, it is time to take action. To measure with a micrometer, it is essential to choose the right piece for both what we want to measure and the size of the object. A thin micrometer is of little use if we want to measure the size of a thick pipe, just as a huge micrometer is not useful to calculate the thickness of a screw.

Let’s take for example a Playmobil figure One Two Three. If we want to measure the thickness of one of its arms, we will need an outside micrometer, properly adjusted for a reduced size. We will introduce the arm between the spindle and the anvil and we will turn the ratchet until the arm is correctly located, making the measurement reading. The same process helps us to measure the thickness of the body or the head.

However, if what we want is to measure the interior space of his head, the one that we filled with plasticine when we were little, we will need an interior micrometer and rather small, since Playmobil are not especially big-headed. To proceed, we will place the two measuring points inside the head and we will open it until we reach the limit. We finish the job by performing the corresponding reading, to have the correct measurement.